Wilton Manors

Broward Jury Finds Man Guilty Again in 2010 Double-Murder Retrial

Peter Avsenew, 37, has been found guilty, again, of a 2010 double-murder

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A Broward jury has again convicted 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.

It took the 12 jurors less than five hours over two days to reach a verdict in the five-week trial.

Avsenew was found guilty of several charges including two first-degree murders, robbery with a firearm, credit card fraud, and grand theft auto.

Peter Avsenew
Broward Sheriff's Office
Peter Avsenew

During closing arguments Thursday, Broward assistant state attorney Molly McGuire laid out the evidence and timeline of events linking Avsenew to the crime.

The evidence included his 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.

“The only reasonable scenario is that Peter Avsenew killed those men in their home just before Christmas Eve," she said. 

Public defender Gabe Ermine said there were at least two other people who could have committed the murders.

“[Prosecutors] want you to convict and kill Peter Avsenew,” he shouted in court. “He is not guilty.”

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.

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.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 4. Avsenew could get life in prison or he could be returned to death row.

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