Mother and two children murdered in Florida

[impqueen]

TAMPA - Two children and their mother were found dead in a Lutz home today, Hillsborough County Sheriff David Gee said at a news conference this afternoon.
"It was an extremely gruesome scene, more so than we would normally see in a crime scene," he said.
The children's ages are 3 and 4, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said this afternoon. She said she thinks the woman is 20. The family's dog also was killed.
A man was found hiding in one of the small home's bedrooms, and deputies are interviewing him, Gee said. He is someone who might be known to the family, he said.
When asked whether the man was a suspect or survivor, Gee said, "We're looking at everything right now."
A deputy initially went inside the home and saw the man and the bodies, Carter said.
The bodies remain inside the home because deputies need a search warrant to re-enter it.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may...tz/?news-metro

http://www.abcactionnews.com/content...2-d4601991b05f

Thanks, mammasweets!

[Countess Olenska]

Mom, 3- And 4-Year-Old Found Slain In Lutz Home

A neighbor said he was home at midmorning when a woman, whom he identified as the children's grandmother, ran out of the house screaming, "He's dead. He's dead. He's dead."
Tim Kelly, 50, said he rushed over to find out what was going on.
"The woman was hysterical," Kelly said. "I held her hand and tried to comfort her the best I could."
Then the children's grandfather showed up.
"He came at me and said, 'Don't go in there,' " Kelly said.
Kelly looked in and saw the boy on the floor, he said. He appeared to be dead, Kelly said.
"It was pretty scary," he said. "I wouldn't want to have to experience that again."
He said he didn't know the mother well, just in passing. He thought she worked at a nearby department store. He had seen the children outside from time to time.
"You don't think something like this could happen in your neighborhood, " said Kelly, who has lived in the area since 1987. "It's just a sad thing when kids are involved."
A man was found hiding in one of the small home's bedrooms, and deputies were interviewing him, Gee said. It was unclear whether the unidentified man was the same person escorted into the hospital. Gee said the man is someone who might be known to the family.
When asked whether the man was a suspect or survivor, Gee said, "We're looking at everything right now."
A deputy initially went inside the home and saw the man and the bodies, Carter said.
The bodies remain in the home. By 2 p.m., deputies had obtained a search warrant and had entered the house.

My mom works at University Community as did I a long time ago. I'll update more when it becomes available.

[Silvahalo]

This link http://www.abcactionnews.com/content...2-d4601991b05f lists the children as 2 and 7 years of age... not 3 and 4...not sure which is right.
So tragic.:(

[Mom of 4]

They can't positively ID the bodies because they are not visually identifiable. Investigators say it is the most disturbing, gruesome crime scene they have ever seen.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may...ws-metro&imw=Y

Some excerpts.

"This is the most horrific crime scene I've ever seen," said Sheriff David Gee. "It's an extremely difficult crime scene to work."

Deputies were expected to work throughout the night collecting evidence. No one had been arrested by Monday night. One man was transported in handcuffs to a nearby hospital. He was taken from inside the house. His name was not released and he had not been charged.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter on Monday night would not reveal the conditions of the bodies, but did say family members could not make positive identifications by looking at them. She would not elaborate.

At 7 p.m., nine hours after deputies were first called to the scene, Carter said investigators knew who was supposed to be living in the home, but, "due to the condition of the scene, we have not been able to determine if, in fact, (the bodies) are those individuals."

She would not answer questions about whether the bodies had been mutilated. She just said that they could not be identified by people who knew them.

She said the scene was wrenching, evening for one crime scene technician, a 30-year veteran, who said, "He has never seen anything like this."

She was vague, not releasing the names of victims of if any suspects were being questioned.
"It will become clearer once they get everything together," she said.

Sheriff David Gee said the inside of the mobile home was, "an extremely gruesome scene, more so than we would normally see in a crime scene."

Besides the children, a 7-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, the family's dog also was slain.

According to county tax records, the property at 1918 S. Mobile Villa Drive is owned by Keith and Barbara Freiberg who live in a house less than a mile away. Their 26-year-old daughter, Lisa, was living in the mobile home, according to other court records.

This afternoon, detectives were seen entering the Freibergs' home on East Lake Burrell Drive, which is where Lisa Freiberg grew up. Detectives spent about three hours inside. Neither the detectives nor the Freibergs would comment.

By 5 p.m., deputies had not confirmed the names of the victims or whether anyone was in custody.

