PRISON WILLIAM CODAY CASE
A Fort Lauderdale librarian notorious for brutally killing two former girlfriends died, apparently by his own hand, on Florida's Death Row last week.
Posted on Sun, May. 04, 2008
BY JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA
jmooney@MiamiHerald.com
William Coday was said to be a likable guy.
The law school graduate turned librarian made friends easily, wooing women with his penchant for literature and foreign languages.
But the Fort Lauderdale man was also a killer.
Coday, who horrifically murdered two of his ex-girlfriends by repeatedly bludgeoning them with a hammer, died Monday in a Central Florida prison cell.
It is believed the 51-year-old Death Row inmate committed suicide, though autopsy results have not been released.
''I heard that he cut himself in his cell and bled to death,'' said Coday's former attorney, George Reres.
His father, William Coday Sr., had little to say about his son's unexpected death.
''I don't want to discuss that,'' he said Wednesday from his Missouri home before hanging up the phone.
Coday first made headlines in July 1997 when the body of his ex-girlfriend, Gloria Gomez, was found in his Victoria Park apartment.
Gomez, 29, had been brutally murdered -- struck with a hammer 144 times and stabbed 41 times. Her arms, neck, torso and legs were wrapped by a telephone cord.
Coday, who lured her to his apartment by saying he was dying of cancer, left clues for police. Among them: bloody fingerprints at the crime scene, Gomez's abandoned car at Miami International Airport and a trail of credit card charges and airline tickets.
Police began a massive manhunt for Coday, supervisor of the international language section of the Broward County Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
For three months he hid out in Europe, eluding authorities.
But police got a break in October 1997, when he showed up at the New York apartment where his ex-wife, Tooska Amiri, lived.
Amiri told Coday he needed to surrender. And a day later, he was arrested.
Talking about what happened -- and Coday's recent death -- is not easy for Amiri, Coday's second wife.
''I went through hell,'' she said Wednesday. ``It was very painful and I want to forget about it.''
In 2002, five years after Gomez's death, Coday went to trial on first-degree murder charges.
There was little doubt that Coday killed Gomez.
He wrote a detailed confession, saying he broke into a ''demonic rage'' because she didn't love him.
He also penned a 206-page novel about the obsessive relationship that he had with Gomez, a native of Colombia.
Jurors convicted Coday and Broward Circuit Judge Alfred J. Horowitz sentenced him to death.
It wasn't until the sentencing that jurors learned that Coday had killed before -- while studying in Germany in 1978.
Coday murdered his ex-girlfriend from college, Lisa Hullinger, by bludgeoning her with a sledgehammer. She was 19.
He served a year and a half in a German prison before he was released and returned to the United States.
Details about that killing were intentionally kept from jurors to assure that Coday would get a fair trial.
Coday's death sentence was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court in October 2006, but a judge sentenced him to die again in May 2007. He died before the state of Florida planned.
Those who knew Coday said he had a history of suicidal behavior and tried killing himself at least twice before.
At 2:45 a.m. April 28, prison guards found Coday unresponsive in his cell at the Union Correctional Institute in Raiford.
He appeared to have a self-inflicted wound and died soon after, said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
The medical examiner's office in Gainesville conducted an autopsy, but those results will not be available for three months.
A Fort Lauderdale librarian notorious for brutally killing two former girlfriends died, apparently by his own hand, on Florida's Death Row last week.
Posted on Sun, May. 04, 2008
BY JENNIFER MOONEY PIEDRA
jmooney@MiamiHerald.com
William Coday was said to be a likable guy.
The law school graduate turned librarian made friends easily, wooing women with his penchant for literature and foreign languages.
But the Fort Lauderdale man was also a killer.
Coday, who horrifically murdered two of his ex-girlfriends by repeatedly bludgeoning them with a hammer, died Monday in a Central Florida prison cell.
It is believed the 51-year-old Death Row inmate committed suicide, though autopsy results have not been released.
''I heard that he cut himself in his cell and bled to death,'' said Coday's former attorney, George Reres.
His father, William Coday Sr., had little to say about his son's unexpected death.
''I don't want to discuss that,'' he said Wednesday from his Missouri home before hanging up the phone.
Coday first made headlines in July 1997 when the body of his ex-girlfriend, Gloria Gomez, was found in his Victoria Park apartment.
Gomez, 29, had been brutally murdered -- struck with a hammer 144 times and stabbed 41 times. Her arms, neck, torso and legs were wrapped by a telephone cord.
Coday, who lured her to his apartment by saying he was dying of cancer, left clues for police. Among them: bloody fingerprints at the crime scene, Gomez's abandoned car at Miami International Airport and a trail of credit card charges and airline tickets.
Police began a massive manhunt for Coday, supervisor of the international language section of the Broward County Main Library in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
For three months he hid out in Europe, eluding authorities.
But police got a break in October 1997, when he showed up at the New York apartment where his ex-wife, Tooska Amiri, lived.
Amiri told Coday he needed to surrender. And a day later, he was arrested.
Talking about what happened -- and Coday's recent death -- is not easy for Amiri, Coday's second wife.
''I went through hell,'' she said Wednesday. ``It was very painful and I want to forget about it.''
