Mystery of man shot dead in his home solved after chilling note about 'fantasy killing' found in suspect's trash can | The Sun

DETECTIVES have solved a chilling mystery of a 25-year-old man who was shot dead in his home after emptying out the suspect's trash can.

Florida officials couldn't believe their eyes when they found the murder plot written on a piece of paper in the home of their prime suspect.

Patrick De La Cerda was ambushed and shot four times at the front door of his own house in Deltona in February 2018.

The killer had been "lying in wait" outside when De La Cerda supposedly came to the door expecting to receive a packing with his fiancée's engagement ring, according to Detective Chad Weaver.

"You could see the front door was open, then was glass all over the place," said Volusia County sheriff's office official Weaver.

Surprisingly, it didn't take very long for officials to locate a suspect.

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De La Cerda's fiancée Jessica Devnani immediately pointed investigators to her jealous ex-boyfriend Gregory Bender.

Devnani said Bender had been tormenting the couple for months with threatening voicemails and text messages.

It was so bad that Devnani reported Bender to a judge who then issued a restraining order against him, putting a stop to the threats for a few months, CBS News reported.

This was short-lived, however, and Devnani was shocked when she received a phone call from Bender on the morning of February 27, 2018.

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She didn't pick up the call, but she instantly knew that something was horribly wrong.

Devnani then rushed to check on De La Cerda and tragically found him shot dead in his home.

After Devnani's tip, Weaver went digging for more information that could lead to Bender's arrest.

The suspect's ex-wife, who was still married to Bender during his tryst with Devnani, gave incriminating information to Weaver that led to detectives obtaining a search warrant.

Daymara Sanchez met Weaver in a public park where she appeared to be very nervous, the investigator said.

She said that the reports of De La Cerda's murder reminded her of some unsettling notes she saw in a notebook belonging to Bender.

The suspect's ex-wife told Weaver the notebook contained disturbing plans for a murder, which Bender told her was just a "fantasy."

However, the chilling similarities between Bender's "fantasy" and De La Cerda's death gave detectives probable cause to search their suspect's home.

On February 28, 2018, Weaver and a team of investigators entered Bender's home and were shocked at what they found.

Almost immediately, Weaver spotted the notebook pages that Sanchez described to him in the wastebasket of Bender's home office.

"I was in shock," Weaver said.

"There's no way that we just found this murder plan."

But upon further examination, they found Bender's exact plan to get rid of nearly all the evidence, except the plan itself.

These pages along with Sanchez and Devnani's testimonies provided a clear indication of who committed the crime against De La Cerda.

On May 28, 2021, Bender was found guilty of first-degree murder.

He is now serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole.

"The fate of this killer was determined by the truths of the women he deceived, justice for a jealous murder, and a neglect to empty his own trash," CBS wrote.

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