From: jcs
On a Sunday morning, 42-year-old Sarah Boone made a distress call to 911, reporting her boyfriend, 42-year-old George Torres Jr., was dead in a suitcase [00:00:15]. Boone explained they were “playing last night” and she “put him in a case when we were playing” a “kind of hide and seek kind of thing” [00:00:28]. She claimed she fell asleep and woke to find him deceased, expressing confusion about what happened [00:00:35]. Torres Jr. ultimately died of suffocation [00:01:58].
Initial Police Interaction
Upon the arrival of uniform police officers, Boone reiterated her story, stating they had been drinking a bottle of wine, doing a puzzle, and then decided to play hide-and-seek, leading to George getting into the suitcase [00:03:23]. Her ex-husband, whom she called over, was also present [00:03:39]. He informed officers that George was on parole for domestic violence against Sarah and that she had previously bailed him out multiple times [00:04:54].
Sarah clarified that George “thought it’d be funny to be put in the suitcase,” and she joked by zipping him up, intending to make him “squirm a little bit” before she fell asleep [00:05:22]. She insisted they were both laughing about it [00:05:39]. The police officer confirmed her child would be taken into the ex-husband’s custody [00:06:13].
Investigation and Interrogation
Investigators arrived and began questioning Boone [00:06:37]. She repeated her account of George deciding to get in the suitcase, her zipping it up, laughing, and then falling asleep upstairs [00:07:01]. Boone expressed fear for her life, stating George’s family had “never liked me” and would “kill me” [00:07:26]. The detectives reassured her [00:07:48].
The following day, Boone appeared at the Sheriff’s Office with a page of questions, primarily about getting her phone back [00:08:14]. The investigator then informed her about George’s autopsy results, which revealed injuries to his left shoulder, a cut near his lip, and a contusion on his neck [00:08:59]. Forensics proved these injuries occurred the night he died and were not present before [00:09:21]. Boone attributed these to George falling off her son’s bike or running into walls [00:09:27].
The interrogator also brought up previous domestic violence calls involving Boone and George [00:11:18]. Boone detailed George’s history of coming “at me all the time,” leading her to “flee” or go to sleep [00:11:51]. She discussed George’s anger management classes and his supposed progress, stating he would apologize for past actions [00:13:49]. She then described George’s ex-wife as a “monster” [00:14:48]. Boone stated that zipping George into a suitcase was not something she normally did [00:17:11].
The Incriminating Videos
The interrogation intensified when investigators revealed they found two videos on her phone [00:17:38]. These videos recorded by Sarah Boone and their implications were taken at 11:12 PM and 11:23 PM [00:02:11]. In the first, she is seen laughing while George is zipped in the suitcase, repeatedly stating “I can’t breathe” and asking to be let out [00:02:14]. The second video, taken 11 minutes later, shows the suitcase flipped over and in a different area, with George still inside and asking to be let out [00:02:21]. Sarah was heavily intoxicated in these videos [00:02:30].
When shown the videos, Sarah initially claimed she didn’t remember them [00:18:12]. As the videos played, she reacted with distress, saying she didn’t want to watch them [00:18:47]. The videos captured her saying, “For everything you’ve done to me, f**k you, stupid” [00:19:09]. She identified George’s voice saying “I can’t breathe” [00:19:34].
Detectives pressed her on why she flipped the suitcase if she went straight upstairs to sleep [00:20:06]. She admitted to flipping it, but claimed her intention was not to leave him in there [00:20:11]. When confronted with George’s pleas to be let out and her derisive comments, she asserted, “my intention was not to leave him in there” [00:21:24]. She later claimed she didn’t think he was “panicky” [00:21:52]. Sarah felt the police were “feeding” her [00:22:22], but she still seemed unaware of the full ramifications of the evidence [00:22:29].
The interrogation highlighted the disconnect between her verbal account and the video evidence, particularly regarding George’s injuries which did not align with her story of a “good day” [00:28:10]. She blamed the incident on the wine [00:28:46]. The interrogation techniques used by the lead detective were noted as flawed due to visible animosity towards Sarah [00:12:20].
Arrest
As the interrogation concluded, Sarah brought out her list of questions, asking about her son’s laptop and George’s wedding ring [00:31:42]. When asked what was next, she questioned if she was “done” [00:32:54], stating that having to live with George’s death was “punishment enough” [00:33:05]. After CSI took her DNA and fingerprints [00:33:34], she was told to stand up and place her hands behind her back [00:34:54].
Sarah asked, “Why is this happening?” [00:35:01] to which the detective replied, “Because George is dead” [00:35:03]. She then accused them of a “trick” [00:35:08], reminding them they had previously said she could leave [00:35:15]. Sarah Boone was taken to the Orange County Jail at 5:44 PM [00:36:05]. She was charged with second-degree murder and held without bond [00:36:07]. She has since been in jail, working with her seventh attorney, with six previous attorneys citing irreconcilable differences as their reason for withdrawing [00:36:26].