Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore convicted of murdering lottery winner in Florida

Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore talks with her defense attorney Chris Boldt during her trial Friday, Dec. 7, 2012, in Tampa, Fla. / AP Photo

TAMPA, Fla. A woman was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the slaying of a lottery winner in central Florida and was sentenced to mandatory life without parole by a judge who called her "cold, calculating and cruel."

Dorice "Dee Dee" Moore showed no emotion as a jury foreman read the verdict. Judge Emmett Battles sentenced her to an additional minimum mandatory 25 years for using a gun in the commission of a felony. Moore has 30 days to appeal.

"I can sleep good at night because I know I had done the very best job," said Defense attorney Byron Hileman. "I feel sad for the victim. I feel sad for their families. I feel sad for the defendant because these types of cases are no-win situations."

An undated photo of Abraham Shakespeare

/ The Ledger/Pierre DuCharme

Jurors deliberated for more than three hours before finding Moore guilty of the first-degree murder charge prosecutors had lodged against her in the death of Abraham Shakespeare, who won millions in 2006. Shakespeare's mother was in the courtroom, but showed no emotion.

"She got every bit of his money," said Assistant State Attorney Jay Pruner in closing arguments. "He found out about it and threatened to kill her. She killed him first."

Hileman argued that there were other potential suspects whom prosecutors refused to consider.

"There were a lot of people who owed Mr. Shakespeare a lot of money. One guy owed him a million dollars," he said during his closing arguments. "The police focused on Dee Dee Moore and they didn't even consider other people."

Pruner could not be reached for comment immediately.

• Fla. judge scolds Dorice Moore, alleged lottery winner killer, for behavior in court
• Dorice Donegan Moore Had Lottery Winner Abraham Shakespeare's Body in Backyard

Battles instructed the jury that it could convict the 40-year-old Moore of a lesser charge. Following the verdict, he called Moore "the most manipulative person" he had ever seen, describing her as "cold, calculating and cruel."

Prosecutors built much of their case from confidential informant's statements and financial records.

Moore was briefly banned from the Tampa courtroom Monday over concerns that she may have threatened jurors. She was back a short time later for closing arguments, but said she did not want to take the stand in order to protect her family.

At times, the defendant closed her eyes and averted her face from the jury as prosecutors played audio recordings made by an undercover officer posing as a criminal who would take the fall for Shakespeare's murder.

Prosecutors said Moore befriended Shakespeare in late 2008, claiming she was writing a book about how people were taking advantage of him. They claimed Moore later became his financial adviser, eventually controlling every asset he had left, including an expensive home, the debt owed to him and a $1.5 million annuity. She ultimately swindled Shakespeare out of his dwindling fortune, then shot him and buried his body under a concrete slab in her backyard, Pruner said.

In opening statements, Moore's attorney told the jury that his client was trying to help protect Shakespeare's assets from a pending child-support case when he was killed by drug dealers who haven't been caught.

Former inmate Rose Condora, who was locked up with Moore, said she visits her friend every night at the jail.

"She's not what people think she is. She did not kill that man," Condora told reporters during a break in the trial.

[desertlizzy]

The Mother of deceased showed No Emotion? Perhaps she' s involved.
Best to be anonymous in Lotto wins.

[djseavy]

I'm always amazed when they make a big deal out of a defendant showing no emotion when the verdict is read. I've talked to a couple of people who've been through this as defendants, and they've told me that by the time the trial is over, you're so emotionally drained there's nothing left inside. This whole thing is a little too convenient. Unless there is much more to the story we're not let in on, it appears to me she was set up. Few people are so stupid as to bury a body in their own yard. Serial killers being the exception, since they're out of whack anyway. If I read the story correctly, most of the evidence against her was from a CI. That's alarming. I agree that her attorney sounds like an idiot. Something seems not right with this. I know some posters believe they have it all figured out and she's guilty as sin, but things aren't always as they appear to be.

[canislupus16]

Reason No.1 to allow lottery winners to remain anonymous. And there's a long list of other reasons.

[lillyhorton]

How was she going to get the money by killing him? Wasn't the money in a bank? It seems to me that the person who owed 1 million to the deceased would want him killed because he wouldn't have had to repay the loan. Why would she bury the body in her yard when they could have dumped him in a swamp? Anyone could have created a shallow grave under her porch without being seen. There must be more evidence against her. Were her prints at the murder site?

[Arbuckle_Doc_10]

Old Saying: "A fool and his money are soon parted." (I prefer to use the word, "Easily", in place of "Soon"!!!)


~ Arbuckle Doc

[nytosf]

There's alway's more to the story. I'm going out on a limb here.
He get's the money in 2006 sometime later loans 1 mill to someone?
I just see a REAL stupid guy who throughs his money away or around.(It's a guy thing) The police focused on Dee Dee Moore and they didn't even consider other people.
Like the guy who owes him money ?
I don't think she got everything when he's going around giving it away.
Were they dating ?
I don't know what they have on her, money she took wise. I just see a guy who give's away thing's & when realizes he spent more than he has & it's too late & gone ,get's enraged , threatens to kill her & she called him on it. Got scared,didn't want to be having to look over her shoulder,shot first & burried the guy. WHAT IS THE MORAL GANG ? That's right ~"Lord love's a working man & don't trust white e." (movie THE JERK)

[DAlan63]

You post crap like this (you even go so far as to quote a comedy movie), yet you expect to be taken seriously? REALLY?!?!

Having read your post I find it utterly ironic that you refer to the victim 'stupid.' You appear to be blaming the victim. Maybe we should also blame it on the oil cans (like Steve Martin did in the Jerk).

[FromCalifornia]

"I can sleep good at night because I know I had done the very best job," said Defense attorney Byron Hileman.

I would have gotten all thee feet of the yard stick in the coat closet for even writing a sentence like that. An Attorney with a college degree said that? Sleep good? Had done? Yikes!

[rwsmith29456]

Another good reason to avoid lotteries. Whatever you have there is trash like this that will kill you for it.

[myth1958]

This illustrates again how bad lotteries and gambling can be for this nation. The promise of easy wealth sucks billions out of the hands of poor and lower-middle class citizens (who can't afford to waste it), building the lie that it is easy to win and lots of people do. Actually, the odds of winning a big lottery prize are astronomically bad, and the small prizes folks win on scratch-off tickets (rip-off tickets we call 'em) keep encouraging consumers to spend ever larger sums for decreasing gains. I know the proceeds for these games are often targeted toward social programs, non-profit groups, food shelfs and the like, but a small increase in the tax rate on the millionaires and billionaires in this nation could accomplish the same thing without beating the poorest Americans down further. If gambling - an addiction of horrible consequences to many - can be legal, then why not pot? If it were legalized we would garner millions in taxes practically overnight and spend millions less on enforcement and prisons. The logic of legalizing a sin while criminalizing a weed makes no sense either economically or morally.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

She did not kill that man," Condora told reporters
----
The why was he buried under HER patio?