- 17 minutes ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00A woman was found in room 205.
00:12She's got blood all around her.
00:14There's blood coming out of her nose and mouth.
00:17I went back up and went 205 and opened the door and I could see her foot.
00:24She had a washcloth that was stuffed in her mouth and a shoe print on the side of her face.
00:30From prior incidents at the hotel, we knew there was pretty good surveillance there, a lot of cameras.
00:37We see someone walk into the room and he's in there for 14 minutes.
00:43He leaves the room and leaves the hotel.
00:46You see just this sinister look on his face.
00:50You really didn't know what was behind the eyes.
00:55He's just pure evil in my opinion. He always has been.
00:58He knew exactly what he was doing and the consequences for that.
01:02He knew exactly what he was doing.
01:23Venice, Florida, April 20th, 2021.
01:31Police respond to a call about a gravely wounded woman found in the roadway in
01:36from an employee at the hotel and the woman's husband.
01:41An employee from the hotel, Ryan, reported that a woman was found in room 205.
01:49When he was talking to the dispatch, he said that it looks like she fell.
01:57She's got blood all around her.
01:59There's blood coming out of her nose and mouth.
02:02She's got very shallow breathing.
02:04He put his hand on her chest and could feel a heartbeat.
02:07When he found her, he also noticed that there was a towel in her mouth.
02:13He pulled the towel out, just tried to resuscitate her at that point.
02:19We actually had one of our guys parked in the parking lot of the roadway when the call came out.
02:29My initial thought was likely a drug overdose.
02:35At this period of time, we're having a real problem with fentanyl overdoses,
02:39even to the point where, you know, we're carrying Narcan in our vest.
02:42When I first got there, the paramedics and firefighters, they were arriving on scene.
02:50I went up the stairway with them, and one of our deputies was already there providing first aid.
02:57And, you know, as soon as the paramedics got there, they took over first aid.
03:01And I kind of just stood outside the room in the doorway just to maintain the scene.
03:07The victim's husband, Gerald Strader, identifies her to the police as Tina Strader
03:15and informs them that she works as a cleaner in the roadway in.
03:19When they found her, she was half in the closet with her feet sticking out,
03:25so they could see her feet from the doorway.
03:27So when they pulled her, there was a trail of blood from the closet
03:31to where she was ultimately found by first responders.
03:36She had some trauma to her face and to her neck.
03:40What stood out the most is that she had a shoe print on the side of her face.
03:44As far as we knew, she hadn't been down too long because Ryan didn't see her chest rise.
03:50He had been performing CPR.
03:52So any signs of life, our first priority is preservation of life.
03:56So they're going to transport her to the hospital to see if they can save her.
04:01As Tina's rushed to the hospital, detectives pulled Gerald aside and asked him some questions.
04:08We needed to speak with him.
04:10We needed to get more information about some of the things that he saw
04:13because he was living there.
04:14He was on scene when this happened.
04:17He was one of our best witnesses to put a time frame together.
04:24It was 205 on her...
04:27Yeah, a vacant list.
04:28It was on her vacant list, so she told you she was there at 849?
04:32At 849, and I texted her right back.
04:35She texted both those messages at 849.
04:38I texted her back at 851, and she didn't text me back.
04:41So what time did you end up going and looking?
04:43Honestly, it must have been right after 952.
04:48I went to third floor, and I saw Liz with the third floor girl.
04:52I said, have you seen Tina at all?
04:53She said, she's on second floor.
04:55I said, well, she's supposed to be down there, but I don't see her anywhere.
04:58I went back up, and I went 205, and I opened the door, and I could see her foot.
05:07He's got some physical disabilities, so he wasn't able to actually go into the room due to his wheelchair.
05:13But he called for Ryan.
05:16Her head was right by the water heater, and she was kind of laying half in that room and half right there in front of the sink.
05:26And she was in a pool of blood under her head, and it was smeared over here on the floor, too.
05:33And she had a rag in her mouth, like, stuffed way down in her mouth.
05:39That was wadded like this and stuck down in her throat.
05:43Something just didn't seem right with the whole circumstance.
05:50She was there alone.
05:51She was an employee.
05:53We knew she was in there cleaning the room.
05:55There was some blood on the floor.
05:57One of our guys on our unit immediately went down to the front office to start checking video to see if there's anything unusual.
06:07From prior incidents at the hotel, we knew there was pretty good surveillance there, a lot of cameras.
06:13He calls me up shortly after, like, within minutes.
06:18He told me something's not right here.
06:26What you see in the video is Tina approaches room 205 with her cart.