A man was found hiding in one of the bedrooms of the victims' small home, and deputies were interviewing him, Gee said. It was unclear whether the unidentified man was the same person escorted into the hospital. Gee said the man is someone who might be known to the family.

"I can say that Hillsborough sheriff's deputies did transport a white male from the scene to the UCH emergency room," said hospital spokesman Will Darnall late this afternoon.

By 6 p.m., the man was still being evaluated, Darnall said. He was under guard.

[Lynntoast]

Posted by ( pookiepooh2u ) on May 12, 2008 at 11:59 p.m. ( Suggest removal )

Ok, My name is Kimberly Post and I am a neighbor of the family and appalled and ashamed of the ignorance, cruelty and narrow mindedness of my fellow peers who have commented on this tragedy. Since when is ANY life more important than another. This woman was trying to make lemonade out of the lemons she had been dealt in life. The promotion she just received was to assistant manager of Wal-Mart.Did you miss the part where SHE helped out other families in need even though she was a single mother who lived in a trailer? Did you miss the part where it mentioned it was her PARENTS trailer? I just moved here and most of my neighbors have been here for over 40yrs. FYI- Mobile Villa Dr. is a name of a street NOT a MOBILE HOME PARK. I live in a house. The horrors that happened in that house-nobody deserved. The mother? She was made to watch the assailant(s) torture her babies! Torture! Limbs cut off! Genitals cut off! Then the mother was tortured until I'm sure she was begging for them to kill her. All this just a few hours after she celebrated Mothers Day with her children whom she loved very much. The man hiding in her house was her new boyfriend. When he was removed from the house he had no blood on him. I'm not saying he's innocent or guilty, if he is guilty he would have to be insane to do that to those children, to look in their eyes as he tortured them. The act itself is very violent and rage filled. The killer would have had to either have no emotional connection to the victims or had lost his mind and separated from reality altogether. Why does society always place blame on the victims? We should all take note of this crime and learn from it. You truly never really know what somebody is capable of. The killer I'm sure has friends and family

OMG I think Im going to vomit.


http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may...tz/?news-metro

[impqueen]

The way I see it, any man who is hiding in a closet while babies are tortured is a damned coward. So.... either he's a coward, or he's the killer. And if he had no blood on him at all, he's not likely the killer unless he wore a sheet or a raincoat or something.

I found a Myspace for a Lisa Freiberg who fits the age, but not the location, and her last logon was yesterday... so she was up early, or it's not the same girl.

I wonder where the father of those babies is? Hm.

[Rotten Apple]

OMFG!

This is horrible. I could cry. :(

I've grown numb to these stories, but if what they say is true, this is almost too horrible to be real.

I can not think of a punishment horrible enough for the perpetrator of these crimes. Criminally insane is an understatement. Its almost to much to think about.

[swivel]

She would not answer questions about whether the bodies had been mutilated. She just said that they could not be identified by people who knew them.

She said the scene was wrenching, evening for one crime scene technician, a 30-year veteran, who said, "He has never seen anything like this."

Holy shit.

How reliable is that neighbor's account of what happened?

[impqueen]

I front-paged this case, because it's gonna get very interesting, I think.

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2008/05/...nnah-freiberg/

[impqueen]

Holy shit.

How reliable is that neighbor's account of what happened?

According to this news article, Kimberly Post didn't know the family. I doubt seriously that crime techs would be leaking information on time and order of death this early, so I don't know that anyone could honestly say that the mother was forced to watch her children or that she was begging for death. Not unless someone was there, or had talked to the one witness who is currently being questioned.

As to the physical damage to the bodies, yeah. There are enough leaks out there and a couple of eyewitnesses (Lisa's parents, the neighbor) to the carnage that the physical evidence appears sound so far. The other stuff is just speculation as yet.

I did find a pic of her and the kids, though, and front paged it. Hie thee and comment, yo.

[~Absynthe~]

Posted by ( pookiepooh2u ) on May 13, 2008 at 2:06 a.m. ( Suggest removal )

OMG!!! You people really need help and I'll pray for you. Don't try to judge me or assume my intentions. I never described the crime scene. I described the injuries as the way they were described to me. I know nothing of the crime scene. True, the police have not released the info yet. Actually the police won't even release the names of the victims but, does that change the fact that it was Lisa and her 2 children. The police have released how horrific the crime was. They just didn't tell the details. Maybe you don't agree with my tactics but, I assure you my intentions were true and I don't feel the need to have to defend them.

What she has heard is called "Hear say"! She just moved there and lives down the street and around the corner and also admitted that she didn't even know the victims.

