STUART, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida man is being held in jail without bond after prosecutors say he attacked and killed a woman at random.
Kersten Francilus is accused of killing a woman whom he allegedly stabbed at random. (Martin County Sheriff’s Office)
Kersten Francilus, 25, is charged with first-degree premeditated murder. Investigators have not released the identity of the victim and have only described her as someone in her 70s who was unknown to the suspect.
Deputies with the Martin County Sheriff’s Office were called to a community in Stuart for a report of a man behaving suspiciously. At a news conference, Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek said that a number of residents had reported Francilus going door-to-door, knocking, and then asking whoever answered where the “new bank” was. Budensiek told reporters that there are no “new” or existing banks in the residential community. Budensiek described the incident as “an extremely violent random act of violence.”
The first deputy who arrived on the scene reported seeing Francilus “actively stabbing” the victim, who was on the ground. A good Samaritan was also present and trying to pull Francilus away. When the deputy pulled out his gun and ordered Francilus to stop, Budensiek said, he immediately dropped the knife and complied.
At Francilus’ first appearance in court on Friday, prosecutors said that the victim was stabbed “upwards of 16 times.” Prosecutors said that Francilus admitted to killing the victim in an interview; investigators have said the two did not know each other previously and the prosecutor said in court, “The only way he could describe her was that she was Jewish.”
Francilus, who has no criminal record, lives in a neighboring community with his mother, his wife and his child, investigators said. The weapon used was allegedly a steak knife from his family home.