06:34You see her husband kind of in the background, and they look like they're having some type of an exchange, just a verbal exchange.
06:40And she goes into the room, and her husband leaves the opposite direction.
06:48Only a minute later, we see someone.
06:51He walks towards the room.
06:53You can see him look inside.
06:54He then walks back towards his room, which was 209, just around the corner.
07:03And then he comes back, and you see him walk into the room.
07:07He's in there for 14 minutes.
07:17He leaves the room and leaves the hotel.
07:19What was really scary with that tape is you see just this sinister look on his face.
07:43Both before and after he enters the room, he's smiling, and he looks like he's proud of himself.
07:52It was gut-wrenching to watch that.
08:05Investigators speak to the staff at the roadway in to learn more about the man staying in room 209.
08:10I interviewed the motel staff.
08:15I was tasked with speaking to them about any interactions they had had with him during that time.
08:20He was not favorably looked upon as a guest.
08:23Created a lot of issues with some of the other tenants.
08:26The staff themselves were not comfortable being around him.
08:29My wife claimed, I think it was 209 yesterday, and said something to the management that something wasn't right about that guy.
08:42She's like, keep an eye on this guy because there's just something not right about him.
08:46I don't know what it is.
08:49He had a lot of tattoos, which has nothing to do with it.
08:52Tattoos aren't the point.
08:53It was more his eyes.
08:56He gave me a look.
08:57I don't know.
08:58It was weird.
08:59He had dark eyes.
09:00His eyes were black.
09:02So I called my husband before I went back to the room to give him his towels, and I had my husband come up.
09:09And then I handed the guy the towels.
09:10He said, thank you.
09:11He went on about his business, and he just sat there with the door open, smoking, listening to a lot of music, loud music.
09:18Everybody that came in contact with him, he would not let them in.
09:24He was not a nice guy.
09:25He would snap at these people, and he would be that person where you look at him, and he would just start saying things to you in a demeaning manner, and you weren't sure what was going to happen.
09:36And you really didn't know what was behind the eyes.
09:40Investors conduct the search of both rooms for evidence to see if they can establish a link between Tina Strader and the man staying in room 209.
09:54Room 205 was where Tina was located, so in there we had, again, her clothing.
10:03We had the towel that was stuffed in her mouth, a lanyard that she had been wearing, her hearing aid, some blood swabs.
10:09At that point, we kind of focused our attention to his room, being that, you know, he's likely a suspect in whatever happened to Tina in room 205.
10:22So we were outside the room.
10:23We started making announcements for him to come out, and there was no response.
10:28So we thought we were probably going to have to make entry.
10:30Within 209, we located some more narcotics, another towel that was bloodied, and we also took the pee trap in his sink because we were hoping to find some more evidence that maybe he had tried to wash himself prior to leaving the hotel.
10:49Police fanned across the hotel property in a desperate search for the suspect from room 209, but he was nowhere to be found.
10:56They knew it was a race against time to apprehend a violent killer who might strike again.
11:10April 20th, 2021.
11:13Police are searching for their prime suspect in the attack on Tina Strader when they catch a break.
11:19Through interviewing the motel staff, they learn the name of their suspect.
11:24Steven Havrilka.
11:26Steven Havrilka has an extensive criminal history.
11:35I worked that area he grew up in.
11:37I started my career down there.
11:39He was one of those kids that started with the vehicle burglaries, and we kind of just dealt with him on that aspect.
11:45And then it became every briefing, he would do something or he'd be a person of interest in doing something.
11:50He did go to jail for a little bit of time to take us away from there.
11:56If you had a crime committed in that area, he was always a person of interest at the time if he was out of jail.
12:02As the crime scene is being processed, detectives receive a surprising call about a potential sighting of their suspect.
12:11There is a gentleman who was acting very erratic down by the regents' bank.
12:17He has his arms outstretched, he's proclaiming that he's Jesus, and this is when the 911 calls start coming in.
12:25We started hearing calls for backup from the deputy that responded to the bank down the road for the suspicious person.
12:35To be honest, I didn't really pay any attention when the initial call came out because of our circumstance at the hotel.
12:44But then when we started hearing our deputy down the road calling for backup, another deputy at the hotel told me,
12:52hey, I think he's out with, you know, Stephen Havrilka, who's our suspect here.
12:57At that point, I ran down to my car, and I got to him as fast as I could.
13:01We were really fortunate with this case in that we did have all of the community support that we did
13:08because they saw this guy and they said, you know what, he doesn't look right.
13:12There's something off about him.
13:15People thought he was crazy.
13:17They didn't know if he was on something, but he was getting down on his knees, acting like he was on a cross.
