By Rene Stutzman
Orlando Sentinel
SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — A death row inmate convicted of stabbing his neighbor 129 times then murdering the woman’s wheelchair-bound mother with the same kitchen knife returned to a Seminole County courtroom this morning, hoping a judge would throw out his conviction.
Clemente Javier “Shorty” Aguirre was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder by a Seminole County jury in 2006.
Defense attorneys, including those for the Innocence Project, say they have new evidence, including DNA, that indicate he’s innocent.
They say it suggests the real killer is a member of the victims’ family, a woman with a history of mental problems who told a neighbor three years ago that demons in her head caused her to kill her family, according to defense pleadings.
Today is the first day of a two-week evidentiary hearing in front of Circuit Judge Jessica Recksiedler.
Full story: Death row inmate back in Seminole County courtroom, asking judge to throw out convictions