One Florida sheriff’s deputy is dead, and two others are wounded.
But one of the killers tried to convince authorities that she was on a mission from God.
And a grand jury rejected this Florida woman’s wild excuse for putting police officers through hell.
Police officers never really know what to expect when they respond to a domestic disturbance house call.
Sometimes it is something as simple as a husband and a wife shouting at each other during a petty argument.
Other times it is a disagreement between friends or neighbors that could potentially lead to violence.
But every now and then it is pure hell for the officers.
And that is exactly where officers found themselves earlier this month in Lake County, Florida on a domestic disturbance check.
Deputies from Lake County responded to a report of a disturbance at a home near the small city of Eustis around 8 p.m. on a Friday night.
The caller told the police that a woman, now identified as 48-year-old Julie Ann Sulpizio, was trespassing on people’s property and attacking them while accusing them of being sinners.
“The complainant stated [Sulpizio] was acting religious, accusing them of being sinners, and she knows ‘what they did,’” Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said. “They identified Julie Sulpizio as their neighbor, but Julie states that she is ‘Helen, under God’s will.'”
“During a calm verbal exchange, Julie Sulpizio states that they, meaning the group of people that were present there, were involved in pedophilia,” Grinnell continued. “She again claims to be ‘Helen,’ and she asked one of the victims that she had battered, ‘Who was your God?'”
Apparently, she was attempting to lure people into her house so her husband could murder them.
Sulpizio told the people there that “Julie is in heaven.”
“She then went on to state, ‘You see, the thing is, we needed to trick Lucy,’ and we later learned [Lucy] to be a name she calls Lucifer,” Sheriff Grinnell said.
Sulpizio then pointed to one of the deputies and told him that “you are one of them.”
Deputies took Sulpizio into custody and then went to conduct a welfare check at her home down the street.
The deputies found two dead dogs outside of the house and an open window with the screen kicked through.
Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Michael Link and Master Deputy Sheriff Harold Howell entered the home through the back entrance and made their way through the living room and hallway.
That is where Sulpizio’s husband, Michael, ambushed the deputies and shot Deputy Link in the back before shooting him several more times as he tried to crawl away to safety.
Wounded, Deputy Howell was forced to retreat outside the home.
The couple’s two daughters were also inside the home and were heard shouting at arriving police backup “My King will kill all of you! You are Lucifer’s children!”
Michael and the two daughters committed suicide before police could reenter the residence.
Sulpizio was indicted on Monday by a jury on multiple charges, including three counts of attempted first-degree premeditated murder of a law enforcement officer, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in the first degree, battery on a law enforcement officer and three counts of battery on others.
Prosecutors may seek the death penalty.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
