The Bizarre Story Of Hoyt Birge

they were waiting in the back like a surprise party from hell that's what Florida prosecutor Georgia cableman said of the events that would lead to the killing of a Tallahassee man and the harrowing Escape of another stick with us as we look into this terrible event it was a warm day in Tallahassee Florida when Hoyt Burge and Peter toyne stepped into a house for a simple drug deal they had no idea they were walking into an ambush one that would leave Hoyt dead on the floor and tornay praying for his life just minutes later before we start we would like to extend our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of Hoyt Burge and all of those affected by this devastating case [Music] every Community whether large or small has within it a drug subculture held together by loose associations friend groups dealers suppliers recreational users and addicts these local subcultures are places where everyone knows someone either by name or reputation who is either buying selling or holding Tallahassee Florida in the shadow of the massive Florida State University is no different on May 8 2017 one car pulled up at a duplex in the 2600 block of Mission Road just north of the Florida State University campus minutes later a second car pulled up and a man got out along with two Associates in the first car was Peter crackhead Pete tornay who had 10 prescription Oxycontin pills often called blues that he wanted to sell a man from the second car Hoyt Burge was going to introduce Pete to the buyer Paige vowell a friend of his vowels shared a home with her boyfriend Paige Briggs you're the first car that arrives there correct yes sir you and D are sitting there uh pulled into the driveway yes sir in a car that Mr Briggs and any of the other occupants would not have recognized agree I would assume because you don't have frequent flyer miles over there do you no you use those somewhere else you miss her so how long did you have to wait before Hoyt got there within a minute or two I mean he pulled up pretty much right after I pulled up okay so he pulls up and there are two other occupants of his car correct points in the back seat yes sir Hoyt was in the back yes sir you knew the two gentlemen that uh accompanied him none and I didn't know him know their nicknames no sure speaking of nicknames you ever go by the nickname crackhead Pete um people's call me that okay so Hoyt gets out of the car and he comes up to your car is that accurate yes you got out of your car no I stayed in my car was the sibo still on okay and then Hoyt went up on his own you didn't go into the house no he came to my vehicle he came to my window and I was gonna give them hey here you go and uh come on inside let's go inside I said I want to go inside okay nobody else is outside at that point correct uh the theme of the door's open the females are kind of like you know not like you know in and out they're not like sitting outside the walkout they weren't like just hanging outside but the doors open two people that are in uh hoyt's cart they didn't come over to your window and talk to you did they no they stayed in the car they I think I think they got out but they didn't they didn't go anywhere because like Corey basically told them like everybody stay out here okay so hoyt's given that instruction correct yeah he's trying to basically stay out here I mean two females are up at the door the entry to the house correct yeah awesome Hoyt gives you the instruction that hey no he comes to my car comes to your car and says that you can go in with him right yeah okay I told him no and I said I want to stay here and that's about my friend can come and he said no and then you went in I mean you know I went in vowel and her friend Vicki Strickland invited the two men inside as the two men entered vowel shut and locked the door behind them they had no idea what they had just walked into as the two men tried to start the sale four armed men came charging from a back room and all hell broke loose two of the men carried pistols one was armed with a carpenter's hammer and a fourth Patrick Bahrain carried an AK-47 there were immediate shouts to get on the floor and for someone to grab them in cell phones Pete hit the deck immediately and surrendered without a fight did anybody I was still and when he said or what Paige said to you yeah one thing he was saying to me was get the [ __ ] down get the [ __ ] down stay on the [ __ ] ground if you [ __ ] move I'll [ __ ] shoot you did you get down on the ground yeah [ __ ] your [ __ ] is Big it's a big that's a [ __ ] he's a big deal for big guns did anybody attack you yeah I mean after they basically got one point how did they attack boys just trying to tell me to kind of hitting him I mean what do they hit him with I'm not even to be honestly put their pistols like I mean multiple things I don't really did anybody hit you yes who hit you [Applause] um you see uh-huh you mean you you need an ambulance come check you out yeah I told him I was okay all right you don't want to get checked up I could feel it Russian though I could feel the play like when he said he's still one quick what kind of gun was it they had this long barrels it's a long barrel gun I'm saying I don't know I'm not really familiar with guns you know I don't mess with gun man this is scary okay 109. 