Pair fatally stabbed ex-roommate over stolen PlayStation, police say
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Two Florida men allegedly lured their former roommate to a home and stabbed him to death over a stolen Sony PlayStation video game console, authorities said.
Seminole County deputies said Jake Bilotta, 22, and his roommate, 21-year-old Ian McClurg, enticed the victim to the Maitland home Monday under the pretext of going to a party, but instead stabbed him multiple times with a 7-inch chef’s knife, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
“They lured him back there for revenge,” Sheriff Dennis Lemma told the paper. “It is the most bizarre and disgraceful act that one can imagine.”
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“They lured him back there for revenge. It is the most bizarre and disgraceful act that one can imagine.”
Authorities said the victim, who has yet to be positively identified, was evicted several weeks earlier, FOX35 Orlando reported. Bilotta and McClurg believed the man later broke into their home and stole a PlayStation 4 console, authorities said.
While Bilotta and McClurg were stuffing the victim’s body into a bag, their new roommate, Walter Johnson, was just arriving home from a Tinder date, the Sentinel reported. Johnson, who had been living in the home for about a week, walked outside and called police.
Deputies arrived to find McClurg barricaded in a bathroom, while Bilotta attempted to escape, FOX35 reported. Bilotta was later caught and both men were charged with first-degree murder.
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“It's stupid. It's like, what's the point. What's even the point? They deserve it. They deserve as much time as they give them,” neighbor Zia Sanchez told the station.