One Day Planner From Murder

Jupiter, Florida a town just north of West Palm Beach, right off the ocean In Admiral’s Cove, a gated community where many of the rich and famous have homes. At one point Donald Trump, Jr. & Celine Dion owned homes there. Many homes were right on the water and the residents had boats docked at the edge of their property. 66-year-old real estate mogul & self-made millionaire, Lanny Horwitz, lived there in what can only be described as a waterfront mansion. On September 30th, 2011, the Admiral’s Cove security officer was alerted to an alarm being triggered at the home around 7am. Not long after he called 911 and reported a dead person at 408 Mariner. The operator asked “Did he shoot himself?” and the security officer replied “that’s what it sounds like to me” She said, “ So he committed suicide” and he said “correct”. She asked, “Can you tell where he shot himself?” had answer “In the head” Jupiter Police Detective Eric Frank was sent to the address for a death investigation, possible suicide. He quickly learned that Lanny lived at the address with his 42 year old son, Radley Horwitz and Radley’s mother and Lanny’s ex-wife, Donna Horwitz. The security guard told the detective he arrived and Radley opened the door and said “it’s my father” and Donna is there in the living room screaming “he’s so mean. He’s been saying he would do this.” The guard then found Lanny, naked on the floor of the master bathroom, face down, blood and broken glass everywhere and a handgun in his right hand. There was a corded phone attached to the bathroom wall. There was blood on the base, and the receiver was underneath Lanny. The guard pushed the gun out of the bathroom just outside the bathroom door. He rolled Lanny onto his back and determined he was already dead. That’s when he called 911. The guard asked Donna if anything was going on the previous night and Donna told him “He said he was going to do this” the guard asked “what? Kill himself” and she said “yes.” Detective Frank checked out the scene and saw a 5-shot Smith and Wesson revolver in just outside the master bathroom door. There was glass everywhere from a shattered glass shower door showing a bullet hole in the upper 3rd of the door and the shower is still running. Lanny appeared to have taken a bullet directly into his mouth. There were multiple casings on the floor. The detective noticed a bullet hole through a towel that was hanging over the shower door and threads from the towel were going thru the hole in the glass door. This made it appear as though Lanny had been either in the shower or stepping out when he was shot by a bullet that came from outside the shower and the bullet went thru the towel and glass door before it hit him. There was so much blood it was hard to determine how many times Lanny had been shot. At this point Detective Frank made everyone stop immediately, this is not a suicide. This is a crime scene. There was no forced entry to the home. The alarm that had gone off was triggered by the sound of glass breaking. The alarm can detect that specific sound. The shower door was the only broken glass in the home. And the only 2 people in the home at the time of Lanny’s death were Donna and Radley. Radley stood outside the house and was described as “stoic” and had no issue answering all the detective’s questions. He was very cooperative and allowed them to take his DNA and a gunshot residue test, which was negative. Donna on the other hand had completely shut down and wouldn’t speak to anyone. She literally put her fingers in her ears and would mouth “I can’t hear you.” Finally, she asked for an attorney. For this reason, a gunshot residue test was not performed on her. Radley told police at the scene that he was awoken by the alarm going off and hearing his mother screaming for him. He said he came out of his room and walked far enough to see to see his father on the bathroom floor with blood everywhere. He could tell that his father was dead. His mother was hysterical. He said she has some blood on her foot and he got a napkin and wiped it off. Then he went and turned off the house alarm. And right after that he opened the front door for the security guard. 10 hours after the shooting when the coroner removed Lanny’s body, it was discovered that Lanny had taken shots to his front and his back and at least 2 to his head, and he had been shot at least 9 times. With a gun that held 5 bullets. There were 2 shattered tiles in the floor under where Lanny’s body had been. Indicating a shooter had stood over him and fired as he was lying on the foor. As police continued to investigate the home, they discovered an arsenal of guns in the home, ranging from handguns to assault rifles. A total of 26 firearms. And 10s of thousands of rounds of ammunition. Most of the guns were registered to Lanny and Radley. Radley was a former licensed gun dealer. The whole family were described as gun enthusiasts and proficient with firing guns. The Smith and Wesson that shot Lanny was one from a pair of guns registered to Lanny and Donna. The other was found in its holster on the dresser in the master bedroom. The shell casings on the bathroom floor matched both guns. Also, luminol sprayed in both master bathroom sinks (Lanny had one and Donna had one) and the half bath sink, and Radley bathroom sink and the kitchen sink all lit up for the presence of blood. However, it also lights up for bleach. So did they wash off blood, or were they all clean freaks? Background: Lanny Horwitz was from Buffalo, New York. He met Donna in high school. She was a gorgeous, sweet, quiet girl with dark hair and dark eyes. He was instantly head over heels and had eyes for no one else. They got married in 1967. He started working for