9 the UMO ass spread I don't know um [Applause] my best bet was to earn their trust and get on their side that was my best bet now you're going to die so that was the only one there besides really laughs so what happened to Holy is everybody talked out there you know even afterwards I mean the whole reason and they were just even saying in during the the reason those dudes came is who it was supposed to Rob them so this is what they were talking about yes where were you when you were talking when they were talking about it you were sitting uh sitting I mean I was there in the living room they were talking about when you were on the do you already get hit at this point yes okay well where was point when they were talking about this talking about uh when they were talking about a boy trying to rob when where was Boyd they never told me to use already previous on four four basically you will get in there within 30 seconds of him being in there 20 seconds of him being intervening and also um is when they attacked him and he's all you can hear is him screaming as they chase him around the living room okay those Floyd's still screaming when they were talking about boy trying to rob him my days are talking about um so while they're talking what happened and I was so what ended up happening and that basically they were there for white um not all I'm thinking is he's just gonna kill me he's gonna kill me too you know I think basically they got onto the ground I was like I told officers I was sitting there and uh this is me basically the old time once he got me down it's all the time but this is all I can see and I was like this the whole time I just I was like please it's my point of hanging out that's all I can see like this because I couldn't because every time I move or make a little sound you know hey and I'm just trying to do whatever I can to stay away so what happened a Hoyt attacked him yeah however days of running around you know trying to do whatever you can stream hard and they're hitting them um it wasn't falling down the ground I'm already down then I can look because I think I see him this way I'm facing I can watch a few feet away I can see it I mean I can see every you know them hitting them and um awesome it's kind of nippy I don't know they hold it man I couldn't see because my head wasn't like this the whole time so I'm laying down so I wasn't like that you know to be honest with you I wouldn't want to I want to see as little as possible and uh like what I grabbed a gun for the Patrick hungry we're not going to Patrick hand it wasn't big or small it was it wasn't a handheld I didn't really see it be honest but it was a gun so you grew up Patrick's going Patrick's gone and it went off boom cars everything and you know and everybody heard that they were just boom you know kind of scooped and I I thought I heard someone say I'm in it on my toes who said There It Is I want to say it was away all right he's like a club hit and just kind of like and that was that was the last I've heard of it's the last that last voice I heard at some point everything stopped for just a moment this wasn't supposed to have happened for one side it was a simple drug deal for the others it was something else but it wasn't meant to be murder in the days leading up to the incident Riggs had been made aware of that Burge and another man named Michael Cooper had been communicating through an instant messenger on Facebook chat about plans to Rob Briggs of any drugs he had in the house and to steal his dog in the later trial Briggs would allege that he knew of Burgess History of Violence and theft and that plus the messages made him worried that Burj would Rob and harm him Mr Briggs where we left off is you're leaving where you had gone to get a haircut who was with you uh just me and Paige Val were you making her aware real time of the messages that you're looking at that sort of thing yes I do okay um let's talk about what you knew also about Hoyt Burge were you aware that Hoyt Burge previously committed assault yes I was aware of that were you also aware that hoytberg previously committed burglaries correct yes sir all right and likewise were you also aware that hoytberg committed weapons offenses yes all right um Let's Help the jury with context did you know of any specific instances of involvement where Hoyt may have been violent or anything like that uh before the incident happened I've heard of four specific incidents all right Briggs would testify that this reputation was enough for him to be worried that Burge was planning on doing something to him or his property rather than reporting it to the local police for a variety of obvious reasons Briggs decided to take the matter into his own hands and turn the tables on The Man Who Would Rob him Briggs asked his girlfriend Paige vowel to contact Burge and ask him to get her some prescription painkillers she did and when Burge agreed to set something up she asked him to come by the duplex where the transaction would happen Briggs then gathered his friends to help intimidate and possibly beat Burge up when he came to make the deal one of those friends Patrick Bahrain showed up with a JanSport backpack full of pistols and ammo along with an AK-47 rifle the weapons would drive home the point that Burj should be afraid of Briggs and that he should never