BRADENTON, Fla. (Court TV) — Newly released evidence in the case against a woman accused of killing two of her ex-husbands on the same day shows the defendant complaining about the temperature after she’s taken into custody.
Susan Avalon, 51, has pleaded not guilty to murder in two counties; prosecutors say she shot and killed Timothy Flecher, 55, in Hillsborough County before driving to Manatee County, where she allegedly shot David Scott, 44.
Susan Avalon is seen in the backseat of a deputy’s car. (Manatee County Sheriff’s Office)
Court TV reviewed body camera footage from the deputies who arrested Avalon; it shows them rushing up to her outside her Citrus County home and taking her into custody. “What happened?” Avalon can be heard asking the deputies. “What’s the matter?”
Once placed in the back of a deputy’s vehicle, Avalon is left alone. She sits quietly with her eyes closed, sometimes leaning her head back. When a second deputy comes to move her to a second car, Avalon begins to complain. “It’s really cold in here,” she says multiple times. The deputy reassures Avalon that the she will warm up her own car for Avalon.
As Avalon is brought into the sheriff’s office after her arrest, she continues to complain about the handcuffs as they are readjusted. She notes pain in her arm, where she says she has blood clots, and asks deputies to get her additional clothes, repeating that she’s cold. Led into an interrogation room and given water, Avalon sits silently with her head on her folded arms. While she appears to wipe away tears at one point, she neither speaks nor makes any sound.
Susan Avalon appears in court. (Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office)
Scott’s 15-year-old daughter triggered the police investigation when she called 911 to report her father had been shot. In the background of the call, Scott can be heard saying that the shooter was “in a sweatshirt with a mask with a Panera bag.” Scott’s teen daughter offered deputies additional information, saying that the shooter appeared to be approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall and drove away in a silver Honda Odyssey minivan.
While investigators say they’re confident Avalon acted alone, they have not offered any theories as to motive. “I don’t know why [Dec. 17] was the day,” Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said after Avalon’s arrest in 2025. “We know she had a current court hearing with [Scott] in October about child support. She was not paying the child support that she was ordered to pay.”
Prosecutors in Hillsborough County have filed a notice of intent saying they plan to seek the death penalty if Avalon is convicted of first-degree murder in Flecher’s death. Avalon is charged with second-degree murder in Manatee County for Scott’s death, a charge that is not eligible for the death penalty.
