Body of Victim in Lotto Winner Murder Case Found in Law Firm's Back Yard
Life hasn’t been going well for attorney D. Howard Stitzel III in recent years, as he struggled with six-figure debt and health problems and got pushed out of his law firm.
Then a new problem arose for the 45-year-old Plant City, Fla., attorney: The body of a man murdered after he won a $31 million Florida lottery jackpot was found in the back yard of Stitzel’s law practice, reports the St. Petersburg Times.
Although Stitzel hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing, he represented the suspect charged in the murder case, Dorice “DeeDee” Moore, before Abraham Shakespeare’s death was discovered and helped transfer assets from Shakespeare to a medical staffing business operated by Moore. Authorities say there is no credible evidence to suggest that anyone other than Moore was responsible for Shakespeare’s death, but they have seized Stitzel’s law office and records as they investigate, the newspaper recounts. He practiced in a home owned by Moore’s boyfriend.
“I feel like I’ve been victimized in this whole thing,” says Stitzel, who racked up child support and judgment debts of more than $300,000 in recent years but has no arrest record and no bar disciplinary record. “I know nothing about all this other craziness.”
Additional coverage:
St. Petersburg Times: “DeeDee Moore charged with first degree murder in lottery winner’s homicide”
Tampa Tribune: “Variety of stories leads to murder charge for Dee Dee Moore”
