Additional information:

10/13/83          Indicted as follows:

Count I:           First-degree murder

Count II:          Kidnapping

Count III:         Armed robbery

03/23/84          Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment

05/04/84          Sentenced as follows:

Count I:           First-degree murder – Death

Count II:          Kidnapping – Life

Puiatti filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 05/15/84.  Among several other arguments, Puiatti asserted that the trial court’s failure to sever his trial from Glock’s denied his right to confront Glock as to those portions of Glock’s initial confession which implicated Puiatti.  The Court affirmed the trial court’s conviction and sentence on 08/21/86.  The rehearing was denied on 10/28/86. 

On 12/24/86, Puiatti filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.  The Court vacated the Florida Supreme Court’s decision and remanded the case on 04/27/87. 

On remand, on 04/27/87, the Florida Supreme Court held that the introduction of the individual interlocking confession of Glock and the joint confession was harmless error, even if it was an error.  On 03/17/88, the Court affirmed the conviction and sentence.

On 06/17/88, Puiatti filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court a second time, which was denied on 10/03/88. 

Puiatti filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on 10/17/89.  Most of his claims involved ineffective counsel.  On 02/27/90, he then filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court.  After the Circuit Court denied the Motion on 04/27/90, Puiatti appealed the decision to the Florida Supreme Court.  Most of his arguments involved trial court error.  On 10/03/91, the Court consolidated the opinion, denied the Habeas petition, and affirmed the Circuit Court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion.

On 04/21/92, Puiatti filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the United States District Court, Middle District.  On 06/05/95, the case was administratively closed.  The petition was reopened on 03/16/98, however was administratively closed on 07/22/02 and has been ordered to remain so until Puiatti moves to open the case. 

On 01/30/03, Puiatti filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court, which was denied on 06/03/03. 

Puiatti filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 07/11/03.  On 06/08/05, the Court affirmed trial court’s order denying his successive 3.850 Motion.

On 07/19/05, Puiatti filed a successive 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court.  On 09/07/05, an order summarily denied the motion and was signed by Judge Diskey.

Case facts

On the morning of August 16, 1983, Glock and Puiatti confronted a woman as she attempted to exit her vehicle at a shopping mall in Bradenton, Florida, forcing her back inside her car at gunpoint. As Puiatti drove from the mall, Glock took fifty dollars from the victim's purse. Glock and Puiatti then coerced the victim into cashing a $100 check at her bank.

With the proceeds of the check in hand, the pair drove the victim across South Florida, eventually arriving at an orange grove outside Dade County where they took the victim's wedding ring and abandoned her at the side of the road. After driving a short distance, however, the pair decided that the woman, if left alive, would be a potential witness against them and that she therefore should be killed.

Glock and Puiatti returned to where they had left the victim, whereupon Puiatti shot her twice at close range and drove away. Upon glancing back and realizing that the victim had not fallen to the ground, Puiatti turned the car around. Glock then took the gun and fired a third shot into the victim and Puiatti drove away once more. When the woman still did not fall, Glock and Puiatti made a third pass at which point Glock fired the shot that felled her; she died shortly thereafter.

Four days later, Glock and Puiatti were still in possession of the victim's vehicle when they were stopped in New Jersey by a state trooper who noticed that the automobile's license plate was displayed improperly. Neither Puiatti nor Glock was able to present the trooper with a valid driver's license, so the trooper asked to see the car's registration. As Puiatti opened the glove box, the trooper noticed a handgun inside.

The trooper then seized the firearm, and with permission from Puiatti and Glock, searched the vehicle, thereby finding a second handgun. The officer arrested both men for possession of two handguns without permits. The handgun taken from the glove box proved to be the weapon used in the Florida slaying.

On August 21, the day following their arrests, Glock and Puiatti made separate tape recorded statements to two Pasco County, Florida, detectives, in which each confessed to the Florida kidnapping, robbery, and killing.

In his statement, Glock recounted the events described above, differing from that account in just two respects: Glock claimed that Puiatti had suggested initially that the two men kill the victim and that Puiatti had fired the final shot. Puiatti's statement, given later that day, was virtually identical to Glock's statement; not surprisingly, however, Puiatti claimed that the killing had been Glock's idea and that Glock had fired the last shot.

Three days later, on August 24, Glock and Puiatti gave the detectives a joint statement before a court reporter. Puiatti spoke first. As Glock listened silently, Puiatti told the detectives that "[Glock] said to me that he thought we should shoot her ... [a]nd after going back and forth a little bit, I agreed, and turned the car around." Puiatti then admitted to firing the first shot, at which point Glock interrupted and continued the narration.