Grand jury indicts one CCI inmate in strangulation death of another

PUNTA GORDA — A grand jury has indicted an inmate at the Charlotte Correctional Institution on first-degree murder charges for reportedly killing another inmate, the State Attorney's Office said Friday.

William Tulenko, a convicted murderer serving a life sentence in the Florida State prison system, is accused of strangling another inmate to death in February at the state correctional facility south of Punta Gorda.

Tulenko and the victim, James Lindsey Howze, were the only two people in the cell at the time of the killing, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors presented the case Friday to a grand jury at the Charlotte County Justice Center in Punta Gorda. In order to file a first-degree murder charge against someone, prosecutors need to convince a grand jury that there is enough evidence to support the charge. Grand jury proceedings are seldom made public.

Friday's grand jury's decision was released at a press conference at the Justice Center. Amira Fox, the State Attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit, made the announcement, saying she intends to seek the death penalty in the case.

At the time of the killing, Tulenko had a murder case pending in Santa Rosa Correctional Institution in Melbourne for killing an inmate there, Fox said. He received a life sentence for that charge on June 7.

Howze, the victim, was also serving a life sentence for murder, home invasion robbery, and kidnapping.

He also had a pending murder charge, accused of killing an inmate in Franklin County Correctional Institution in Carrabelle, Florida, Fox said.

The State Attorney’s Office handles cases where an inmate dies of suspicious causes, according to Fox. The Office of the Florida Inspector General investigated the murder and then turned in the case for review to the State Attorney's Office.

Fox thanked the Charlotte County grand jury for their attention and hard work.

No questions were permitted, due to it being an active case.

“I do want to say though,” Fox said. “Due to the facts and evidence in this case, which I believe clearly show the aggravating factors of heinous, atrocious and cruel, and cold, calculated and pre-meditated (murder), and due to the defendant’s prior history, it is highly likely that we will seek the death penalty in this case.”

Chief Assistant State Attorney Richard Montecalvo and Charlotte County Deputy Chief Assistant State Attorney Shannon Doolity are prosecuting the case, Fox said.