Killer locked boyfriend in suitcase and laughed as he suffocated to death in twisted video

Sarah Boone, 47, was left 'shocked' when a jury found her guilty of second-degree murder - after she trapped and suffocated her boyfriend after zipping him inside a suitcase

A woman who killed her boyfriend by zipping him into a suitcase and leaving him to suffocate laughed and taunted him as she filmed him begging for help.

Sarah Boone, 47, was left “shocked” when a jury found her guilty of second-degree murder after she trapped her then partner Jorge Torres, 42, inside the case in February 2020. Boone, from Winter Park, Florida, claimed Jorge got trapped accidentally during a drunken game of hide and seek.

She then used her phone to record a sickening video of Torres pleading for his life inside a large blue suitcase as she watched on and giggled. Boone later told police that she zipped him inside the bag after the pair drank two bottles of wine, became intoxicated and played a game of hide-and-seek at their home.

She claimed she had gone upstairs and "passed out", only to wake up the next morning to find Torres still trapped in the suitcase.

But footage caught her shouting at him as he thrashed around in the suitcase telling her: "I can't f***ing breathe". The state attorney's office examined two separate clips of the killer laughing and poking fun at Torres while he begged for his life and repeatedly called out for her. Boone then replied through laughter: "For everything you've done to me, f**k you, stupid."

Torres said: "I can't f**ing breathe, babe, seriously", to which Boone replied: "Yeah, that's what you do when you choke me." She later told him: "That's what I feel like when you cheat on me."

"I can't breathe, Sarah", Torres said. Boone responded: "Then you should probably shut the f**k up."

Boone's lawyer, James Owens, "strongly" encouraged her to consider a plea deal, and told reporters she was "shocked" by the verdict. Owens said: "She nor I were anticipating guilty as charged, you know, we considered that the jury might convict her of a lesser charge. She was in shock they found her guilty as charged."

Boone, who requested to have her hair and makeup professionally done while she stood trial, said she and Torres had together decided that she would zip him up inside the suitcase. She also claimed she left two of his fingers sticking out of the zipper.

She initially pleaded not guilty, which meant turning down a plea deal that would have given her a 15-year prison sentence for manslaughter. Boone represented herself in court for a large portion of her trial after eight former lawyers were either dismissed or had resigned.

She then created her own advertisement seeking legal assistance, with the headline 'Inmate seeks Attorney'. On the hand-drawn ad, she wrote: "Looking for a prosperous challenge? Ready for your close-up on nat'l television? Are you zealous with a side of keen?

"Show the WORLD who you are with your original creativity, extraordinary expertise, confident ingenuity,' the ad continued, concluding with 'epic opportunity awaits' and 'invest in the oppressed."

Boone alleged that Torres was abusive towards her, telling the court he threatened to make her "unrecognizable" or she "would have lost my life". A former neighbour gave evidence that she spotted marks on Boone's arm and neck, and that Boone would also talk about the abuse, Orlando News 6 reports.

She testified that she hadn't let him out of the suitcase because he was aggressively trying to escape and appeared angry, adding she was "always in fear". She said: "His hand started to come through, and so I shook the suitcase to try and get his hand to go back in. Telling him please stop doing this to me. He used to tell me he would make me unrecognizable, or I would have lost my life."

Boone had previously alleged that Torres was abusive, and said she feared for her safety if she released him from the suitcase. Both Boone and Torres reportedly had a history of violent behaviour. In 2018, she was arrested on a battery charge following an attempted strangulation of Torres, while he faced a battery charge from an alcohol-related dispute at their home.

As the closing arguments concluded on Friday, Boone's defence lawyers called for a mistrial after members of Torres's family exited the courtroom during the screening of footage showing him zipped inside the suitcase. The request was denied.

Boone is due to be sentenced on December 2.