In 2002, five years after Gomez's death, Coday went to trial on first-degree murder charges.
There was little doubt that Coday killed Gomez.
He wrote a detailed confession, saying he broke into a ''demonic rage'' because she didn't love him.
He also penned a 206-page novel about the obsessive relationship that he had with Gomez, a native of Colombia.
Jurors convicted Coday and Broward Circuit Judge Alfred J. Horowitz sentenced him to death.
It wasn't until the sentencing that jurors learned that Coday had killed before -- while studying in Germany in 1978.
Coday murdered his ex-girlfriend from college, Lisa Hullinger, by bludgeoning her with a sledgehammer. She was 19.
He served a year and a half in a German prison before he was released and returned to the United States.
Details about that killing were intentionally kept from jurors to assure that Coday would get a fair trial.
Coday's death sentence was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court in October 2006, but a judge sentenced him to die again in May 2007. He died before the state of Florida planned.
Those who knew Coday said he had a history of suicidal behavior and tried killing himself at least twice before.
At 2:45 a.m. April 28, prison guards found Coday unresponsive in his cell at the Union Correctional Institute in Raiford.
He appeared to have a self-inflicted wound and died soon after, said Gretl Plessinger, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections.
The medical examiner's office in Gainesville conducted an autopsy, but those results will not be available for three months.
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17 comments:
I was his Roommate for a few months at broward main jail.Bill confided in me that he would not want to spend a long life in prison. He said he would kill himself if all appeals failed. He was a good guy.told me he spent his studying and never really had much fun. that when he fell in love and the girl thought he was too intense and was afraid of him. After repeated attempts to win her over he just flipped out and killed her over and over........
A horrible person. Glad he is dead.
Wonder why Germany only sent him up for 18 months? Should have been life and he could not have killed again.
I'm glad he's dead too. I read details of Gomezs murder, just horrific. Said she fought hard for her life, tons of defensive wounds and was aware of her impending death. What a sociopath, just a maggot. Waste of space.
I knew his first victim. We were all devastated when we heard the news of her death. 30 years later he finally saved the tax payers a few dollars. Too bad Germany couldn't see beyond his claim of insanity. - God works in mysterious ways and is greatly to be praised.
I was in the courtroom back in 2002 for my own case when judge Horowitz was looking at pictures and was so repulsed by what he saw it was very awful to even be in the same court room In custody at 18 yrs old with such a Monster as coday.
I knew Bill back in the 1970's. He was a fraternity brother of mine. Brilliant mind, very calm demeanor, eloquent and courteous during all my interactions with him. I met his first victim (Lisa) at various functions and found her to be a fun person as well. We were shocked when we heard what happened to Lisa, but some of the brothers supported Bill by shipping books to him in prison in Germany to keep his mind occupied. We were equally surprised when Bill was released from prison and allowed to return to the U.S.
I liked the Bill I knew. The Bill that came out in certain social relationships was not the person I knew. That persona was sick.
Asking God's grace be extended to all who loved Him and for God's Comforter to come to Bill's family and Bill's victim's families.
What a POS. Bye maggot. His first murder resulted in the creation of the support organization Parents of Murdered Children.
No one was required to love you, you piece of offal. May you rot. Wish I believed in hell.
No, no he wasn't a good guy. He was a two time murderer of two innocent women. He was a monster
Hey was a good guy?? SERIOUSLY?? He murdered a 19 year old girl and mutilated a 29 year old woman because they didn't like him!!! If that's a "good guy", I'd hate to see your definition of a bad guy!! Obviously sickos gravitate towards one another! Hope your friend rots in hell!
Okay, who was the Lambda Chi "anonymous" who knew Bill back in the 1970's? Yes, I know enough of that history to ask. Is this DS? Good thing I hid my hammer the night Bill visited. That solitary reinforced his "crazy" now seems certain.
He looks like the perfect exception to the rule that intelligent, educated Caucasian men are not dangerous to women. I've watched one woman after another torment their ex-husbands using the Family Court system. I wonder if any of them ever realize that the object of their torments is literally the most dangerous animal on Planet Earth and the only bars on his "cage" are those he places himself (by keeping his own screws in tight?)
This monster's second victim, Gomez, should never have been allowed. Yes, allowed. When "sick" people do sick acts of violence they should either 1) never, ever leave the nut house or 2) if they do they should then be prosecuted and given a LIFE sentence ....100 years.
Hola. Yo era la mejor amiga de gloria su segunda víctima. Y creo que debió haber tenido la pena de muerte. Fue un monstruo y lo que hizo con ella fue terrible..no tiene perdón de Dios.
Andrea
Let's not forget, that some idiots argue that sentences are too harsh, and create monsters.
Thank God this animal killed himself , only white people do this kind of shit , crazy motherfukers ,
Sorry not a good guy! Weak insecure murderer!
Perhaps only white people do this like you say, what is the blacks that put their own babies in the microwaves or a waadinh machine
Not only whites do this kind of thing and you make me ashamed to be black saying crap like that! There are BAD people in all people, just like there are good! People need to stop separating by skin! God made oy 1 race, the human race! If we'd start learning to love each other maybe just maybe these kinds of crimes would stop happening!!!
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