Man who was convicted of raping, mutilating woman in Pine Hills sentenced to life in prison

Bruce Whitehead, the man who was convicted of sexually assaulting, mutilating, and then trying to kill an Orange County woman in 2022, was sentenced to serve life in prison Tuesday.

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Whitehead was found guilty of all six counts of the charges he faced, which included sexual battery with a deadly weapon, attempted first-degree murder with a weapon, kidnapping with intent to inflict harm/terror with a weapon, robbery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

He faced a 50-year minimum mandatory sentence for the sexual battery charge and up to life in prison due to his status as a Prison Release Reoffender.

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In all, Whitehead received a life sentence for each of the first four counts, 15 years in prison for the aggravated battery and five years for the aggravated assault, all to be served consecutively.

He was also assessed $55,000 in fines.

Whitehead will have 30 days to appeal the sentence.

During the seven-day trial, attorneys for the state rehashed the victim’s testimony and also presented evidence of Whitehead’s violent criminal history.

The state presented that in 1986, whitehead was accused of rape and attempted murder of another unrelated woman in Jacksonville.

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The victim from that case testified and provided facts similar to those in the most recent case.

Body camera video played in court showed how the 2022 5-day manhunt to find Whitehead ended.

Prosecutors pointed to location data, surveillance video, and strong DNA evidence collected after the crime.

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