Life in prison for man in Orange County rape, mutilation case

A man convicted of raping and attempting to kill a Pine Hills woman was sentenced on Tuesday to life in prison, where he is asking to live in an isolated cell for his own safety.

Bruce Whitehead, 55, was convicted last week on charges of sexual battery, attempted murder, armed kidnapping, robbery and aggravated battery and assault after a 2022 incident involving a woman he picked up at an Oak Ridge strip club.

Whitehead forced the woman, who testified last week, out of the car into a wooded area at knifepoint. He raped and tried to stab the woman to death.

Earlier this year, according to an arrest affidavit, Whitehead asked another inmate to “take care of” the woman in an apparent effort to block his prosecution.

On Tuesday, his attorney said that Whitehead has received death threats and asked Circuit Court Judge Diego Madrigal III if he could be isolated in prison.

Madrigal said he had no power to help Whitehead, who had declined to speak Tuesday until his attorney made the request.

“What can I say?” Whitehead said. “It is what it is.”

Madrigal thanked Whitehead earlier in the sentencing for his good behavior throughout the trial. Still, he outlined Whitehead’s history of sexual abuse — which included previous convictions — and called his actions vile, cruel and evil.

“You may have thought you were picking on some vulnerable women when you chose your victims,” Madrigal said. “Those are not vulnerable women. Those are strong women.”

Whitehead has been a registered sex offender since 1987, when he was convicted for kidnapping and sexual battery in Duval County.

He spent 20 years in prison and was released in May 2022. Six months later, he attacked the Pine Hills woman.

“The members of this community deserve to feel safe,” Madrigal said. “Women in this community deserve to feel safe.”

On four of his charges — including sexual battery, attempted murder, armed kidnapping and robbery — Whitehead will serve consecutive sentences of life in prison. He was fined $55,000 and has 30 days to appeal his sentence.