A jury found Matthew Apperson guilty after officials say he shot at George Zimmerman in a road-rage incident in Seminole County. The jury reached the guilty verdict on all charges, including attempted second-degree murder, shooting into an occupied vehicle and aggravated assault, after more than four hours of deliberations. Apperson will be sentenced on Oct. 17 at 9 a.m. He faces a minimum mandatory 20-year sentence.
The promotional material for One Dark Night indicates, “By anchoring the piece in accurate and unassailable elements, the user becomes transported inside a reliable, albeit virtual, version of the story as an eyewitness. One Dark Night breaks new ground on multiple levels, including through audio carefully cleaned by forensic specialists Sourcesound and Primeau Productions, with the latter asserting that the reconstructed audio indicates George Zimmerman cocked his gun just before he gave chase.”(emphasis added) Except there's one little problem with that narrative:
"Our law enforcement community and the State Attorney's Office works vigorously to ensure people may travel our busy streets, going about their business, without fear. Every resident and visitor to Seminole County deserves this freedom," said State Attorney Phil Archer. "My reaction to these charges is a pronounced shrug," Apperson's attorney Michael LaFay told CNN. "I've reviewed the charges and they don't change the facts. The prosecutors have put their heads together and tried to contemplate what could be the most serious charges, but that doesn't really change anything. This is a case of self-defense."
During the investigation, I learned that Apperson has exhibited unusual behavior in which he had recently been admitted to a mental institution. It appears that Apperson has a fixation on Zimmerman and has displayed some signs of paranoia, anxiety, and bipolar disorder.(emphasis added) Here's a video of the WKMG on-air report earlier today:
The Daily Mail has dug up some pure gold on Matthew Apperson, the man who two days ago apparently tried to shoot George Zimmerman through the head with a .357 Magnum revolver. (Apperson appears with his wife, Liza, in the photo above.)
(As an aside, thank you, again, UK news media, for doing the reporting that US news media can't be bothered to do.)
I've previously reported on Apperson's multiple arrests, and occasional convictions, for crimes such as DUI and drug possession, but most of those had taken place about 15 years ago. (See: Zimmerman Shooter Claims Self-Defense.)
What, one wonders, has Apperson been up to more recently? It turns out, the Daily Mail reports, that "Apperson is also well known to police in several Florida police districts."
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