consider robbing him according to bahrain's reasoning because material shops in Miami and I've been talking safety my entire life uh-huh is the only reason but then everything went sideways while tourne was obviously terrified and surrendered immediately Burge ran around the room and began to struggle with the assailants even after being struck with a hammer multiple times he continued to fight back and then it looked to some that he was trying to reach for his own weapons as his hands kept going into his pockets according to Bahrain then Burge grabbed at the barrel of bahrain's AK-47 and he yanked the gun went off and Burge was dead shot at Point Blank reign [Music] you know that who had that see that's that's what I was trying to get out before you can use honestly nobody would ever do that the original it didn't sound like they meant to pull the trigger it was an accident it wasn't supposed to go down like that yeah and the thing is possible thing it was him on the side if it was good enough with the ink foreign the situation went immediately from one of intimidating a local nerduel to killing a man they had invited into their home immediately the group began trying to figure out how to cover it up and Pete terrified did the only thing that he could he pleaded with the other people and told them that he would keep this secret if they just didn't kill him it saved his life they didn't plan on we had planned it he you came in the wrong place at the wrong [ __ ] time that's what they told you yeah I told you that you know as they went on throughout the rest you know tonight as their you know clean doing whatever they're doing trying to wash away whatever evidence or whatever they're trying to do yeah I just was like I was just like this like from a place from a [ __ ] time cut them right so what were they cleaning up here cleaning I seen the girl his girlfriend it came in and there was her I'm sorry I'm gonna help her I don't know how long I've been doing this forever she was clean I've seen I've seen her clean the blood off the wall I don't know if she had anything part of it but to be honest I mean I would think that she would be a Lord why not because Floyd's always had a weakness for women he loves his girls you know yeah where did they were in point and I think that was like debate or something like you know I was just you know innocent if I seen her type like okay we'll just use him we'll probably play for one time the word what was the question so Paige's girlfriend's cleaning blood off the wall what did they do with Hoyt IC different for a little bit until they were and they just put like all kinds of things wrapped up in like either towels you know rugs like a little white clear tarp just whatever they can find really he said it for a while as they discussed you know you know what they're gonna do and they kept asking me Peter I don't [ __ ] say anything are you a picture of him from the same thing are you you know what I'm saying yeah I didn't think it didn't matter anyways I think it was gonna make it I didn't think I was gonna [ __ ] live I said this is it man this is [ __ ] I'm done and they're like so do you know what happened I was like um you know that's the key survival you know whatever you can do to survive do it and that's what I did the group then took burge's body and wrapped it in a white plastic tarp and carried it out to Pete tornay's silver Toyota Camry and dumped it in the trunk another of Paige briggs's friends had shown up just before everything went down Jesse Fox had contacted Briggs earlier in the day to see if he could buy some drugs from him but was told that it wasn't a good time to come over 20 minutes later Briggs called Fox back and asked him to help with a situation when he arrived he was told about the plan to intercept hoyt's robbery attempt handed him a pistol and told him to wait outside behind the house in case he was needed fox said he looked in the window and saw them beating Hoyt and then heard the shot he went inside and asked what had happened and then decided to get out of there he ran out the back door jumped over a fence and took off a short time later as they were loading burj's body into the trunk of Pete's Toyota Fox returned and gave Briggs and vowel a ride out of there the two brought the Firearms with them and gave the weapons to Fox to get rid of the rest went on to ditch the Toyota and Burgess body two of the assailants took the car along with Pete who got in the Camry uh me Patrick and said Sidra she goes she says I'll drive he's the passenger did you ever see the girl yeah she wrote with us she got into the car she got the car yeah because they see my kid was and like he didn't like that and Patrick made the decisions like bring some girl in it and the girl said it's weird because the girl said to um said like you know he was he was a little drunk she was like I know what happened and it was like you know basically like what do you mean what are you talking about you know but she didn't know what happened because I guess that's gonna tell her someone's had to tell her I mean she wasn't there right um did anyone ever say her name they referenced to her name I've never seen her before no problem um so she gets in where did you guys go um driving no kidding they're talking about going to past service talking about hey I