BRANDON COLE - 1 yo - (2007) /Murderer: Great uncle Eric Sawyer - West Palm Beach, FL

September 26, 2007

Police: Uncle planned nephew's murder for days


Updated, FRI 9:45AM: A Boynton Beach baby was stabbed to death by his own uncle. The baby's great-grandmother made the call just moments after finding little Brandon Cole bloodied and wrapped in a sheet on top of the washer.

Caller: "I need someone here right away, Orchard Way."

Dispatch: "What's going on there?"

Caller: "The baby, something's the matter with the baby."

Brandon had been sleeping in his portable crib in the living room when she last saw him alive. And her confusion over how he died is heartbreaking.

Caller: "He was in his crib, and I noticed blood in the bed. And we do have a dog, and my son's bipolar. I don't know what happened to him."

That was the great-grandmother after that call.

The grandmother also called 9-1-1 as well as a neighbor. At that point, they say, a dog attacked the baby. But, as we now know, detectives say, it was the child's uncle.

Eric Sawyer, who had been planning the attack for four days, says he stabbed little Brandon to save him from having a bad life.

Family members say Sawyer has a mental illness, but detectives believe he knew exactly what he was doing.

UPDATED, FRI 9AM: We know more about the local man held without bond after admitting to deputies he killed his 1-year-old nephew.

Fox29 has audio tapes, recorded before the murder, that shed light on his troubled past.

"My name is Judith Sawyer. My son has an anger and verbal problem."

Those are the words of Judith Sawyer. Her son, Eric Sawyer, is charged with the stabbing murder of 1-year-old Brandon Cole Tuesday night.

Court records and audio tapes show Judith sought two restraining orders against her son over the past 11 years. She says he is bipolar, aggressive and hurt her in the past.

Eric Sawyer: "I've never been violent. Never."

Lawyer: "But it's fair to say that you are at least hostile when you take your medicine?"

Eric Sawyer: "I'm not hostile, no. Never been hostile on it or off of it."

Court records also show Eric Sawyer was undergoing counseling and treatment at a mental health facility in West Palm Beach.

He is being held without bond at the Palm Beach County Jail charged with first degree murder.

We also checked the records at the county courthouse. Eric Sawyer does not have a long history of problems with the law. The Palm Beach County sheriff's office says he was arrested in 1992 for burglary. They also say they were called to the home where the murder took place on two different occasions for car burglaries and once for an accidental fire last year.

His last job was at Brown Moving and Storage in West Palm Beach. The operations manager describes Sawyer as "A decent guy,
very polite, organized and very responsible."

Reporter: Stephanie Gailhard

PREVIOUSLY:
Deputies are on the scene Wednesday morning investigating a murder. But, in this case, the victim is just a 1 year old. The call from the home initially went into 9-1-1 as a dog mauling. But, deputies say, that is not how the little boy died. He had several stab wounds, and his uncle has been charged with murder.

It all happened at a home on Orchard Way, near Haverhill and Belvedere. Investigators are still there - eight hours after the crime - searching the home for evidence.

Detectives just released the baby's name and the name of the man they believe stabbed him. Investigators say the deceased baby is 1-year-old Brandon Cole, and they believe his own uncle, Eric Sawyer, murdered him.

Neighbors say there has been trouble at this home before, and detectives inform Fox29 the child's grandma had filed two restraining orders against Sawyer in the past. The most recent was last year and was related to domestic violence.

Sawyer is charged with first degree murder Wednesday morning. Investigators say it appears he slashed little Brandon with some type of knife or sharp object. The child was discovered by police dead Tuesday night at this home wrapped in a bloody sheet.

Investigators say the baby lived with many other family members, including his grandmother, his uncle and possibly another child
around age 7.

One neighbor who knew the family says Eric was on disability and always seemed out of it.

Vesley Bastien, family friend, says, "Eric, he used to always sit outside. And I could tell he was never playing with a full deck - always puzzled, something rattling. I would say hey to him, but he would always say 'heeeyy' like he was on medication."