13:23Not normal behavior for somebody at roughly 11 o'clock in the morning in front of a bank.
13:28When the callers called, there was one female that said that he was stripping down and maybe possibly fondling himself.
13:37There was another caller that stated that he was on his hands and knees praying.
13:42When I got there, there was two deputies.
13:49They were just placing handcuffs on Havrilka.
13:52He was on his belly, face down.
13:55He was, like, trying to buck them off.
13:57At that point, I came up and I helped him out.
14:00I tried to hold him down, and he just, it felt like superhuman strength.
14:04I remember I was trying to hold his legs and hamstrings down, and he was, like, bucking me up.
14:12I heard he was saying things like she and her, and knowing that he had some involvement, likely what happened to Tina,
14:20I took out my cell phone, I started recording, just in case he made any, like, spontaneous statements about what he did there.
14:26I don't care.
14:28Stop, stop, stop.
14:30Relax, relax, relax.
14:31I can't.
14:34No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
14:35Sorry, I, I, I, she told me.
14:38I don't care.
14:39Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
14:42Stop.
14:44Steven, man, I need you to come down for me.
14:46Calm down for me.
14:48Calm down, calm down, calm down, calm down.
14:53Relax.
14:53Calm down.
14:54We're going to get an ambulance to check you out, OK, man?
15:00He was trying to eat grass.
15:02He was just delusional.
15:04He looked like he was definitely
15:05under the influence of drugs.
15:09Stop eating grass, man.
15:11Stop eating the grass.
15:13Mommy, I wasn't really you.
15:15I was done with you.
15:18Mommy, don't hurt me.
15:21Stop it.
15:22Stop eating the grass.
15:24Stop eating.
15:39Some of the deputies that were there
15:41knew him from past encounters.
15:43So luckily they were able to kind of talk him down a little bit
15:47so he didn't end up fighting them.
15:49And they were able to take him into custody.
15:51And ultimately he was transported to the hospital
15:53because he was so influenced by narcotics.
15:58He was soaking wet.
15:59He had no shirt on.
16:00He had jeans that were,
16:03they felt like he just got out of a swimming pool.
16:05He obviously had something going on,
16:07a mental situation or drug situation.
16:11In the hospital, they're checking his blood toxicity,
16:14making sure that he doesn't have any kind of injuries.
16:17So he's just there basically for medical clearance
16:20at this point.
16:20At that point, he was pretty sedated.
16:26We collected his jeans and, you know,
16:30put them in a paper bag for evidence purposes,
16:32which it was later handed off to our crime scene people.
16:38Tina, she was there at the same hospital as him,
16:41a few rooms down, actually.
16:44Steven Havrilka is too under the influence of drugs
16:48for police to question him about the attack on Tina Strader,
16:51who remains in critical condition.
16:55Investigators can only wait and hope that she will wake up
16:58and give a statement about what happened in room 205.
17:02Venice, Florida, April 2021.
17:11Tina Strader is in critical condition
17:14after a brutal attack in the roadway end.
17:18A few hours after being rushed to the hospital,
17:22Tina passes away from her injuries.
17:24There's no easy way for us to tell someone
17:28that their loved one has died,
17:29and especially in a manner such as this.
17:34We all dread it.
17:35It's the worst part of the job.
17:39I feel so awful for her and her family
17:42and what they've gone through.
17:44I can't even imagine the depth of pain
17:48that it must be for them.
17:50Gerald was what you would expect
17:54of a very grieving husband.
17:56He was very emotional.
17:58He really described Tina as everything to him,
18:00with the reason for him to continue living,
18:03the reason for waking up every single day.
18:06And when we were speaking with him,
18:07you could just see the pain and the hurt
18:10that he was carrying both on the outside and the inside.
18:13I think about her every day and what she deserves.
18:21She was the biggest giver,
18:23the biggest heart,
18:24the biggest genuine soul
18:26of anybody I've ever known in my entire life.
18:34From what I learned from Gerald,
18:36Tina just appeared to be a very infectious person,
18:39somebody that was willing to help others,
18:42somebody that was willing to talk to anybody
18:44that may be down on their luck,
18:46and somebody that was always willing
18:47to lend a helping hand.
18:52We learned that Gerald had met Tina
18:54at a poultry plant
18:55when they were both living in Texas.
18:58And Tina had this bubbly personality
19:00and something just really stuck out
19:01and caught Gerald's attention.
19:05Gerald and Tina were really living out
19:07their honeymoon phase here in Florida.
19:09They were making friends.
19:10They loved going to the beach.
