A Florida man was convicted of murdering his ex-wife.
An Osceola County jury found 73-year-old Charles Bell Jr. guilty of Second Degree Murder (with a Firearm) for fatally shooting his ex-wife at her home in Okeechobee in 2021.
On August 28, 2021, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home on Magnolia Court and found 68-year-old Patricia Anne Davis deceased from multiple gunshot wounds. Ms. Davis’ neighbor found the victim in her yard.
Earlier that morning, the neighbor had seen Ms. Davis’ ex-husband speeding away from her home on a golf cart. Bell directed the neighbor to say that he did not see him leaving from the direction of his ex-wife’s home and told him that he had killed someone and asked him to care for his animals.
The neighbor who found the victim told deputies he and his wife called and checked on Ms. Davis after the husband saw the defendant speeding away from her home. They were concerned because they knew about the couple’s history of marital problems. Ms. Davis did not answer the call.
Bell was riding a lawnmower in his yard when deputies arrived at his home. They detained him and took him to the sheriff’s office for questioning. Bell admitted to driving his golf cart to his ex-wife’s house that morning, stating he asked her to clean his house, but rescheduled for another day. He claimed he left and did not harm her.
However, witnesses saw his golf cart at her home. At the same time, other witnesses heard gunshots in the area. Deputies obtained a search warrant for the defendant’s home and found a handgun and ammunition in the woods on his property. The ammunition matched the spent shell casings from the murder scene. Deputies arrested Bell for murdering his ex-wife.
After a three-day trial, a jury found Bell guilty of Second Degree Murder (with a Firearm). He will be sentenced on December 17th and faces a firearm minimum mandatory sentence of 25 years.