Neighbors say police were always over at the home responding to family disputes. They say the baby's mother lived in this house, as well. But, Tuesday night, when the baby was murdered, she was at work.


http://www.wflx.com/global/story.asp?s=7130148&ClientType=Printable

Man Helps God, Stabs Baby To Death


September 26, 2007 at 2:56 pm by Morbid







WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Eric Sawyer, 38, was
arrested after police found his 1-year-old nephew Brandon Cole wrapped
in bloody sheets in the laundry room of a home on the 5800 block of
Orchard Way in West Palm Beach. When police arrived at the home in
response to a possible dog attack, Sawyer stated he had caused the
injuries to the child. “I thought the baby was possessed, so I had to cut it out of him,”
he told poilce. Sawyer also admitted that he had been thinking of
stabbing the boy for days, and eventually used a butcher knife he found
in the kitchen to inflict numerous stab wounds to the infants abdomen in
an attempt to “release the evil spirits“.

Sawyer is known to have mental problems and has also been known to
quit taking his medications. He is being held without bond on a
first-degree murder charge.

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2007/09/26/man-helps-god-stabs-baby-to-death/#ixzz2I0AS0sVt

Insane killer of baby gains release from state mental health hospital


Eric Sawyer of West Palm Beach to be transferred to Tallahassee treatment center



January 12, 2013|By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel

A West Palm Beach-area man judged insane in the 2007 slaying of his
year-old great-nephew has been granted release from a state mental
health hospital after showing significant improvement.
Eric
Sawyer, 43, is transferring from Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee
to a "community placement" at a privately run treatment program called
Apalachee Center Inc., based in Tallahassee.


Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Krista Marx on Jan. 4 approved Sawyer's conditional
release, based on an evaluation performed by a psychologist five days
earlier at Palm Beach County Jail. Authorities delivered Sawyer to the jail Dec. 11 and he still remained there late last week, records show.

Sawyer used a butcher knife to slash open his young relative's chest Sept. 25,
2007, telling detectives he did so because he "thought the baby was
possessed." Charged with first-degree murder with a weapon, he later was
declared not guilty by reason of insanity.

"The facts of the case are horrifying," said Assistant State Attorney Elizabeth Neto.

Sawyer will at first reside in the center's new 16-bed facility in Gadsden
County, said Jay A. Reeve, Apalachee's president and CEO.

While the criminal justice system labels it a less-restrictive environment
than the mental hospital, Reeve says his doors are always locked and
Sawyer will be in a "highly controlled" setting.

The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office did not oppose Sawyer's pending move because of
the observations by Stephen Alexander, an independent expert who agreed
with a recent recommendations from the state hospital.

Sawyer was described as a model patient over the years who has responded well to
his psychotropic medications to control his mental illness, Neto said.

"I don't like it, I'm not totally comfortable with it," she said of
Sawyer's conditional release and her inability to block it. "Based on
the reports I did not have a legal objection."

Ilana Marcus, an assistant public defender representing Sawyer, said her client's
movements would be monitored closely at Apalachee just as he was in the
state hospital.

No members of the victim's side of the family
appeared at this month's hearing. Sawyer's mother, Judith Sawyer,
attended and previously wrote a letter to the judge describing how her
son became "psychiatrically stable and expressing her hope that he would
be allowed to reside in the community," Neto said.

Reports by Alexander and the state hospital are sealed under court order and not
available for public inspection. Marx asked the attorneys to return for
an open hearing July 12 to provide an update on Sawyer's progress.
The judge also placed numerous restrictions on Sawyer's release. He
must be placed initially in the nonprofit center's "most secure
residential unit available." He may be moved to a less secure spot
"after a demonstrated period of stability."

At the facility, Sawyer is to take his prescribed pills, avoid alcohol, attend daily
treatment sessions, and not own or possess firearms. Sawyer will have
access to television and outdoor recreation in a fenced yard, Reeve said.

Neto said the public can take comfort that Sawyer still
doesn't have many freedoms and remains far from the area in a more
guarded setting than anything available locally.

"It's not like he's going to move in next door," she said. "He's not living on his own."

Prior to the murder, Sawyer was unemployed and sharing a home in the 5800
block of Orchard Way west of West Palm Beach with Brandon Cole, 1, the
child's mother and several other relatives.

Investigators said Sawyer placed Brandon in his crib and stabbed him twice in the heart,
watching him die. He then swaddled the child in sheets and carried him
to the laundry room.

Sawyer, who had been diagnosed with
schizophrenia and other disorders, told detectives he had thought about
killing Brandon for four days. He also said he felt "really bad" about
it but called the home a bad place to be raised.

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-01-12/news/fl-eric-sawyer-hospital-release-20130112_1_insane-killer-mental-illness-state-mental-health

Disgusting.

This is horrible!