got a friend can we go to she's got plenty of plenty of land you know other than the boonies there's a whole Monticello everybody keep myself I think my parents house you know because it's not too far we're kind of live on the outskirts but we did my parents about the tallest car museum and Huntsman you know I had told you guys earlier you guys have been a it's like you know because I'm saying anything anything that was help me like [ __ ] I think I'll give y'all money I'll give you whatever they had already took all my money out of my pocket they took my phone it took every my wallet my driver's license that's what they said they continue to say they throw like we know where you [ __ ] live we know your [ __ ] parents and we will kill you and your family if you say anything that's exactly what they said my mom's my world so they stop anywhere do they go to Jefferson County or Monticello or we got you I ended up okay I don't know if they but Sid ended up saying like I don't want to do money this isn't ruining the night I saw this episode I was all frantics and [ __ ] and he said like during the car ride as we're going down 90. he's like I'll take you up on that I was like what you guys bring how much money you're gonna bring in here so I got about 400 350 400 in there or something you know I raise you and uh he just got here he agreed and the whole thing back in my head I was like I was hoping they'd say I hope they don't say that's because they're going to do the body thing and I was talking they don't go do that first because I'm thinking if they're going out they're gonna kill me they're gonna kill me that's what they're gonna do that's why I have a fearing yeah he ended up he said I was like you just want to stop my house first I said and I said I'll go ahead and get that for you and I said I said to him again he said yeah so you know he paused and said you know Walter I guess my parents say that and um we're driving down the road I'm just like thinking dude I quit what am I gonna do like how what are they gonna do are they gonna walk me through the door how's this going to be done and um and uh I just said hey I didn't film the house even though they have my driver's license and my address because they even told me plus they have without some [ __ ] and my pockets nothing um I said there's my house I could see it because I know my neighborhood I mean I've lived there since we lived there since 86 and as we're getting closer to my house like probably a quarter mile I'm just like you know I can see you know you can you know I can see pretty far I was like Hey I was like yeah it's coming up right here you know I didn't want to tell him I lived at even though they pretty much knew um but I knew for that time being I wanted to be safe it's like yeah I want to make my mom's safe but I was like because we passed the house Mr President I was like Fred that road right here just take a left and I'm kind of just going to know what road it was it's the road right next to my parents house it's my parents house a Cordova a courthouse or the turn down Cordova um and Cordova is very short street it's probably about 40 yards long it's just a little roundabout boom those bags there's probably sits about six six houses up there in the whole area and I didn't know what I was I was debating you're always debating in my head asking oh my goodness and I just said park right here like you guys around about because you got a house that's as it goes around to the in their back as it gets ready straight back to Walden and I know that there's a house right here that where they couldn't like if I they stopped right here I knew they couldn't really see me go to my actual house and uh they just parked right there and he's like you're gonna go he's done yeah man I'll go get it he said you got five minutes you better be working in five minutes and then I got a car I'll walk slowly guys or something you know because sidewalk leads a stupid door and they can't see after so long as soon as I knew they couldn't see it right to my house and I know it's right next door so I run and I'm beating another door I could hear my mom like getting through getting through and coming to the door if you think of her she said she's open I'm just like she'll tell you I'm just forget them please like you know inside and immediately first thing I do I don't think of piss I don't even take a bro I don't take a breath of air mom and I'm trying to think how to say it what to say like this is what happened and I gave it all I told her everything and but as I'm telling her she's like in the process she's like calling another one and she's like yeah call him you know [ __ ] hell yeah I said yeah and then she's talking to the officer I guess hold on I said man this [ __ ] serious man those dudes have guns they will they just you know I mean what the [ __ ] did you just died I mean obviously they're not [ __ ] awesome and that was it she called me waiting and she wanted to keep going outside my lung and said Monkeys get the [ __ ] the house man get the [ __ ] the house these people are not playing all she went by I guess myself check things out and she wanted to see two of us this Mom let them deal with this that's their job that's their job not yours I need you Pete was free and the police had been alerted to the crime two of the men