A Florida woman accused of fatally suffocating her boyfriend in a suitcase asked to have her hair and makeup professionally done for her murder trial, but her bold request was denied.
Sarah Boone, 46, made the request before taking the stand at a pretrial hearing Wednesday, four years after she was arrested for the bizarre death of her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr, 42, inside their apartment in Winter Park, Florida.
She claimed Torres died during an alcohol-fueled game of hide-and-seek, however investigators responded with footage from her phone showing him rummaging through the suitcase and telling her, “I can’t breathe.”
At Wednesday’s motions hearing, Boone requested that a kit be brought in to groom her for the courtroom, however a judge denied even allowing her own attorneys to apply makeup on her as it is considered contraband.
Sarah Boone, 46, was denied a bold request for professional hair and makeup at a hearing Wednesday before her murder trial.
This screenshot of a cell phone video allegedly recorded by Sarah Boone shows the blue suitcase where Jorge Torres Jr suffocated to death after being zipped inside.
Boone is accused of suffocating her boyfriend Jorge Torres Jr in the suitcase, which she claims was an accident that occurred during a drunken game of hide-and-seek.
The main reason behind Wednesday’s pretrial conference was not Boone’s request for recovery, but rather his defense team’s attempt to suppress key evidence presented by prosecutors.
Boone has represented herself throughout much of her court saga since her arrest, and is now represented by her ninth attorney after eight others were removed or resigned.
His newest attorney, James Owens, filed a request to have two hours of footage of the interrogation between Boone and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office thrown out of court.
Owens argued that Boone was forced to talk to detectives and was not read her Miranda rights properly, and felt she had no choice but to talk to authorities.
Specifically, the question was whether she understood the ninth rights question: ‘With these rights in mind, do you want to talk to (the investigators) now?’
At the hearing, Orange County Sheriff’s Detective Chelsey Koepsell testified that Boone read his rights directly from his card and that the question was not printed on the card he is carrying.
However, prosecutors argued that Boone never asked for a lawyer during his interrogation.
At a pretrial hearing Wednesday, Boone’s attorneys asked that footage of his interrogation be thrown out, saying he didn’t understand his Miranda rights.
In interrogation footage, investigators questioned how Torres suffocated inside the suitcase, which Boone claimed was an accident while they were playing drunken hide-and-seek.
Boone said she and Torres were painting pictures, completing a puzzle and drinking Woodbridge Chardonnay when they decided to play hide-and-seek.
Boone said she hid upstairs in the shower, but Torres never went up to look for her.
When she went downstairs, she found Torres in the living room, and together they decided to zip Torres’ blue suitcase, which she claimed left two of her fingers sticking out of the zipper.
“Sarah and Jorge were laughing when she put him in the suitcase,” his arrest affidavit said.
At 12:30 a.m., Boone said he decided to go upstairs while Torres was still trapped in the suitcase, thinking he could get out on his own.
Boone climbed into bed and fell asleep a half hour later, telling detectives she assumed Torres would climb out of the bag and join her in bed.
He woke up the next morning and stayed in bed for a while. He said he assumed Torres was already downstairs “on the laptop looking for a job.”
She finally went downstairs around 11am and couldn’t find her boyfriend anywhere.
“Sarah got scared and remembered that the last time she saw Jorge was when she put him in the suitcase,” according to the arrest document.
He then unzipped the luggage and found Torres unconscious inside.
Boone is escorted by a police officer following her arrest in February 2020. Police discovered videos on her phone that allegedly showed the woman filming Torres pleading to be released from the suitcase.
Jorge Torres Jr, 42 (seen in another mug shot) had a history of domestic violence involving Boone. In 2018, he was charged with assault over an alcohol-fueled altercation inside his home.
Boone claimed he climbed into bed while Torres was still trapped in the suitcase, thinking he could get out on his own.
She testified Wednesday that after police found Torres’ body, she was still “very confused, very confused” from drinking that night, according to CorteTV.
‘I didn’t understand the monumental amount of people there were (at the crime scene) and what they were doing. I was worried about my dogs. I was worried about my son. I was shocked.
‘I was traumatized by the situation and tried to concentrate on everything that was happening at home. I was hungover… I think I was still intoxicated to some extent.
Owens’ attempt to suppress the interrogation footage comes because it appears to contradict his intended defense argument: that Boone acted in self-defense on the night of Torres’ death.
He claimed she suffered from battered spouse syndrome and that Torres had a history of domestic violence involving Boone, including a 2018 assault charge related to a drunken altercation inside their home.
Prosecutors said at the pretrial hearing that they plan to file a motion to prevent Boone’s attorney from making such an argument, citing an expert examination of Boone on Wednesday before the hearing.
It is not clear what this expert examination consisted of.
After denying her request for professional makeup and hair, the judge in her case said he would rule on whether the video of Boone’s interrogation will be suppressed later Thursday.
Boone’s trial will begin Oct. 7 and she faces life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.