By John Woodrow Cox, Times Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
BROOKSVILLE — On Jan. 14, 2010, John Kalisz walked into a home west of Brooksville and shot Deborah Tillotson, a woman he didn't know, four times. On that clear, warm afternoon, she died.
The next day, Nicole DiConsiglio turned 28. A gift and a birthday card from Tillotson — her mother — arrived in the mail.
"Since my mother was killed the day before my birthday, I find my birthday to be a very painful time," she told jurors Wednesday morning. "How am I supposed to celebrate with family and friends when just the day before is the anniversary of my mother's death?"
On Jan. 14, 2010, Kalisz killed Tillotson and his sister, Kathryn "Kitty" Donovan, in her home on Wilhelm Road. He also shot his niece, Manessa Donovan, and Amy Green, an employee at Kitty Donovan's home-based business.
Kalisz was convicted of the crimes on Monday. Public defenders have argued that their client deserves life in prison; prosecutor Pete Magrino is seeking the death penalty.
Tears streamed down DiConsiglio's red cheeks through much of her testimony. Four jurors sobbed with her. As two deputies in the back of the courtroom also cried, the bailiff handed them a box of tissues.
Tillotson, her daughter told the court, was her best friend. Together, they scrapbooked, did crafts and watched movies.
Shopping in her mother's favorite stores still makes her sad. Sometimes, when she sees things Tillotson would have wanted, she reaches for them.
She saw her mother for the last time about two weeks before the killings.
"Those final moments, that final goodbye, was stolen from me," she said. "My mother was stolen from my family, and my life will never, ever be the same."
DiConsiglio's sister, Lauren Tillotson, addressed jurors when her sister finished.
"I love you," Nicole said as they passed.
"I love you, too," Lauren responded.
"People keep telling me that this trial will give us closure, but there is no closure that comes from an ordeal like this," Lauren told the court. "It doesn't all just go away because a verdict is given."
Earlier in the day, public defender Devon Sharkey told jurors that in the moments after Kalisz's trailer burned down — two days before the shootings — something in him broke.
But his collapse began two years earlier, Sharkey said. Until his mid-30s, Kalisz had lived from street corners to train cars to jail cells. He was an alcoholic and a hell raiser.
Then, Sharkey said, he found Alcoholic Anonymous around 1990.
"John did something very few street-bum drunks do," Sharkey said. "He pulled his life completely together"
Because of his story, Kalisz connected with and helped fellow alcoholics for nearly 20 years. His success story began to erode in late 2008 when his mother died.
Sharkey then referred to a "legal issue" in 2009. The public defender didn't specify, but he was likely referring to accusations that Kalisz had exposed himself and masturbated in front of Manessa, then 17, in his sister's home. He was also accused of giving her nude photos and threatening the girl's boyfriend with a knife.
Convicted in those charges, the terms of his probation prohibited Kalisz from returning to his home or roofing business in Colorado. He had few friends and little support in Florida.
Then, Kalisz's mobile home caught fire when he tried to change propane tanks. Sharkey said that changed him.
"You've already seen what happened when he broke," Sharkey told jurors. "The state has laid it out in excruciating detail."
The attorney said he will present friends, families and even a forensic psychologist to perhaps explain, but not justify, Kalisz's murderous rampage.
"We hope," he said, "you find that John's life is worth sparing."
Minutes before his plea to jurors, the defense team's fight for Kalisz's life already suffered a significant blow.
Public defender Alan Fanter argued that jurors should not be told about Kalisz's murder of Dixie County sheriff's Capt. Chad Reed, who was shot trying to arrest him later that day in Cross City.
"If we were in Dixie County trying Chad Reed's death, it would be a different story," Fanter said.
After a brief debate with Magrino, Judge Daniel Merritt Sr. ruled that the state would be allowed to present evidence of Reed's death.