A sex offender in Volusia County was sent to Florida's death row Monday for hogtying and killing his roommate in 2009.
Joseph Edward Jordan, 43, was convicted in April of first-degree murder in the death of his roommate, Keith Cope of Edgewater, in June 2009.
Circuit Court Judge Michael Hutcheson sentenced Jordan to death for the first-degree murder conviction.
Hutcheson also sentenced Jordan to life in prison for his conviction on a charge of robbery with a firearm and/or deadly weapon.
A Volusia County jury convicted him of the charges in April during a four-day trial. The jury later recommended death by a vote of 10-2.
Cope, 50, suffered a stroke while he was tied with rope to bedposts in his house on Victory Palm Drive in Edgewater while duct tape covered his face, wrists and ankles, a report said.
His circulatory damage had been so severe that doctors were forced to amputate his left arm.
Edgewater police said Jordan tied up Cope, took cash and credit cards from his wallet and drove away in Cope's 2009 Ford pickup —- all sometime between June 24 and June 26, 2009.
According to reports, Jordan told Cope's friend Marlon Powell the victim owed him money. Powell said Jordan appeared "high on Ecstasy" and "his eyes were dilated."
Records show Jordan told Powell "he messed up" and "they were coming to get him."
When Powell asked about Cope, Jordan told him the victim was in Edgewater.
Powell drove the truck back to Cope's home on Victory Palm Drive. ..continued.. by Kevin P. Connolly
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