This is a very sad and sickening case. It will be interesting to wacth the details infold.

[ImmortalOne]

I have to agree, the male in that house (especially if related to the woman or those children by even association) is a coward. He should have stepped in and done something to at least try to save those babies and that mother.

If those details are even in the least it true.... I am even more disgusted with the human race than ever before.

[Mom of 4]

They have arrested the man in the closet.

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/myfox/p...Y&pageId=3.2.1

TAMPA - Deputies have arrested 35-year-old Edward Allen Covington in connection with a gruesome triple murder in Lutz.

He is charged with three counts of first degree murder, three counts of abuse of dead human bodies, one count of cruelty to animals, and one count of violating probation.

He is charged in connection with the murders of Lisa Freiberg and her two children, 7-year-old Zachary and 2-year-old Heather Savannah. Their bodies were discovered inside their mobile home on Mobile Villa Drive in Lutz on Monday.

Hillsborough Chief Deputy Jose Docobo said there was a substantial amount of physical evidence linking Covington to the three deaths.

Docobo also said Covington admitted his involvement in the murders.

Investigators said the three victims were mutilated and dismembered. Sheriff David Gee said that at least one of the victims was decapitated.

Docobo also said the crime scene was among the most horrific scenes he and many other investigators had ever seen.

"It has been very, very difficult for investigators and everyone involved. It's absolutely horrific to have top deal with this type of crime," Docobo said.

[Lucy]

I was reading a little more about this guy and apparently he killed cats and mutilated them prior to this and a comment on this page leads me to believe his father is a someone of authority. Kind of interesting.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may...ims-boyfriend/

[impqueen]

I should have mentioned this sooner - updated article on the front page.

I'm glad they charged him. Nasty murdering fuckhead.

[Countess Olenska]

Kinda of long but this was just released as breaking news

'Graphic Details' Emerge As Boyfriend Is Charged In Lutz

TAMPA - Edward Allen Covington told deputies he choked, beat, stabbed, dismembered and mutilated his girlfriend and her two children this weekend, Hillsborough County deputies say.
Covington was charged today with three counts of first-degree murder. He also faces three counts of abuse of dead human bodies, one count of cruelty to animals and one count of violating probation.
"It was a substantial amount of physical evidence linking Mr. Covington to the three deaths, as well as an admission on his part regarding his involvement in the deaths of the three victims," sheriff's office Chief Deputy Jose Docobo said at a press conference this afternoon. "No, he did not give a specific reason. No."
Authorities announced the arrest at a 4:30 p.m. news conference following the grisly slayings of Lisa Freiberg, 26, and her two children, Zachary, 7, and Heather Savannah, 2, at their Lutz home. The family dog, a white German shepherd, was also slain.
Their bodies were discovered Monday at the home on South Mobile Villa Drive.
The medical examiner's office is still investigating the cause of death, Docobo said. There were multiple means of inflicting the wounds.
Covington was found hiding in one of the children's closets and was taken to University Community Hospital after he told deputies he'd ingested an unknown substance.
Covington tested positive at the hospital for cocaine Monday, an arrest report states. He also told detectives he sold his motorcycle last week for crack cocaine.
"Without a doubt, it's one of the most horrific scenes that I've ever seen," Docobo said. "And the fact that it involved children, and the nature of the crime, has been very difficult for the investigators and everyone involved. It's absolutely horrific to have to deal with this type of crime.
"As you can imagine, the scene was so grisly that it would be impossible to be anywhere in that scene without being exposed to blood."
Covington was not Baker Acted after this weekend's incident, sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
He was interviewedby detectives today when he was released from the hospital, Docobo said.
"He's provided extreme details as to the manner, the order and the means by which he committed these crimes," Docobo said.
The crimes appear to have been committed between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m. Sunday and Covington appears to have stayed in the home, the arrest report states.
Covington didn't tell deputies what triggered the attack, Docobo said.
"It appears it was more spontaneous than any type of plan," he said.
Covington had marks on his body, but investigators aren't sure whether they are the result of the victims fighting back.
"He provided graphic details in what he did to the bodies, what he did to the victims," Docobo said. "We'll leave it at that."
Covington's father Ronnie, a detention deputy at Falkenburg Road Jail, had "no involvement and no knowledge of this crime," Docobo said.
If Ronnie Covington needs support from the sheriff's office, he will receive it, Docobo said.
Lisa Freiberg's mother found her daughter and grandchildren dead Monday after becoming concerned she hadn't heard from Freiberg on Mother's Day.
Sheriff David Gee said Tuesday that the mother and two children are thought to have been killed early Sunday morning. According to a driver's license issued April 28, Covington lives at Freiberg's address.
Covington has 27 friends on his MySpace page, and most are women. One of his friends is Terry Bollea, also known as Hulk Hogan. It's not immediately clear whether he knows Bollea.
Pictures of Covington with what he calls his 2001 Yamaha R6 motorcycle and with his friends at a San Antonio, Fla., bar also are on the page.
Covington last logged in April 24. He said he graduated in 1990 from Sandalwood High School in Jacksonville. He listed his occupation as an electrician.
"You'll never become old and wise if you're not young and crazy," a quote on his MySpace page states.

