Emotional Breakdown in Court: Son Accused of Parents' Murder Faces Justice

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In a Sarasota County courtroom on Wednesday, a Florida man accused of murdering his adoptive parents became visibly emotional during the opening statements of his trial.

Dima Tower, 24, is charged with two counts of murder in connection with the 2023 deaths of his adoptive parents, Jennifer and Robbie Tower. Additionally, he faces charges for evading law enforcement, as previously detailed by CrimeOnline.

Defense attorney Marc Gilman, as reported by Court TV, highlighted Dima’s troubled past, noting that he was adopted from Ukraine at the age of 14 after experiencing neglect. His biological parents allegedly did not want to “deal with him.”

During Gilman’s recounting of Dima’s challenging upbringing in Ukraine, Dima became overwhelmed, covering his face with his hands and breaking into tears.

In response, the judge paused the proceedings to allow Dima time to regain his composure.

Also on Wednesday, the prosecution described how Dima attacked his parents with a steak knife he retrieved from the kitchen, in August 2023.

The killings happened in the family’s North Port home, in the 1200 block of Mallicoat Road.

Prosecutors told the jury that Dima had considered killing his parents numerous times before finally carrying out the murders, ABC 7 reports.

During the attack, the defendant allegedly dropped one knife and retrieved another. He then began to stab his father, while Jennifer tried to defend her husband.

When Dima began attacking Jennifer, she fled, but the defendant found her at a neighbor’s front door and forced her back home, the prosecution said. He then forced her on a couch and stabbed her in the neck 38 times.

Neighbor Jana Walton testified that she woke up on the night in question, with Jennifer screaming at her door to call 911.

Police found Robbie and Jennifer stabbed to death in their home, both face down on the floor, after responding to a call from a neighbor who reported hearing noises.

Dima fled in a vehicle when police arrived, according to WINK News. Deputies with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office used stop sticks to get the car to stop. They apprehended him after he fled on foot into a wooded area.

Officer Tyler Ragauckas with North Port Police Department testified Wednesday that dashcam footage captured the defendant driving recklessly, while eyewitness Melissa Snow gave a description of the defendant.

Meanwhile, records from the North Port Police Department and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office obtained by FOX 4 show multiple domestic violence calls involving Dima since 2018.