his father in commercial real estate while attending law school at the University of Buffalo. They had 1 child, Radley. Donna was a stay-at-home mom and very attentive to Radley. Lanny took over his father’s business when he passed away and was extremely successful growing the company. Lanny and Donna had a life most would envy. At one point they had homes all over the country. They traveled the world together. They had multiple boats, airplanes, cars. In 1990, Lanny went into semi-retirement and moved the family to Jupiter, Florida. I watched a few shows on the case and several articles. Family described both Donna and Lanny as devoted parents who spoiled their only child. Here’s where things start to seem weird. In one interview when asked about his childhood, Radley get’s this far away look in his eyes reminiscing and said he had a great homelife. His parents were the greatest people in the world. Family would say Radley and Lanny were close. That Radley looked up to and respected his father. But other sources where Radley was interviewed after the murder, Radley said things were not as they appeared, that his father never approved of him. He could never live up to expectations. One quote he says is “My father did some really, really awful things to me and to my mother. He was an absolute, just evil bastard.” Lanny and Donna divorced in 2001 after 30 years of marriage and (according to Radley) this was because Donna felt Lanny was ignoring her and she started getting attention from another man or possibly dating – it wasn’t clear. Radley said “she got picked up by this guy”. Lanny was livid. But their breakup was short lived, and they remarried in September of that same year. But then they divorced again in June 2002. For the next 9 years they were on and off again, but then Donna moved back into the Admiral Cove home in April 2011, just 6 months before Lanny was killed. Their son, Radley, also lived in the house. He was a single father and was working for Lanny. The Horwitz’s were going to be a family again. ***BREAK*** Investigators had Donna’s day planner, which she treated like a Journal. Her pet name for Lanny when things were good was “Lanbo”. And when things were bad, she called him “Mr. Meanie” Feb. 18, 2001: He couldn't stop hugging me + telling me how much he misses me. March 11, 2011: Lanny loves me + I love him + I want to help him. Lanny asked about $200,000. To keep both houses afloat + move back in -- + reconcile - great day! Turns out Lanny had made some poor business dealings and was at risk of losing the house in Admirals Cove as well as other assets. Donna’s family had money, so she was wealthy on her own. It’s possible Donna figured out Lanny only wanted her back because he needed her money. She ended up giving him $400 thousand dollars. Aug. 23, 2011: My heart is broken + he is working on my mind - playing games with me. According to Radley, his parent’s reconciliation changed when Lanny became a business partner with their neighbor down the street, Francine Tice. They were selling a health food product from a company called Lifemax. They spent a lot of time together and took many business trips together. Lanny said it was all business, but Radley said that’s not how it looked to them. They held hands. Francine sat on his lap. They were always together. And Donna was extremely jealous and suspicious. In her day planner, Donna documented everything she saw between Lanny and Francine. Her pet name for him was “Lanbo” July 16, 2001: Fran texted Lanbo at midnight woke us up. Lanny left at 1:15 to go on an errand with Fran didn't return until 4:45 P.M. Sept. 4, 2011: Lanbo home 7:30 p.m. -trying to act like he isn't with Fran "all the time" Francine Tice denies having anything other than a business relationship with Lanny, but there are photos I found online that look questionable to me. Radley thinks that by September his mother realized she had been duped into reconciling with Lanny because he needed her money. And the night before the murder, Lanny was packing for yet another business trip with Francine and Donna was losing it and they got into a huge fight and Lanny told Donna he wanted her out of the house before he got back from the trip. 6 days after his murder, Donna was arrested. She refused to speak to police or tell her side. But the day after her arrest Radley went to the police to give a videotaped statement. I watched some of it, and he’s pretty casual looking in there, retelling how just a week ago his mother killed his father. In the statement Radley says he never asked his mother what happened. He said he was afraid to know. But the first thing she said to him was “He was so awful.” Twice. He didn’t mention this at the scene, just in his statement a week after the murder. He also tells them he was asleep in his room, wearing earplugs and was jolted awake by the gunshots, but when he heard dry firing, he knew it meant he shooter was out of ammo. First he looked out the sliding glass doors at the back of his room, from there he had a view across the backyard pool into the master bedroom’s sliding glass doors. He tells investigators that he could see his mother pacing back and forth in the bedroom. At this point he threw down his earplugs and ran out his bedroom door into the living room to see what was had happened. He finds his mother in the foyer, hysterical ssaying “He’s so mean, he’s been so mean.” Radley’s room is actually on the other side of the house from the master bedroom and bathroom where the murder took place, with a large living room in between. So Radley is telling detectives he heard dry firing with earplugs in and the alarm going off. But the police think Radley is being helpful and candid, and Donna is refusing to speak