Trial in Slaying of British Tourist Begins in Florida
Four years after the murder of British tourist Gary Colley, a jury was selected Wednesday in the trial of the Florida teen who confessed to being the triggerman in the crime.
Opening arguments began before Circuit Judge F. E. Steinmeyer in the trial of Aundra Akins, 18, who pleaded guilty in January 1995 to killing Colley, 34, a truck driver from Yorkshire, England, and wounding his companion, Margaret Jagger, during a botched 1993 robbery at a remote highway rest stop in northern Florida.
Under Akins’ plea agreement, he testified against his accomplices in the attack. In return, prosecutors agreed to cap his punishment at 40 years. He was sentenced to 27 years for each of two crimes: second-degree murder and felony murder. The sentences were to be served concurrently.
But Akins appealed, citing the Florida Supreme Court’s finding that a provision of his plea agreement was unconstitutional.
State prosecutors responded by going to trial, seeking a conviction for attempted first-degree murder. That charge could lead to a sentence of life without parole for at least 25 years.
One of the suspects in Colley’s death, John “Billy Joe” Crumitie, went to trial and was sentenced in November 1995 to life in prison.
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