19:12Gerald did have some health problems,
19:14but Tina was working to take care of him.
19:16He used a wheelchair to get around,
19:18and he was also employed at the motel as well,
19:21sort of as a maintenance man.
19:22So the two of them were really trying
19:24to build a life together here in Florida.
19:26Initially, at the hospital,
19:41some things were not observed
19:44that were observed in the autopsy.
19:46For instance, the severe amount of bruising
19:48to her head and a shoe imprint
19:50that we found on her face.
19:51With everything that's going on in the hospital,
19:56with all the tubes and everything,
19:57that was not necessarily visible at that time.
20:02We want to know exactly how she died.
20:05Even though we have a lot of evidence
20:07pointing us to a certain cause of death,
20:10we need a definitive answer.
20:11We need somebody in a medical background
20:13telling us this is what she actually died of.
20:22On the 21st of April, 2021,
20:25Sarasota Sheriff's Department
20:27hold a press conference to inform the community
20:29of the heinous crime that has taken place.
20:34We knew that this was a big deal
20:36because the sheriff himself, Sheriff Kurt Hoffman,
20:38had called a press conference.
20:40You could tell the sense of urgency
20:45when we were out there.
20:47We knew that something very bad
20:48had happened inside that room.
20:52By all accounts,
20:53what I'm about to share with you
20:55is one of the most egregious crimes
20:56we've seen recently
20:57here in Sarasota County.
21:00So we are following up leads today,
21:02interviewing people,
21:02looking at video,
21:04things of that nature.
21:05So it is still a very active investigation.
21:10We found out it was strangulation,
21:12not by a cord or a rope,
21:16but by crushing force,
21:19which could only be done
21:21by somebody's hands.
21:26Not to our surprise,
21:27Havruka was uncooperative
21:29when interviewed.
21:30However, through the investigation,
21:32detectives have learned
21:33that Havruka did not know the victim.
21:35I can only imagine
21:37that he may have spent his days
21:39perhaps observing her
21:41at the roadway in
21:43where she was employed
21:44and he was staying.
21:46As you can see,
21:47Havruka is extremely familiar
21:49with law enforcement.
21:50He is a convicted felon
21:52with 34 prior felony charges
21:55and 19 felony convictions.
21:58Havruka's prior crimes
22:00range from battery,
22:01domestic battery by strangulation,
22:03burglary with a battery,
22:05battery of a detained person,
22:08battery of a person 65 years or older,
22:10and tampering with a witness
22:11to name a few.
22:13There is no other way
22:14to describe Mr. Havruka.
22:16He is an animal.
22:18He also has tattoos
22:20that depict his certain symbols
22:22of white supremacy.
22:23The victim in this case
22:29was doing her job,
22:31was certainly terrorized,
22:33battered,
22:34and now is deceased.
22:36As this investigation continues,
22:38we are committed
22:39to working with
22:39the state attorney's office
22:40to see that this man
22:41is put away
22:42for the rest of his life.
22:46While Stephen Havruka
22:48is in the hospital,
22:49he talks to the police
22:50about what happened that morning
22:51and admits to some
22:53howering details of the crime.
23:04I did initially attempt
23:06to talk to him at the hospital,
23:07and he would not talk with me.
23:12However, what was interesting
23:13is that we had deputies
23:15that had to go with him
23:17everywhere that he went
23:18as an inmate,
23:18and at the hospital,
23:20he admitted to the offense
23:21on several occasions
23:22to several of the corrections deputies.
23:28I went ahead and I got high
23:30and I was up for about a week,
23:32and when I was up for about a week,
23:33I fell into a hillbatch
23:35and a little bit of a thing
23:35and just walked out the door
23:37and then I took a left,
23:38and when I took to the left,
23:39I sensed that there was a woman
23:40right there in that room
23:42because there was
23:42cleaning days there,
23:43but there could have been a guy.
23:46When I went in there,
23:47I took a left,
23:48and then when I took a left,
23:50I went there.
23:50She was in the room
23:51and I said, hey,
23:52and when she came in the room,
23:53I hit her,
23:54and when I hit her,
23:55she fell on the floor.
23:57When she fell on the floor,
23:58I started choking her
24:01and I stomped on her.
24:09Steven Havroco
24:10is released from the hospital
24:12and taken straight into custody.
24:14He refuses to tell investigators
24:17anything else about that morning
24:19or why he chose to attack Tina Strader,
24:21so the investigators have to piece together
24:24the events themselves.
24:26We knew that she had been kicked in the face
24:29because we could see the shoe print,
24:30and we couldn't find his shoes,
24:33and we wanted to know
24:34if he had dumped any additional evidence,
24:36so we did a canine track.
