Frederick Pete Cox

Frederick Pete Cox (born August 27, 1953) is an American serial killer. Formerly a telemarketer, in the span of a few months in 1997, he attacked five women in Orlando, Florida, killing three. After an initial mistrial, Cox was found guilty at his second trial and sentenced to life imprisonment, plus 30 years for attempted murder.

Early life Born in the state capital of Tallahassee, Cox moved to Orlando at an early age, graduating from Jones High School in 1972, after which he enlisted in the United States Army. He served for three years in West Germany, before receiving an honorable discharge and returning to Orlando. Due to a back injury he sustained in 1996, he was discharged from the army reserve and had to walk using a cane, but still managed to earn a living from his job as a telemarketer.

On April 16, Cox approached 28-year-old Yolanda Neals, who was standing at Church Street and Tampa Avenue. He offered her $25 for sex, to which she agreed. Cox then drove Neals to a secluded area on Lively Street and Wallace Road, and smoked crack cocaine at an abandoned house in Orlando. Their bodies were later found by a transient in the woods off the Americana Boulevard near Shingle Creek, close to the Interstate 4. A few days later, they were positively identified as Singleton and Voepel. Authorities investigated a possible connection to two other murders that had occurred in the area, but determined that those killings were unrelated.

Arrest, trial and imprisonment The surviving victims, Adams and Neals, agreed to assist the detectives in their hunt for the serial killer. Neals helped develop an identikit and identified the car, while Adams confirmed the composite sketch, that she had seen her attacker and his car's license plate. With those clues, Cox was arrested on May 21, 1997, on attempted murder charges, much to the shock of his family and relatives, and held without bail. Police thereafter searched his house and car, finding a 9mm pistol and blood on the carpet of his tan Buick. His first trial in February 2001 resulted in a hung jury, as the 12th member refused to accept Cox's guilt and was certain that there was insufficient evidence to his guilt. After an intensive debate, which resulted in some jurors begging and pleading for a conviction, a new trial for Cox was ordered at a later date.

At the new trial in April 2001, Cox stood expressionless while the judge pronounced the guilty verdicts, which could have resulted in him receiving the death penalty. His defense attorney, Mark O'Mara, contended that his client "snapped" on the moment and likely suffered from some sort of mental illness, asking that he be convicted of second-degree murder instead, which is not punishable by death. After a two-year delay, and a request by a victim's family member to finally end the case, prosecutors agreed to drop the death penalty, and Justice Frank Kaney instead sentenced Cox to three counts of life imprisonment.