A Broward jury has again recommended the death penalty for a man whose first double-murder conviction and death sentence were overturned on appeal.
Peter Avsenew was originally found guilty in 2017 for the 2010 murders of Kevin Powell, 52, and Stephen Adams, 47, in Wilton Manors.
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The 12 jurors recommended, on Oct. 11, the death penalty for Avsenew.
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Broward Circuit Judge Marin Fein will sentence Avsenew at a future hearing. It’s rare for a judge to go against a jury’s recommendation.
During the retrial in June, it took jurors less than five hours over two days to reach a verdict.
Avsenew was found guilty of several charges including two first-degree murders, robbery with a firearm, credit card fraud, and grand theft auto.
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The evidence included Avsenew living with the victims, going on a shopping spree with their credit cards, and “ditching” their car at a Walmart in Haines City where his mother lives.
Avsenew, now 37, met the two men through personal advertising on Craigslist seeking an older established male partner who could “take care of him.”
Powell and Adams took him into their Wilton Manors home in 2010.
Their “brutally” beaten and bullet-riddled bodies were discovered just before Christmas. Their car and credit cards were missing, according to the evidence.
The Florida Supreme Court overturned the 2017 conviction partly because Avsenew's since-deceased mother testified against him via a video monitor and the judges found he was not able to face his accuser in person.