to them. Prosecutors move ahead with their case against Donna, with Radley as one of their star witnesses and her trial begins a year and a half after the murder. Note: In one of the shows I watched, Lanny’s family says that there was a lot of infidelity in the marriage that started with Donna cheating on Lanny back when he was in law school. And that she would leave him periodically for other men, and then come back to Lanny when she ran out of money. Which I find strange, and not supported by other sources which say that Donna came from a wealthy background and had money of her own. And many sources, including her own journal report that Lanny needed money from Donna to keep their Admiral’s Cove home. That same show, said that Lanny told his family that his reconciliation with Donna 6 month’s before his murder was more of a “business deal” due to financial difficulties he was having and that she viewed it that was as well. Which also goes against this thought that Donna needed Lanny for money. I’m not sure Lanny’s family had a true view of Lanny, Donna or Radley. Donna’s defense attorney, Grey Tesh, claimed that Donna would have been covered in blood if she had shot Lanny. And the shots appeared to have come from someone taller. He points out that the police screwed up by not collecting and examining Donna’s or Radley’s pajamas that morning. There is nothing but circumstantial evidence against Donna. Her journal showed she was hurt, jealous and angry with Lanny. But she never writes anything like “I hate him” or “I’m going to kill him”. The defense points the finger at Radley, saying he had multiple motives to kill his father. First, he hated his father. Radley said he was never good enough for his father. Radley said he was never physically abused by his father, but he was verbally abusive and vindictive. According to Radley and Donna’s journal, Lanny was cruel and condescending. As an adult, Radley turned his gun obsession into a business and became a licensed gun dealer. He opened a store called “Jupiter Arms” that Lanny financed. But Radley was not the businessman his father was. And the shop did poorly, and Lanny lost a lot of money. According to Radley, at one point he was debating buying an illegal part online for his personal collection that would turn a Glock into a fully automatic weapon. When he went to his father for advice and Lanny said, “just fucking order it”. Implying his son was being a wuss. That purchase got the attention of the Feds. So in 2006, as Radley was selling guns out of the trunk of his car, he got arrested for selling a handgun to an undercover agent posing as a felon and was sentenced to 5 months in federal prison. And Lanny apparently made fun of Radley for it. Radley blamed his father for his arrest, because Lanny told him to order the illegal part and put him of the ATF’s radar. As an ex-con he had trouble finding work and resorted to working for his father and moving back into his house. And he said his father took every opportunity to make fun of him for it. Friends and family were shocked when Radley was bad-mouthing Lanny at his funeral. Blaming his father for his time in prison and the loss of his license to sell firearms. Radley even said things like, “what goes around comes around.” Second possible motive, Radley’s life and finances were a mess. He can’t find work as an ex-con. But he would inherit $500 thousand dollars from his father’s life insurance as well as other assets. Unfortunately, the 2 houses he inherited from his father had upside-down mortgages. He kept an Aston Martin and sold the rest of the cars he inherited. During the search of the Horwitz home, it was discovered that Radley owned a book called “Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors” which he said he bought at a gun show simply because he was a gun enthusiast. Francine Tice didn’t testify. Donna did not take the stand. The jury only deliberated for 2 hours. Donna was found guilty of first-degree murder and she was sentenced to life with no chance for parole. Four years later she won an appeal to for a new trial when an appellate court overturned her conviction and sentence. Once again, she was found guilty, but this time for 2nd degree murder and was sentenced to 32 years with 6 year’s time served. Even if she gets paroled after serving 25 years, she’ll be in her 90s. Now Radley has been interviewed for a number of true crime shows. He has a rather pragmatic view on his own mother turning the tables on him in court and blaming him for the murder Radley believes it was what her lawyers thought would be their best shot to get a not-guilty verdict. He thinks her lawyer did a terrible job and was he was hoping for a not-guilty verdict for his mother. He has visited her several times in jail and has no hard feelings. I don’t know if the right person is in jail for this murder. Donna Horwitz has never told her side of what happened that morning. Out of guilt? Or is she protecting her only son? Did Donna really kill Lanny after finding out she had been duped by him again and watching him with another woman? Did he really ask her to move out the night before and that was the last straw for her? Or did Radley kill Lanny after years of feeling like a disappointment and his father’s constant beratement and he’s letting his mother take the blame? Was Lanny shot in the mouth and the gun placed in his hand to make it look like a suicide? Was his ex-wife tired of his lies? Was his son sick of years of verbal abuse? Or did they conspire together, and Donna is taking the fall for both of them? Sources: “In Ice Cold Blood” Season 2, Episode 16 “Mother vs Son” “Mother May I Murder” 48 hours episode “Love, Hate and Obsession.” CBS news .com Palm Beach Post .com