had driven off headed back into town there they would stop at the u-club apartments on North Woodward Avenue in Tallahassee and park Pete's Camry in a nondescript spot and even put a car cover over it effectively hiding it from view hoyt's body would spend the night in that parking lot in the trunk while Pete would spend most of the night in the local police station detailing what had happened he was able to put aside his fear for his life and gave the details necessary for the police to move in and make their arrests in a matter of a few hours the conspirators would be transformed into defendants shortly after Pete tornay was brought in by the police and questioned about the incident the other participants were identified and arrested having spent time in jail with Briggs and Bahrain Pete was easily able to identify and name them while the others had to be tracked down through nicknames and aliases in addition police forensic teams swarmed to the Mission Road home of Briggs and vowell to preserve the crime scene and gather any evidence that had not been destroyed by the assailants Bahrain was found hiding at his girlfriend Brittany Guthrie's apartment as the police searched for him in the apartment they were able to find ammunition magazines for the firearms and a box for a car cover that had been bought at an AutoZone store a police officer searched a local parking lots and ran across a car covered over at the u-club apartments and noticed that part of a bumper sticker sticking out from under the cover appeared to have blood on it removing the cover they were able to identify that this was in fact Pete tornay's technically stolen Toyota Camry when they opened the trunk they found Hoyt Burgess body wrapped in the white plastic tarp in a matter of hours all of the assailants and accessory participants had been rounded up with the exception of fox who had given break eggs and vowel are right away from the crime scene and had been tasked with disposing of the guns it would be a couple of days before they were able to locate him and after a short standoff he surrendered to police and divulged that he had hidden the guns in a hollow tree with his intention to sell them at a later date of the participants brought in and arrested only Vicki Strickland would suffer no punishment as it quickly became clear that she had no foreknowledge of what was happening and was not a willing participant the trials of those involved began a year later in April of 2018. Paige vowel the girlfriend of Paige Briggs was placed on the witness stand on her trial on April the 26th she explained at the time of the incident she had a severe problem with drug addictions both methamphetamines and painkillers in 2017 you kind of had a problem didn't you I did you had a big drug problem didn't I did tell the jury the extent of your drug problem were you doing drugs what type of drugs were you doing how often were you doing them um I was using methamphetamines and opiates mainly mainly blues or Roxy cotton call you had a pretty bad addiction to him didn't you I did were these drugs that you basically needed to function daily with yes I had to have every day did your relationship page with Paige Briggs turn out of a desire to get high pretty much yes did you become acquainted with him because he supplied you with drugs um well we we had to I met him while drinking one night and then the next day he introduced me to meth and from then on it's all I did all day every day I know him to be a drug seller dealer yes he did turn into yeah he yes pretty cool and it's my understanding well at least you've heard the testimony like me that you got involved with Mr Briggs about six months prior to when this happened is that correct that's correct she then went on to speak of how she knew Hoyt Burge did you also know Hoyt Burch I didn't know Hoyt how did you know Hoyt Birch um using drugs and hanging out you see someone that would Supply you with drugs as well yes he did you all do drugs to go we did were you ever romantically involved no he was just a really good friend the house she shared with Briggs was a center for drug activity both sales by Briggs and people just constantly hanging out she described it as an environment where people were constantly doing meth all hours of the day no one was sleeping just coming and going she would then tell the jury how all of those involved interacted with each other and how their relationships developed uh Stan Stanley West and Vicki Strickland were frequent overnight guests at the mission Roadhouse grew up yes they were there for extended periods of time okay what about David Howard um he would come over sometimes to discuss his his business he was trying to launch it's a party bus thing that he was trying to launch with page breaks uh they were they were trying to engage in starting a business a party bus a party bus okay what about uh Jesse Fox did you know him yes I did tell the jury how you knew Jesse Fox Jesse Fox would come over and buy drugs from Paige Briggs and he also um worked with him for a little bit and it's my understanding when Paige was Boy page Mr Briggs wasn't selling drugs he was in some type of pool business is that correct yes that was uh he was until he eventually lost his job but due to you know the drug use uh and tell the jury how you knew Patrick barang Patrick