[impqueen]

Thanks - i got the front page up to speed. How ya feelin', girl? Percocets working?

You get the "fastest post after surgery" award! ;)

[Countess Olenska]

Thanks - i got the front page up to speed. How ya feelin', girl? Percocets working?

You get the "fastest post after surgery" award! ;)

I saw some more on this story at 5am but was too busy drooling and twitching to even think about my laptop.

I'm good. Sore. Bruised. Tired. Drugged. WOOT! Don't be jealous of my hospital vacation My hemoglobin is a little low but I'm doing aight.My sister says my pupils are pin points and I'm MELLLLLOW...My name is Mamma and I'm an internet addict.

[Mom of 4]

Grandmother checked Civington out online but found nothing.



http://www.tampabay.com/news/publics...icle508933.ece

LUTZ — A couple of months after her oldest daughter brought home a new man, Barbara Freiberg sat in front of her computer and typed his name.

E-D-W-A-R-D C-O-V-I-N-G-T-O-N

"I just check out all my kids' boyfriends," she said. "They know I do it, too. I just want to make sure who you're seeing. For their safety."

Barbara Freiberg's search didn't reveal that Covington was serving one year's probation for drunken driving and possession of a controlled substance, that he had been arrested three times since January 2006, that he had been hospitalized under the provisions of the state Baker Act after officers found him in his home with three dead, mutilated cats.

"It didn't show anything," she said. "Had we seen that he's been arrested for the things that he's been arrested for, I know Lisa would have never started dating him. I know it. I know it. She never would have let her kids get close to him."

During an hourlong interview with the St. Petersburg Times on Thursday, Keith and Barbara Freiberg didn't want to talk about what they discovered inside their daughter's mobile home Monday morning.

Nor did they want to talk about Edward Allen Covington, Lisa Freiberg's live-in boyfriend, the man Hillsborough County sheriff's deputies say confessed to "choking, beating, stabbing, dismembering and mutilating" her and her two children and killing their family dog.

Covington is being held at Falkenburg Road Jail "in confinement and under observation," said sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter. He's charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of abuse to a dead human body and cruelty to an animal.

The Freibergs wouldn't even call him by name. The "monster," her father said.

They wanted to talk about Zachary, 7, and how much he loved his Mimi and Doodlelu — names he gave his grandmother and grandfather.

And Savannah, 2, who had just figured out how to use the potty.

And "I want to focus on Lisa," her mother said.

• • •

Lisa Freiberg was born Oct. 6, 1981. She was the first of the couple's three children, which include Shawn, 24, and Ashley, 21. Her parents say Lisa was a clone of her dad and, appropriately, a daddy's girl.

As far back as they can recall, Lisa was fascinated with animals. "It was like it was born in her," her mother said.

One time, during a vacation at her grandfather's home in Michigan, she brought a handful of frogs to her parents. "Had to keep the little frogs in a jar for a day or two and turn 'em loose," Keith Freiberg said.

When she was 16 and had saved up enough money from babysitting and a loan or two from Mom and Dad, she bought a horse and named him Skylar.

"She'd rather have a horse before a car," her father said. "She could ride downtown. Fine with her. She didn't care."

Lisa wasn't one of those frilly girls. She didn't like to wear dresses and put on makeup. "She was a blue jean tomboy," he said.

She attended Wharton High in New Tampa. It wasn't her first choice. Since she was 7, she had wanted to be veterinarian. She tried to get into Gaither High's preveterinary program on special assignment, but overcrowding thwarted those plans.

At Wharton, she was an average student. "Wasn't bad, wasn't the greatest," Barbara Freiberg said. She had a speech impediment, which made it hard for people to understand her.