24:38We actually did several of them
24:39in order to try to recover
24:41any of this potential evidence.
24:44And that canine track
24:45led us to the wooded area
24:46where we located some of his clothing
24:48and some narcotics.
24:50By his own admission,
24:52he said that he had ingested methamphetamine
24:54in those woods
24:55immediately after the murder.
24:58Once he's now high on meth,
25:00he exits the wooded area
25:02and starts walking southbound
25:04on Tamiami Trail,
25:05which is a very heavily traveled roadway.
25:07It was either the day after
25:11or two days after we assisted
25:13in canvassing the neighborhood
25:14back behind where he walked down Gentian
25:16trying to locate video surveillance.
25:20At one home right behind
25:22where the roadway is located
25:24on Gentian,
25:25I found someone that did have
25:27video surveillance of him
25:29walking down the street.
25:32Investigators then catch a break
25:34when Havroka's DNA
25:35is discovered on Tina's lanyard.
25:40The only piece of evidence
25:41that we had both Tina
25:42and Havroka's DNA on
25:44was her lanyard,
25:46which was great for the case
25:47because she had obviously
25:48been wearing that
25:49at the time of the crime.
25:50And then the rest of the items
25:52were all just her DNA.
25:58His room,
25:59we didn't end up sending
26:00anything off for testing.
26:01At that point,
26:02we were very confident
26:03in the case that we had
26:05and were limited
26:05with the Florida Department
26:06of Law Enforcement
26:07on how many pieces
26:08of evidence we can send.
26:09So we sent what we felt
26:11were the most important pieces
26:12for them to test.
26:15Detectives also interviewed
26:17Havroka's family members
26:18to gain more insight
26:20into his character.
26:22They stated he was a good kid.
26:24When he's on drugs,
26:25he's not the same person
26:27that he normally is.
26:28They don't know
26:29what happened here,
26:31but this is not normally
26:33who he is.
26:35I know they're not
26:36a family of well-means,
26:37so I don't know
26:38how much they could actually
26:39help him out with.
26:42Him, his mother,
26:44his sister,
26:44they tried getting him
26:45into several different,
26:46you know,
26:47outpatient treatment programs.
26:50None of them succeeded
26:51or he didn't qualify for.
26:54His mom did tell us
26:56that around,
26:58but she said between
26:599 and 9.30
26:59the day of the murder
27:00that Stephen texted her
27:02and it was just
27:03a very bizarre text
27:05that he was moonwalking
27:06and talk of rainbows
27:08and she said
27:09it made absolutely
27:09no sense
27:10and we found out
27:11that that was
27:12almost immediately
27:13after the murder.
27:14While the Sarasota
27:19Sheriff's Office
27:20builds their case
27:21against Havrilka,
27:22they continue
27:23to try to talk to him.
27:25Detectives have a confession
27:26from Stephen Havrilka
27:28but still do not
27:29know his motive.
27:31He flat out refused
27:32to talk to us.
27:34Approximately
27:35two or three weeks later
27:36happened to check
27:36my email
27:37and I was told
27:38that he wanted
27:39to talk to the detectives
27:40about this case.
27:41so around lunchtime
27:45myself and Detective Patella
27:46went to the jail
27:47and we went
27:48to the proper room
27:49and at that time
27:50Mr. Havrilka
27:50was brought in
27:51by the deputies.
27:54He was a very
27:54subdued state
27:55compared to what
27:56we had normally
27:57seen him in previously
27:58and then he decided
28:00he was going to
28:01tell us what happened.
28:11April 2021
28:12Venice, Florida
28:13Detectives are
28:16interviewing
28:16Stephen Havrilka
28:17for the murder
28:18of Tina Strader
28:19at the Roadway Inn Motel.
28:23We were told
28:24that you wanted
28:26to speak with us.
28:27I just want to tell you
28:28all what happened.
28:28Okay.
28:29That's it.
28:30I remember
28:30I was working out
28:31that night
28:31and I went
28:34to go try
28:35and have a drink
28:35and clear my head
28:36a few places
28:38down at this
28:39Wally's place
28:40but it was closed
28:40so I went back
28:41and said
28:41alright that's fine.
28:44Went and got
28:45like a four pack
28:46of beer or something
28:47and just sat in there
28:48and was just
28:50was kind of
28:52getting in my head
28:52which I had been
28:54doing for a long time
28:55and it's a dangerous place.
