He confessed to killing Mexican businessman Gabriel Guzman Cruz in 2020 on the Placencia Peninsula when he was just 19. And then, last month, the now 21 year old Deandre Guiffaro pleaded down from murder to manslaughter. In his confession he had said he and his brother went to Cruz's home to burglarize it, but when Guzman Cruz arrived home to catch them in the act - a nightly struggle started which ended with Guiffaro bludgeoning, then stabbing, then chopping the Mexican to death. He told police that never set out to kill - it was just that the businessman put up a formidable fight and he couldn't get free of him. In a jarring twist, Guiffaro also told police that he prayed with the Our Father in Spanish with the Mexican as he passed away.
Today in the Punta Gorda session of the Supreme Court, Justice Antonette Moore sentenced him to 15 years in prison for the crime. The Seine Byte resident had 1 year and 6 months deducted for time served, so he will remain in jail for another 13 years and 6 months.