Despite those obstacles, she was a member of the school's first graduating class in 2000.

"It was hard," her mother said, "but I did get her to wear a dress for her graduation."

• • •

Lisa wanted to start college at some point, just not right after high school, her parents said.

"Probably a mistake on her part," Barbara Freiberg said. "Once you wait, you usually don't end up doing it."

And that's what happened.

She gave birth to Zachary on Jan. 13, 2001. Savannah came along four years later. Savannah's dad, Tom Fish, was nearly 20 years Lisa's senior.

Her parents didn't like the age disparity, but by then Lisa had moved out of their house and into a mobile home five minutes away. It was her late grandfather's winter retreat, but early Sunday, it became the site of what Hillsborough Sheriff David Gee called the "most horrific crime scene I've ever seen."

• • •

The Freibergs were preparing for Savannah's third birthday, which would have been on Tuesday. They were going to have a party at their E Lake Burrell Drive home on May 24. They always hosted the grandchildren's parties because their back yard was bigger than Lisa's.

Instead, they're making funeral plans at the family's church, Gateway Christian Assembly of God, 14200 Central Ave., Tampa, where Savannah had just started Sunday school two weeks ago. Mourners will gather there at 3 p.m. Sunday to celebrate her life, her brother's, her mother's.

Barbara Freiberg clings to pillows she made for Zachary and Savannah. She outfitted Zachary's with SpongeBob SquarePants and Savannah's with teddy bears.

"I'll never wash it," she said. "I can smell them on here."

These poor people. :(

[Becca]

Damn Mo4, that totally breaks my heart reading about the grandmother and those pillows. Think I need to go cry. Those folks will never be the same.

[celtic friend]

Those poor grandparents, the grandmom saw them like that. So horrible, this POS should suffer.

[Mom of 4]

Sorry Becca.

I know normally these things make us pissed and rile us up around here. The story put a lump in my throat when I read it. I hate feeling that alone so I shared.:(

[jlt080405]

Sorry Becca.

I know normally these things make us pissed and rile us up around here. The story put a lump in my throat when I read it. I hate feeling that alone so I shared.:(

well, i read what i could through the tears, absolutely heartbreaking...

I am one of those people that likes to know all the details, regardless of what emotions it evokes.

thank you for sharing

[michelle]

Heart wrenching.
:mdr:

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Ex-wife: "I never thought he would do it."

The ex-wife of Edward Covington says her short-lived marriage was scarred by violence.

"My wrist was broken in four different places," she said. "He threw me against walls. He choked me."

She says that violence started shortly after the two were married and only got worse over time. For months she stayed, mostly because she says she was afraid to leave.

She claims Covington's battle with mental illness went mostly unchecked and claims he told her two weeks ago that he wasn't taking his medication. Covington also talked about breaking up with his current girlfriend, Lisa Freiberg.

"He told me that he did not want to be with her," the ex-wife said. "That he was trying to get rid of them and he didn't know how."

Then Sunday morning Covington left her a message that got her attention.

"To call him," she said. "That he really needed to talk to me and he was in really big trouble."

Covington never picked up the phone when she called him back. The next day, she learned about the murders.

Covington's ex-wife said she did report the abuse to authorities while they were married, but he was never charged.

http://www.abcactionnews.com/mostpop...e-24161d780e70

Arrest Shocks Friend

A few days before the slayings, Covington e-mailed a high school friend, telling her he recently had divorced and pretty much had lost everything.

The classmate, Jorelle Nowlin, responded by e-mail, saying she would be around if he wanted to talk.

Covington wrote that his divorce was tough, that he was working as an electrician's apprentice and had lost about 265 pounds since 2003.

He added: "But I am still not dating, I lost my spark that i had back when i was young," he wrote last Friday.

"I cant believe just how much i lost in the diveorce," he wrote in an e-mail dotted with typos. "I know it will take timebut to be honest a part of me ereally doesent want to see anyone but a part of me does. Well I will talk to you later."

The correspondence didn't mention his girlfriend, Lisa Freiberg, or her children.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/may...killer-emerge/

Two-year-old bitten before she was killed

More disturbing information is coming out in the mutilation murder case of a woman and her two children.

In court today, prosecutors requested a judge grant their request for physical samples from murder suspect Edward Covington.

In the written request, prosecutors detail how 2-year-old victim Savannah Freiberg was bitten by someone very close to the time she was killed.

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/loca...?storyid=80556

damn sick fuck should never have been allowed out of a cage (or a coffin)