Elderly Bithlo man beaten to death after being mistaken for sex offender

Elderly Bithlo man beaten to death after being mistaken for sex offender
Deputies arrested Michael Garay, 32, in connection to the beating death of Hugh Edwards, an elderly Bithlo man.

By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel

12:30 a.m. EDT, May 14, 2010


An elderly Bithlo resident was beaten to death with a black Louisville Slugger baseball bat because the killer mistakenly thought the man was a sex offender, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies arrested 20-year-old Robert Pascale on Thursday on a charge of first-degree murder with a weapon after deputies with dogs tracked him to a muddy pond near Sixth Street in Bithlo, where he was hiding. Pascale was submerged in the water, only his face exposed.

The dead man, Hugh Edwards, 78, had no criminal history. It's unclear why anyone thought he was a sexual offender.

Details about Edwards' killing became public in the arrest report for Pascale's friend, 32-year-old Michael Garay, charged with accessory to murder.
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Elderly Bithlo man beaten to death