The Tampa Tribune
More than 30 years after Carlos Bello murdered a Tampa police detective and wounded another, a judge concluded he is faking mental illness and is competent to be resentenced.As soon as Circuit Judge Ronald Ficarrotta announced his ruling Friday, several Tampa police officers in his courtroom took out phones and began sending text messages.
Among those present was Detective Greg Stout, president of the Tampa Police Benevolent Association, who immediately after the hearing said he was sure word had spread through the department. The reaction, he said, was "jubilation."
Bello, 58, was convicted and sentenced to death in 1987 for killing Detective Gerald Rauft and shooting Detective Robert Ulriksen during a drug raid at an Ybor City home in 1981. But his sentence was overturned by the Florida Supreme Court, and Bello began years of evaluations for mental competency.
"This defendant has played the system like no one has ever played the system before," Assistant State Attorney Darrell Dirks told Ficarrotta. "He had one judge tell him in 1987 he is going to be sentenced to death. This defendant has made it his purpose that that is never ever going to happen to him. … He has done a great job. I'll give him kudos. He is a great manipulator."
