Police release suspects' notes in Fla. cop's death

WINDERMERE, Fla. - Authorities on Tuesday released handwritten letters left behind by two teens suspected in the slaying of a Windermere, Fla. police officer.

Windermere Police Department Officer Robert German, 31, was shot and killed early Saturday after police say he stopped a young man and woman, later identified as 18-year-old Brandon Goode and 17-year-old Alexandria Hollinghurst, on foot shortly before 4 a.m.

Police say Goode and Hollinghurst were later found dead in bushes nearby and are believed to have committed suicide.

The two had been considered missing and endangered prior to the incident, according to CBS affiliate WKMG.

In a note from Goode addressed to his "loving parents" released by authorities Tuesday, he wrote, "I am sorry for the pain and misery I have brought you both, not just now but from the past few years as well."

He also informed his parents in the letter that he was engaged to Hollinghurst.

"Please don't be sad, this is what I want now. I get to die peacefully with the woman I love, the woman of my dreams, my fiancée (yes, we were engaged!). I miss you both so much already. I love you mom. I love you dad."

In a letter to Alexandria Hollinghurst, Goode referred to her as "Alex Goode" and described a way for them to flee to Panama.

"My plan is pretty simple. Police don't consider you a missing person/runaway till after you've been gone 48 hours, which would give us plenty of time to get to Clearwater. Then we steal a boat and sail down to Panama, which is a 4-day sail."

WKMG reports Hollinghurst wrote an angry letter to her mother and told her father in a separate note that she was sorry to continually "disappoint" him.

She also wrote a letter to Goode on March 10 and signed it "Mrs. Goode." The note contained a list of things they would do together on March 29 and after, ranging from eating at McDonald's to traveling and "be good people, have morals."

Meanwhile, authorities also released radio transmissions from an encounter Kissimmee police officers had with Goode and Hollinghurst hours before German was shot and killed.

Police approached the duo at a Kissimmee Walgreens because the officer recognized that they had been reported as missing and endangered.

As the officer was talking to Goode and getting his identification, a second officer was giving information about Goode's car when Goode sped away, nearly running over an officer. A warrant was issued for Goode's arrest for resisting an officer.

Kissimmee police told WKMG that they did not pursue Goode and Hollinghurst because it is against their policy, which states officers can chase a suspect only if he or she committed a felony.

Instead, the police department asked other police agencies to be on the lookout for the couple and their car.

Goode and Hollinghurst at some point ditched the car at a bank not far from the Walgreens, according to the station. It's not clear how they ended up in Windermere.

Windermere is located 15 miles west of Orlando. It has a population of about 3,000 people and one of the lowest crime rates in Florida, Mayor Gary Bruhn said. He said Officer German's shooting was the first line-of-duty death in the town's history.