Jermaine Lebron, nicknamed “Bugsy,” is the Florida man behind the 1995 red truck murder, the killing of 22-year-old waiter Larry Neal Oliver Jr., who was lured to a house in Osceola County under the pretense of buying accessories for his customized red Chevrolet pickup. Lebron was convicted of first-degree felony murder and robbery, sentenced to death three separate times, and finally resentenced in 2017 to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
How Larry Neal Oliver Jr. Was Killed
Oliver was a 22-year-old Belle Isle resident who worked two jobs to pay for his 1993 customized red Chevrolet Stepside pickup. On November 24, 1995, he went missing after being drawn to a house on Gardenia Road in Buenaventura Lakes, where Lebron and a group of associates were staying. Lebron had offered to sell him “spinners,” decorative wheel accessories, for the truck.1Findlaw. Lebron v. State
When Oliver arrived, Lebron directed him toward the back bedrooms. In a hallway, he forced Oliver to lie face down on the floor and shot him at close range in the back of the head with a sawed-off shotgun he called “Betsy.” The medical examiner found the shotgun wound was instantaneous, with pellets traveling upward and from right to left through the skull.1Findlaw. Lebron v. State
Witnesses at the house said Lebron was “smiling and laughing” after the shooting and yelled, “I did it. I did it.” He then directed the others to burn Oliver’s identification, clean the blood from the house, and dispose of the body. Oliver’s body was dumped in a rural area of southwest Orange County near the Walt Disney World property, covered with a blanket and shrubs but still visible from the road, and was discovered on December 1, 1995.2Sun-Sentinel. 5 Arrested, 4 Sought in Killing of Waiter
In the days after the killing, Lebron and others stripped stereo equipment from the truck and pawned it, used Oliver’s credit card to pay for a dinner at Hooters, cashed his checks, and set the truck’s interior on fire. The charred pickup was found on November 30 on a dirt path off Boggy Creek Road.3Orlando Sentinel. Red Truck Killer Jermaine Bugsy Lebron Loses Death Penalty Appeal
Lebron’s former girlfriend, Christina Charbonier, testified that he admitted he “had killed someone,” and his then-current girlfriend heard him say he had killed a man for his truck. Other witnesses at the Gardenia house told police they followed Lebron’s orders because they feared he would kill them the way he had killed Oliver.1Findlaw. Lebron v. State
The Second Victim and the Arrest in New York
About a week after Oliver’s killing, on December 1, 1995, Lebron and two associates lured 41-year-old limousine driver Roger Nasser to an apartment, blindfolded him, and drove him to an orange grove near St. Cloud. Lebron held a shotgun to Nasser’s head and said, “Tell the Lord Bugsy says hi,” and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired. Nasser was beaten and shocked with a stun gun but escaped alive.4Orlando Sentinel. Murder Suspect: I’m a Nice Guy
On December 5, 1995, police caught up with Lebron in New York City, sitting in a car parked outside a topless juice bar called “Legz Diamond” that was owned by his mother. Inside the vehicle, officers found a day planner containing Oliver’s identification card and four shotgun shells.5Florida Supreme Court. Lebron v. State, Initial Brief
Lebron was 21 at the time and already had a substantial record. His prior Florida convictions included possession of cocaine with intent to sell, which had him on felony probation the night Oliver died, and aggravated assault with a firearm. He also had New York convictions for attempted robbery and cocaine possession with intent to sell, and two of his earlier Florida offenses had involved a shotgun.6Orlando Sentinel. LeBron Sentenced to Die
The Conviction and a Contradictory Verdict
Lebron was indicted for Oliver’s murder on October 28, 1996. His first trial in 1997 ended in a hung jury. At his second trial in 1998, a jury convicted him of first-degree felony murder and robbery with a firearm.7WFSU. Lebron v. State
The verdict came with a strange twist. Using a special verdict form, the same jury that convicted Lebron of felony murder also indicated that “Larry Neal Oliver, Jr. was killed by a person other than Jermaine Lebron” and that Lebron did not personally possess a firearm during the offense. The trial judge rejected that finding, writing that the evidence “clearly establishes beyond any reasonable doubt that Jermaine Lebron, the defendant, killed Larry Neal Oliver, Jr.” and calling him the “producer, director, chief actor, and shooter in the murder of the victim.”1Findlaw. Lebron v. State
That contradiction shadowed the case for two decades.
