Teen preserves blood on slides after dismembering victim, admits to girlfriend

A Florida teenager confessed to his girlfriend, "I killed someone and dismembered him," following an attack on a local man using a baseball bat, dismembering the body, and preserving the victim's blood on microscope slides, as reported by police.

Lucas Jones, aged 19, from Indialantic, disclosed to his girlfriend that his motive for killing 28-year-old Colie Daniel stemmed from Daniel being a registered sex offender in his vicinity, according to an arrest affidavit. 

Online databases indicate that Daniel was indeed convicted in 2018 of lewd or lascivious battery involving a victim aged between 12 and 15 years.

Jones allegedly shared with his girlfriend that he killed Daniel "using a baseball bat and subsequently dismembered him with a cleaver, a saw, and a knife." Jones then divided Daniel's body into two different suitcases and two big Rubbermaid containers, according to the affidavit.

Parts of Daniel's dismembered body were discovered in a place labeled the "Compound" in Palm Bay, along Bombardier Boulevard, on March 28. Circling vultures around a deserted suitcase led to the finding.

Daniel's family had declared him missing on March 22 and notified authorities that he had told them about visiting a house roughly a mile away from theirs but never returned as he had promised he would for dinner.

The family revealed they tracked "Find My iPhone" on Daniel's iPad, retained at their residence, to locate his mobile phone at 420 Watson Drive — Jones' residence, as per an affidavit for a search warrant.

They visited the address on March 20.

As the Indialantic Police Department along with Colie Daniel's parents were present, Jones' girlfriend arrived. They had only been dating for roughly six weeks, according to the police.

Jones allegedly directed his girlfriend to remain silent and enter the house. He refused entry to the parents and police to investigate if Daniel, not yet reported missing, was inside, the arrest affidavit states.

Subsequently, Jones' girlfriend informed the police that upon entering the house, Jones confessed to "killing someone and dismembering him," and admitted it was Daniel, according to the arrest affidavit.

Authorities revisited Jones' house on March 21 — a day prior to Daniel's family's missing report — and failed to locate signs of him after having permission to look around. 

After they left, Jones' girlfriend said he coaxed her to accompany him in her car to "dispose of" the suitcase and totes with Daniel's remains, the affidavits recount.

The couple allegedly stopped at various points, "removing each tote and the suitcase from the car at different sites" around the Compound area in Palm Bay, according to the police. 

Upon finding Daniel's remains, the authorities returned to Jones' dwelling with a search permit, supposedly finding traces of blood across the space.

Two days post the discovery of the remains on March 30, Jones' girlfriend approached the authorities and divulged what had transpired. 

She disclosed the apparel and items Jones utilised in cleaning the crime scene and other materials used in executing the murder, as narrated in the arrest affidavit.

Jones was apprehended and accused of murder, misuse of a deceased body, unauthorised transport of a human body, and tampering with evidence. He is remanded without bond and is set to be arraigned on April 21.