Tonight’s edition of The Real Story With Maria Elena Salinas on Investigation Discovery revolves around the Deltona massacre, also known as the Xbox Murders — in which a woman and five friends were beaten and killed by squatters.
As described in the episode, simply called The Deltona Massacre, the four attackers tortured and killed four men, two women and a dog inside the Florida residence in August 2004.
The killings made the incident the bloodiest mass murder in the history of Volusia County.
It was carried out by Troy Victorino, Robert Cannon, Jerone Hunter and Michael Salas. They had apparently wanted to inflict revenge upon Erin Belanger, who had evicted one of them from her grandmother’s winter home.
The killers — allegedly inspired by the movie Wonderland — were also apparently trying to take back some of their belongings, including an Xbox.
Victorino, Cannon, Hunter and Salas also reportedly planned to kill another person who wasn’t at the house at the time.
In August 2006, a jury found the four attackers guilty of the massacre. A federal judge later upheld the jury’s death penalty recommendation, calling the killings “conscienceless” and “unnecessarily torturous”.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelSeventh Circuit Judge William A. Parsons told the convicts: “You have not only forfeited your right to live among us, you have forfeited your right to live at all.”
Salinas — a widely respected journalist who has co-anchored the Univision Network’s national newscast, Noticiero Univision —just launched her new show, The Real Story, last week on ID.
The Real Story With Maria Elena Salinas airs Mondays at 10/9c on Investigation Discovery.