brain sold um page breaks um wheat and Paige big Briggs sold weed as well so he sold page breaks larger quantities and that's how they knew each other and that's how he came over to the house quite often okay now as far as Hoyt Burge he had come over to this house on Mission Road multiple times prior to the night he was killed right yes he has been over quite often he you would do drugs there with them a lot correct correct okay and it was Mr Briggs present when you all would do drugs sometimes he was and other people were president as well right all right vowel would then lay out what happened on the day of the killing that led up to the confrontation May 8th let's talk about that day okay okay start with the best you can every detail that you can remember what you did from the moment you woke up on May 8th I woke up um and Paige had mentioned to me that I needed to take him to his probation office I then proceeded to uh later on before we went to the uh his probation office I had contacted Hoy to try and well actually I've been talking to him earlier that day asking him when Katie's funeral was it was a mutual friend that had passed away and then I asked them if I could get any um any if you had any beliefs that I could buy um from then me and Paige went to go to his probation office I dropped him off he saw his probation officer did anyone else go to the probation office with you and Paige no okay I didn't mean interrupt you what happened next did you go to probation yes we went to his probation office I waited outside on my phone and now were you this may sound like a stupid question when you drive in the car I was driving the car what car was it it was Stan's car Stan's car I assumed that Vicki and Stan maybe were at the house still when you got up yes they were okay um I don't think we had been to sleep though so we had been doing drugs I've seen the night I mean there is always doing drugs so um after his probation office I took him to um go get his haircut we were waiting outside and he he told me that we he didn't need to get his hair cut that someone was planning to Rob him like and I asked him who and he said um Coupe okay this is the first time that you learn a robbery is that correct yes okay and it was your understanding that Coop wanted to Rob him yes okay but you had already contacted Hoyt prior in the day if I'm understanding you correctly to get Blues right right okay well what happened when Hoyt said that keep telling the jury what happened well um he told me that Coop was planning to Rob him so we went immediately back to the house later on he's you know he's trying to stop for a second okay when you get back to the house who's at the house um Stan Stan and Vicki and Patrick brain and um I don't think David's there I'm not sure but I don't think he's there when you get to the house how much time has passed I mean I'm assuming you don't wake up like a normal individual like at 8am I mean we hadn't been to bed yet so in terms of time frame when you get back to the house what time is it maybe 2 P.M early afternoon early afternoon and um you were just you know still doing we know we're passing around the little bubble thing what's a bubble thing it's what you smoke meth out of okay when Paige Briggs had told you about this robbery what was your thought regarding it well I mean what that's not something that people were normally told what did you think of it yeah well I mean I thought it was crazy but then again that I I mean you hear about stuff like that all the time when people that do meth everyone's trying to rob everybody I didn't think much of it that meant that someone was going to rob y'all or if you were there with guns like home invasion robbery did you think it was a robbery that was going to happen when you weren't there and you were going to catch them I thought that you know Paige Paige only told me that Coop was trying to rob him I knew Coop I I was friends with Coop I didn't really think anything of it that I didn't really think anything of it he just said that Coop was planning to Rob him you think that it was just him and uh whacked out state for better uh description I just thought he was gonna Rob Paige for his um meth which often happens people still people's drugs did you think that it was Paige just acting stupid or crazy or did you really believe him I really believe them I mean but I wasn't really concerned about that I honestly I was starting to go into withdrawal so I was I was a I I wasn't concerned about that he everybody was getting ready I mean he was getting ready he had there was cameras that he was you know making sure that he could see in case Coop came to Rob him okay and when you've gotten back to the house I think you identified you get there with Paige Briggs Vicki's already there correct correct Stan's already there correct okay Patrick's there correct and David Howard shows up at some point in time yes okay uh what do you see them doing if anything in the house um well really we're just using drugs like we're just smoking and let me ask you a question about that after you report to probation you kind of know you're not going to get a urine test for a while correct right so it was maybe the drug usage even a little more heavier by certain individuals oh yes yes um keep telling the jury what happened well um Paige had asked me