Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
By TERRY SPENCER
Associated Press
A Florida man will soon learn whether he will be sentenced to death or life in prison for fatally shooting five women in a bank in 2019. Jury selection starts Monday in the penalty trial of 27-year-old Zephen Xaver, who pleaded guilty last year to murder. The trial only will determine his sentence. Security video from Sebring’s SunTrust bank shows Xaver shot the four bank employees and a customer in their heads after making them lie on the floor. Prosecutors are expected to argue the killings were planned and cruel, deserving of death. Xaver’s attorneys are expected to cite his years-long mental health problems as they seek leniency.