28:58Well,
28:59I went across
29:00the street to Checkers
29:01and when I went
29:01across the street
29:02to Checkers
29:03I, you know
29:05it's just
29:05just the way
29:06the world is
29:07these days, man
29:08and there was
29:08somebody there
29:09who was talking
29:10about drugs
29:11and then
29:12I started using it
29:14and it's just
29:15I ended up
29:16staying in my hotel room
29:17for a week.
29:18I didn't really leave.
29:19I'd come out
29:20I was paranoid
29:21and some of it
29:23had to do
29:23with some drug use
29:24but a lot of it
29:25was already there.
29:27Everything inside
29:28my head
29:28got more vivid
29:29and louder
29:29because I wasn't
29:31I was
29:31the only place
29:32I was at.
29:34I had this
29:35this voice
29:35in my head
29:36that was telling me
29:37that I don't belong here
29:39that I belong
29:40I'm meant to go home
29:41and I'm from hell
29:43or something.
29:44They just kept repeating
29:45over and over
29:46and over and over
29:46and over again
29:47to where I would
29:48actually believe them.
29:50The last thing
29:51that I thought
29:52that I
29:52that this was heaven
29:54and that I was
29:56I was from hell
29:57and I don't belong here
29:58and I needed to go home
29:59to my family
30:00and the only way
30:01I could go home
30:02to my family
30:02is if I
30:03did what I did
30:06and I just
30:06went outside
30:07and I just
30:09picked the first person
30:11that I seen.
30:13I didn't
30:14I didn't
30:16really think about it.
30:17I went out
30:18and I looked in
30:18I went back
30:18in my room
30:19a few times
30:19trying to push it off
30:20telling myself
30:22that this is
30:23this is not
30:24you don't have to do it
30:27and then just
30:28voices came
30:28in my head
30:29and said
30:30this is the only way
30:30you're going to be able
30:31to go home
30:32and I
30:33just went
30:35and picked somebody
30:36and I ran in
30:38I don't remember
30:39what number of room
30:40it was
30:40I ran in
30:41and went up
30:41to the right
30:42went in a room
30:43and I did what I did
30:46and I don't
30:48really have the heart
30:49to go into detail
30:50to it right now.
30:51I asked him
30:57why he had
30:58his shoes off
30:59because that was
31:00concern when we saw
31:01his shoes off
31:01that maybe he had
31:02committed a rape
31:03against her in there
31:04and he said no
31:04he did not rape her
31:05he did not have
31:06any intention
31:06of raping her
31:07and he said
31:08that he took
31:08his shoes off
31:09because he didn't
31:09want to leave
31:10shoe marks
31:10on the floor
31:11as he was
31:11cleaning it
31:12in the room
31:13where he killed her.
31:16We know you were
31:17in there for
31:18about 14 minutes.
31:20What was the
31:2114 minutes?
31:22I mean that's
31:22a long time.
31:24Because she wasn't
31:26gone yet.
31:28I made the mistake
31:29when I went in
31:30I hit her
31:31and then I just
31:33grabbed her neck
31:34and I just
31:35I was joking her.
31:37Then I started
31:38worrying about
31:39cleaning whatever up
31:40and I kept
31:42having to go back
31:43and keep cleaning
31:44stuff up
31:45because I was
31:45sweating really bad
31:46and I kept
31:46was dripping on
31:48the floor
31:49so I kept
31:49trying to
31:50wipe it up
31:51I had to do
31:51that like
31:52three times.
31:57He was
31:58ultimately charged
31:59with second degree
31:59murder.
32:00Had we found out
32:01that he had
32:02raped her
32:02we would have
32:03perhaps gone
32:04in a different
32:04direction
32:05but yes there
32:06was definitely
32:06discussion about
32:07that and about
32:08doing death penalty
32:09but we decided
32:10that second degree
32:11would be the best
32:12course.
32:14There's some
32:15statutorial requirements
32:17that we thought
32:19we would have
32:19the best chance
32:20of conviction
32:21as second degree.
32:24But before the trial
32:25could take place
32:26Hadroka begins
32:28to engage in
32:28self-destructive
32:29activity within custody.
32:31several times
32:39he actually tried
32:40committing suicide
32:41in the jail
32:42tried drowning
32:43himself in the toilet
32:44he tried starving
32:45himself
32:46he tried hanging
32:47himself at one point
32:48all of which were
32:49unsuccessful
32:50the deputies were
32:51able to intervene
32:52he was put in
32:54segregation
32:55because he
32:56couldn't be
32:57around anybody
32:57he would start
32:58fights
32:58he was just
33:00uncontrollable.