if he could get some blues yes he asked me if I could text Hoyt and get some blues I told him I had already out who he was already gonna come by so I could get blues and he said good I just um I want to talk to him when he comes by that's all I knew I mean that's all that happened and from then to Hoy got there I was just smoking vowel's testimony puts the events of the day into a different light while it does not change the outcome or that this was an ambush of Burge and Pete tornay it does set the stage for those waiting in the house that were already in a heightened state of paranoia about the robbery since many of the people there had not slept in some time and that methamphetamines had been smoked extensively that day the situation was going to be a powder kick just waiting to be ignited the addition of firearms to the situation made it a recipe for disaster that only one person was killed May well have been something of a miracle under cross-examination by the prosecution a different view of vowel came out one that wasn't just that of a drug-addled person caught up in something Beyond her control uh Hoyt Birds liked you didn't he um I guess yes was he sweet on you he was nice to me was he a little too sweet sometimes no you didn't say that I don't recall ever saying that so the law enforcement officer was mistaken or lying that testified that you said that I'm not saying that he is but I was under the influence of Xanax and I don't remember I don't recall any of that I took a lot of Xanax like did you hit hoytberg no how do you know you were understood later that night how could you possibly know you don't know anything else because you're under the influence of Xanax you don't know the answer to these I remember but I remember that night very clearly Briggs was ticked off about the Facebook messages correct between Hoyt and coop um I guess he was and when you were asked on Direct about that you kept saying coop coop coop he was mad at Coop but he was mad at Hoyt too right I mean he said that he had wanted to talk to wanted to talk to Hawaii I wanted to talk to him I wanted to talk to Hoy and ask him why Coop wanted to Rob him what he said was he wanted to teach him a lesson isn't that right no isn't that what you told darn Carmen no he wanted to rough him up isn't that what he said no I've never said that okay so as Hoyt Briggs the kind of guy that talks out his problems when somebody's trying to steal his drugs I don't know I don't know I didn't know that Hoyt was a part of that you didn't know that Hoyt was a part of the plan to Rob yes I did not know until after so when Paige Briggs looked at the phone uh the messages that were left open on his phone and he showed them to Pete and he screenshotted them cared enough to screenshot him right we've seen evidence of that here today yeah I mean I yes but he didn't show them to you he showed them to me after after what after Hoy died I had no idea I didn't even know over there did he not no I had already was I had already called White to have him come over why did you tell Donald Carman that Briggs wanted you to get Hoyt over there so that he could rough him I didn't tell him that so he's mistaken her line he's lying and the officer that says you said Hoyt was a little too sweet is mistaken her mind I didn't say that I said I don't recall I do not recall that car ride at all and you didn't think anything about him wanting to talk to Hoyt no I did not all right and when Stan and Vicki went to pick up a crapload of guns you didn't think anything of that I didn't even know they went to go pick up a crapload of guns and when people were walking around your home wearing bulletproof vests you didn't think anything of that he wasn't wearing a bulletproof vest okay and when you called Hoyt to come over were you flirtatious with him no Hoyts always flirtatious with me and were you flirtatious back no I was nice we're friends did he know that your boyfriend was there yes why did everybody park somewhere else why was the house all dark I don't know I didn't have a car neither did Paige I don't know what other people were doing I can't I can't say what other people were doing or what other people were thinking I can only say what I know I was thinking and what I was doing I'm asking about you ma'am did it seem strange to you that no cars were parking in front of your house even though you had seven people over there no I did not did it seem strange to you that at a party house that parties all night with music blaring all night and black lights and whatever God knows whatever else that all the lights were out I didn't know all the lights were out did it seem strange to you that after Hoyt gets a phone call and announced I mean I'm so sorry that Paige gets a phone call and announces that the victim poit is on his way over everyone gets up and goes to their places and know what that didn't happen you mentioned that everyone did get up and go to other rooms no I didn't you didn't say that all the boys were in another room I said that they were chilling in another room using drugs and stuff like they usually always are and did they may remain really quiet for about five minutes between the time that Paige got the phone call and made an announcement and the time that Hoyt knocked on the door I don't know I wasn't taking auditory records of what