He was called a "cold-blooded killer without a conscience," by an interviewing detective and was told he would be going to jail for raping and killing Dacosta.
Trial īoyd claimed he was suffering with memory lapses during his interviews about the murder of Dacosta. On March 25, 1999, a sample of Boyd's DNA came back from the crime lab as a match to the semen found on Dacosta's body. He told police Boyd had used the van from December 4 to December 7. Lloyd ran Hope Outreach Ministries and employed Boyd as his handyman. The van's owner, Reverend Frank Lloyd, was interviewed on March 22, 1999. It was not spotted until January 30, 1999, where it was seen in front of a Christian day care center in Lauderhill. Her body was dumped in an alley behind a warehouse in Oakland Park and was not discovered until December 7.ĭetectives from the Broward County Sheriff's Office began their investigation into Dacosta's murder by looking for the van. Dacosta was wrapped in sheets, bags, and a plastic shower curtain. She was raped, beaten, murdered and stripped naked. She was stabbed a total of thirty-six times with a screwdriver.
He took her back to his apartment and struck her dozens of times with a blunt instrument and cracked her skull open. Sometime after getting into the van, Boyd struck her across the head.
Boyd later was accused of eating part of Dacosta's leg while smoking crack - to which he later admitted. Dacosta was seen getting inside the van and a black male was seen behind the wheel, later identified as Boyd. Behind Dacosta was a church van with the word "Hope" printed on the side. Dacosta walked to a nearby Texaco station, where a witness spotted her, noting that she looked scared. On her way home from church in the early hours of the morning on December 5, her car ran out of gas on Interstate 95. and went to church where she prayed until 1 a.m. On the evening of December 4, 1998, Dacosta left work at 10 p.m. She worked at American Express as a customer service representative. Murder of Dawnia Dacosta ĭawnia Hope Dacosta was a 21-year-old choir singer and student studying to become a pediatric nurse practitioner. Investigators are convinced that Boyd knows where Alston's body is located. Boyd told the cops that witnesses could verify that Alston had also returned from the trip, but those witnesses later denied having seen her. Boyd returned the next day without Alston, who has not been seen since. The two were supposedly going on a trip to Winter Haven nearly 200 miles away. On June 28, 1998, 19-year-old Patrece Alston was seen getting into a green Mazda with Boyd. However, there was no physical evidence linking Boyd to the crime. Her ID card was discovered by Boyd's family members on the funeral home grounds a few weeks after Floyd's body was found. Floyd was known to smoke crack near the Boyd family funeral home. Floyd was not positively identified until four months later.
On August 13, 1997, the naked body of 24-year-old Melissa Floyd was found in some high grass near a guardrail on I95 in Palm Beach County. Police believe Boyd is responsible for a number of unsolved murders and the rapes of several women. The jury called Boyd's action self-defense and acquitted him of the killing. During the trial Boyd's defense attorneys turned the tables on Bullard, playing up the fact that he had cocaine in his bloodstream. Boyd told police that Bullard had hit him and that he "just lost it." He admitted that Bullard had no weapon and never threatened him. Bullard was the brother of one of Boyd's girlfriends. On October 18, 1993, Boyd stabbed Roderick Bullard to death on a Fort Lauderdale street with a kitchen knife during an argument over an automobile.
No charges were filed however because the victim declined to prosecute. In 1992, Boyd was accused of raping a girl during a date on her 18th birthday. A felony charge of aggravated battery was brought against Boyd but was later reduced to a misdemeanor charge meaning Boyd was only given probation. McCormick had threatened to leave him for cheating on her. In 1990, Boyd choked his second wife, Julie McCormick, to the point of unconsciousness. According to Boyd's family he had an ongoing cocaine problem. In 1998, Boyd worked as a handyman for Hope Outreach Ministries. Boyd, who was the owner of the family funeral home, died. He had to stay at his family's home in Plantation for periods of time due to his financial problems.
Prior to 1998, Boyd was struggling financially and could no longer afford his own apartment. Boyd's own mother had fired him once because he missed work. He had been sued by four separate women for failing to pay child support.
Prior to 1998, Boyd had been married twice and was the father of at least eight children. His family owns a funeral home in Fort Lauderdale. Boyd was born on March 22, 1959, in Broward County, Florida.