33:04From all accounts
33:05from his
33:06psychological reports
33:07he just would not
33:08communicate
33:09with the psychologist
33:10or the psychiatrist
33:11or whomever
33:12was evaluating him
33:13he would sit off
33:14in a dark corner
33:15and cover himself
33:16with a blanket
33:17and refuse to
33:17participate in anything.
33:20So the medical
33:22staff had him
33:23evaluated
33:23and during that
33:26evaluation
33:27they found him
33:27confident.
33:30Stephen Avroka
33:31is ruled
33:32mentally unsound
33:33and the trial
33:34is postponed
33:35indefinitely.
33:37Detectors are worried
33:38that there might
33:39never be justice
33:40for Tina
33:40and her family.
33:49I really felt
33:50that that was
33:51not right
33:52because he told
33:52us in the interview
33:53that he knew
33:55what he was doing.
33:57Although he had
33:58a different way
33:59of thinking
34:00he knew exactly
34:01what he was doing
34:02and the consequences
34:03for that.
34:07I absolutely
34:08think it was a game
34:08because he was
34:09clearly able
34:10to articulate
34:11what he did
34:12and he articulated
34:13that multiple times
34:14to multiple
34:15different people.
34:16He knew what he did
34:16was wrong.
34:17He recognized that.
34:18he was not
34:20a stupid person
34:21by any stretch
34:22of the imagination.
34:24He had been
34:24so familiar
34:26with the court system
34:27throughout his life
34:28he understood
34:29what that system
34:29looked like
34:30and what trial
34:31looked like
34:31and how to communicate
34:32with his attorneys.
34:33I know that is
34:35a common play
34:36that is used
34:37especially with him
34:38being a known
34:39drug user
34:40so I wasn't
34:41completely shocked
34:42to see that.
34:44I was more shocked
34:45to see that
34:45they kept going
34:46back and forth
34:46feeling incompetent
34:47and then incompetent.
34:48so really for
34:51two years
34:53it was a wait
34:54and see period
34:55and there's
34:55a lot of frustrations
34:56from not only
34:57Tina's husband
34:58but also from
34:59law enforcement
35:00because this is a man
35:01that they want
35:01to convict
35:02and they want
35:03to get behind bars
35:04and make sure
35:04that he is never
35:05on the streets again.
35:09And for Gerald
35:10it was a very
35:10emotional process.
35:12There was no closure
35:13for him.
35:14He wanted justice
35:15for Tina.
35:16He wanted this man
35:16to be put away
35:17behind bars
35:18It was not
35:22unexpected
35:24that he would
35:24be ruled incompetent
35:26but it wasn't
35:26what I'd hoped for.
35:28There's no justice
35:29for Tina
35:30and there's no peace
35:31for me.
35:32I believe
35:33in the court system
35:34and I have to
35:35because that's
35:36what other choice
35:37do I have?
35:44It is only
35:45in November
35:462023
35:46two and a half
35:48years after the
35:49brutal murder
35:49of Tina Strader
35:50that Stephen
35:52Havroka
35:52is finally found
35:54competent
35:54to stand trial.
35:57They went back
35:58and forth for years
35:59on whether or not
36:00he was going to be
36:01competent to stand trial
36:02so when he finally
36:02was found competent
36:03I think the third time
36:05back in 2023
36:06it was great.
36:09In preparation
36:10for the trial
36:11investigators
36:12also delve
36:13into Havroka's
36:14troubled past.
36:16He tells me
36:17all about
36:18his issues
36:19after prison.
36:20He said he got
36:21out of prison
36:22and he said that
36:23he couldn't really
36:24find his way.
36:25He stated that
36:27he was looking forward
36:29to getting into
36:31weightlifting
36:31and exercising
36:34and wanted to be
36:35a trainer
36:36and become
36:37a better person
36:39but he just
36:40could not
36:41follow through
36:42with it
36:42because of his
36:43mental health issues.
36:45He knew he had
36:46mental health issues.
36:48He said that
36:49he heard voices
36:50in his head
36:51all the time.
36:53He said that
36:53these voices
36:54told him
36:55to do bad things
36:56and when he
36:57would work out
36:58those voices
36:59would go away.
36:59having known
37:02him
37:03basically
37:04since my career
37:05started
37:05to seeing
37:06where he was
37:06now
37:07can't say
37:08I was completely
37:09shocked
37:09by it
37:10but yeah
37:11it was pretty
37:11up there
37:12in far as
37:12the realm
37:13of craziness.
37:19He is
37:20covered.
37:21The top of his
37:22head,
37:22his face,
37:23neck,
37:23chest,
37:24back,
37:24everything
37:25and tattoos.