was going on but would it seem odd to you if everyone got up and went to other rooms and stayed perfectly quiet for five minutes in the dark if that's what I mean that would be odd if that's what happened but that's not what happened so you didn't get any clue about what was going on in the minutes that led up avoid coming up to that door if I had known anything was going to happen Ahoy I would have never let him come in that door ever did you lock the door behind Hoyt and Pete I don't know if I locked it but I know whenever we do drug deals we usually do have the door locked if it was me or somebody else I don't know what type of locks did you have on that door a deadbolt and how is it that if you know what was going to happen you would have done something to stop it weren't you too afraid to do anything to stop it yeah that was after something had happened before I had no idea anything anything was going to happen right but you still got the four armed men present there right before they weren't armed I didn't see anyone armed and these guys aren't always armed I thought you said they were always guns there's always guns in the house but there's not always people walking around with guns correct but in this case there were after it happened yes and before it happened when they came barging in the room so are you saying that you did not see any guns prior to them barging in the room no I did not see anyone walking around with guns and you're saying that nobody was wearing a bulletproof vest I don't know if it was I mean Paige I don't know if he was wearing a bulletproof vest or not because it's not like he he he has worn he's worn these before I mean I can't recall I don't know you're a convicted felon aren't you yes you're the gatekeeper to a pretty big time meth house aren't you the gate I mean that's what Jesse referred it to as but I I wouldn't call myself the gatekeeper you live with hang out and run with people that always possess Firearms isn't that right I was hanging out with people I shouldn't have been yes before resting the state's case against vowel prosecutor Georgia cableman tried to bring the event into a sobering Focus for two minutes the amount of time Hoyt Burge was beaten by the men she stood in silence and showed photos of his bloodied and battered corpse to the jury before speaking again and then Hoyt was shot before 10 to 20 seconds he laid there bleeding he observes her yelling obscenities at Hoyt and he even sees her get a lick in he's all in for this folks and she does absolutely nothing to help him he laid there bleeding asking for help begging these people that he knew to call someone and then he began to choke on his own blood and then he lost consciousness and all of these people stood around and watched although medical intervention could have saved this man these people did not just watch this young man die you have learned negative information about Hoyt Burge during this trial the defense says this is just a bunch of druggies doing what druggies do he was over there to sell pills he was going to rob White Birch was a human being it took a jury five hours of deliberation to find page vowel guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping her conviction rested upon the argument that she knew the plans to rough up Hoyt and the testimony of another defendant fox said that he saw her hit the man at least once with the hammer she received a sentence of life in prison Paige Briggs David Howard and Stanley West would all be found guilty of third degree murder two counts of false imprisonment and theft Briggs Howard and West would each receive sentences of 30 years in prison Patrick Bahrain was also convicted of third degree murder and false imprisonment he was given a sentence of 40 years in prison whether he intended to create a robbery of his own or not Hoyt Burge was lured into a trap and betrayed by a friend Peter tornay was just a guy trying to sell some drugs who happened to fall into the ultimate wrong situation one made it out alive the other was killed and left in the trunk of a stolen car that was little Comfort to the Survivor of that terrible event just the knowledge that he was able to keep his cool and eventually make an escape might be some satisfaction it is our hope that he has set out on a different safer path in life I've been drug free for a couple years now almost uh I quit cigarettes even I'm out the whole scene um uh what am I doing uh these days working I am I'm working two jobs I do brick block and I do foundation so basically I do concrete uh that's what I do for a living as we speak you know I'm I'm just really thankful to be alive be well if you found this case compelling don't forget to like the video comment down below your take on it and subscribe to the channel also hit the notification Bell in order to stay up to date each time we reveal a new shocking case and if you have a moment share this video with your friends through your social media until next time stay safe and keep your eyes peeled you never know what's lurking in the shadows [Music]

Channel: Beyond Evil

Views: 1,029,980

Keywords: Peter Tournay Paige Vowell Page Briggs Tallahassee, Florida true crime documentary murder documentary crime scene

Id: 8hbBAl955tU

Length: 51min 0sec (3060 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 24 2023