Three Death Sentences, All Reversed
Chief Orange-Osceola Circuit Judge Belvin Perry Jr., who later presided over the Casey Anthony trial, sentenced Lebron to death three separate times. Three separate juries recommended death by the same split vote of 7 to 5.
1998: The First Death Sentence
After the 1998 conviction, Perry imposed death, citing Lebron’s criminal history and rejecting the jury’s finding that someone else had fired the fatal shot. He said the record was “totally devoid of any evidence of anyone else being responsible for the murder,” and added that even if Lebron were not the shooter, he was “a major participant” who supplied the weapon, ordered the victim to the floor, and directed the disposal of the body. Defense attorney Robert Norgard called the ruling extraordinary: “I’m surprised that the judge ignored the jury’s findings. I’ve never seen anything like that in my whole life.”6Orlando Sentinel. LeBron Sentenced to Die
On August 30, 2001, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions but vacated the death sentence, ruling that Perry had “erroneously declared the evidence showed LeBron committed the murder.”8Orlando Sentinel. Killer Gets Death Sentence
2002: The Second Death Sentence
At a new penalty phase in May 2002, a fresh jury again recommended death 7 to 5. On August 15, 2002, Perry reimposed death along with a life sentence for the robbery. His sentencing order once more called Lebron “the producer, director and protagonist in the murder and robbery” and said “nobody else was proved to be the shooter.” Norgard accused the judge of defying the Supreme Court’s instructions by again basing the sentence on the conclusion that Lebron was the killer.8Orlando Sentinel. Killer Gets Death Sentence
The Florida Supreme Court vacated this sentence too, this time because Perry had admitted evidence that Lebron possessed a firearm during the Nasser kidnapping, even though the Nasser jury had acquitted him of the firearm charge.9Florida Supreme Court. Lebron v. State, Opinion
2005: The Third Death Sentence
A third penalty phase ended in mistrial. At a fourth, in August 2005, jurors returned the same 7-5 recommendation. They unanimously found two aggravating factors, prior violent felony convictions and murder committed during a robbery, and by 9 to 3 found the killing was committed for financial gain. They unanimously rejected the mitigation offered by the defense, including Lebron’s age and the claim that he was only a minor participant. On December 27, 2005, Perry sentenced him to death for the third time.10Findlaw. Lebron v. State
The Florida Supreme Court affirmed that sentence in 2008 and rejected Lebron’s later postconviction challenges in 2014.11Findlaw. Lebron v. State
Life Without Parole After Hurst v. Florida
In January 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Hurst v. Florida, holding that Florida’s capital sentencing scheme violated the Sixth Amendment by letting a judge, rather than a jury, find the facts required for a death sentence. The Florida Supreme Court applied the ruling to older cases and held that non-unanimous jury death recommendations could not be treated as harmless error.12Death Penalty Information Center. Hurst v. Florida
Lebron’s case fit that framework exactly. Every one of his three death recommendations had come from a divided 7-5 jury. On September 28, 2017, at age 43, he was resentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also carries a life sentence for the robbery with a firearm conviction. The Oliver family said they were relieved that more than two decades of court proceedings were finally over.13Orlando Sentinel. Red Truck Murder Victim’s Family to Celebrate Christmas Knowing Killer Is Locked Up Forever
What Happened to the Accomplices
Roughly half a dozen people were involved in the aftermath of the killing. Five were arrested shortly afterward and charged as accessories: twin brothers Joseph and Mark Tocci, Duane Sapp, Mary Lineberger, and Charissa Wilburn. Warrants also went out for Vern Williams, Daniel Sumner, and Howard Kendall.2Sun-Sentinel. 5 Arrested, 4 Sought in Killing of Waiter
Mark Tocci pleaded guilty in May 1996 to being an accessory to first-degree murder and received three years in prison and three years of probation, and he was later ordered to pay $3,000 in restitution to Oliver’s parents. Duane Sapp and Vern Williams were convicted in December 1996 for their roles in disposing of the body and cleaning the crime scene.14Orlando Sentinel. Roles in Slaying Send 2 to Prison Stacie Kirk, who had helped lure Roger Nasser, took a plea deal for 42 months in prison and two years of probation in exchange for testifying against Lebron. Prosecutors later worried she was backing away from the deal out of fear of him.4Orlando Sentinel. Murder Suspect: I’m a Nice Guy Four other accomplices were also ordered to pay $3,000 each in restitution to the Oliver family.15Orlando Sentinel. Murderer’s Accomplice to Pay Victim’s Parents