37:26Mainly
37:26he got in prison.
37:28A lot of
37:29the tattoos
37:30are a neo-Nazi
37:32Aryan brotherhood
37:34realm of tattoos.
37:37He thinks
37:38that some
37:39of the symbols
37:40are religious
37:41and belief
37:43and not
37:43following those
37:44ideologies.
37:46That's his
37:46explanation of it.
37:50When he was
37:52ruled competent
37:53to stand trial
37:53this was really
37:54a big moment
37:55for Gerald.
37:57It was a mix
37:58of emotions.
38:00On one hand
38:01there is some
38:02relief that
38:02this trial
38:03is finally
38:04going to continue
38:05and going
38:05to move forward
38:06but on the other
38:08hand he continued
38:08to carry the grief
38:10and the sorrow
38:10of losing Tina
38:11and that was
38:12something that
38:12weighed very heavily
38:13on his heart.
38:14You could tell it
38:15just in his voice
38:15and talking with him.
38:18Gerald didn't
38:18continue to live
38:19in the motel
38:20the last times
38:21that I spoke
38:21with him
38:22and met with him.
38:23it was
38:24a small home
38:25just a few
38:26miles away
38:27from where
38:27the murder
38:28had happened.
38:30Around Gerald's neck
38:31he often carried
38:32a memory
38:33of Tina
38:33with him.
38:34He wore a
38:34necklace
38:34of her thumbprint
38:36and that was
38:37something that
38:38he said
38:39was a part
38:40of Tina
38:40that would
38:41always remain
38:42with him
38:42forever.
38:42On the 3rd
38:52of February
38:522025
38:53Stephen Havroca
38:55changes his plea
38:56to guilty
38:57of second degree
38:58murder.
38:59We found out
39:00just days
39:01before his
39:02actual sentencing
39:03so I was
39:04surprised that
39:05we were finally
39:06going to be
39:06coming to our
39:07resolution
39:07and I was
39:08very happy
39:09at the same
39:09time.
39:11I was in the
39:12room
39:12and he
39:14didn't
39:14recognize me
39:15but it was
39:16very satisfying
39:17to finally
39:19get him
39:21to tell
39:21a judge
39:22this is
39:24what I
39:24did
39:24just like
39:26he told
39:26us.
39:29He told
39:30the judge
39:31that he
39:32was
39:33responsible
39:34for her
39:34death.
39:36He didn't
39:36really express
39:37any type
39:38of remorse.
39:39I know
39:39that the
39:40state attorney
39:41read a
39:42victim impact
39:42statement
39:43from Tina's
39:43daughter
39:44and yeah
39:46he didn't
39:47offer any
39:47type of
39:47apologies
39:48just admitted
39:50that he did
39:50it and that
39:51was kind
39:51of the
39:51end of
39:51his story.
39:54He was
39:55sentenced to
39:55two life
39:56sentences
39:56and that
39:56included
39:57some of the
39:57offenses
39:58that he
39:58had committed
39:58while he
39:59was in
39:59jail.
39:59I'd say
40:05the stars
40:05kind of
40:06aligned
40:06on this
40:07case.
40:07If we
40:08didn't get
40:08him right
40:09then,
40:10like I
40:10said,
40:10that's a
40:11very robust
40:12residential
40:13community.
40:14Who knows
40:15if he did
40:16a home
40:17invasion,
40:17what else
40:18he had
40:18on his
40:18mind.
40:19You had
40:23a very
40:24evil man
40:25commit an
40:26extremely
40:27evil act
40:27for no
40:28reason and
40:29you had
40:29a victim
40:30that was
40:32just in the
40:33wrong place
40:33at the
40:34wrong time
40:34and there
40:35was no
40:35other reason
40:35for it
40:36other than
40:36that.
40:39We now
40:40have an
40:41animal that's
40:41off of the
40:42streets.
40:43He's not
40:43going to be
40:43able to hurt
40:44anybody
40:44anymore,
40:45but Tina's
40:45family will
40:46forever be
40:47suffering with
40:48this.
40:53So one of
40:53the hard
40:54things in
40:54all of
40:54this story
40:55which remains
40:56so tragic
40:57is Gerald
40:58wasn't even
40:59here for the
41:00sentencing.
41:01He had
41:01ultimately
41:02passed away
41:03and he
41:03wasn't here
41:04to receive
41:05the justice
41:05and to
41:06learn the
41:06justice for
41:07Tina that
41:08he had
41:08so wanted.
41:17He had
41:19to
41:20see you
41:21in
41:21the
41:22way
41:22to
41:23see you
Be the first to comment