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Vietnam Veteran murdered in his East Orange County home
An elderly couple was attacked in their own home, with a man left dead and his wife injured. The suspect is still on the run.
Orlando, FL(FOX 35 Orlando) - New details have been released in a deadly home invasion, during which two senior citizens were attacked inside their Orange County.
One of the victims, a Vietnam War veteran, was killed. His wife is recovering in the hospital and she hopes the suspect is caught.
The family of 68-year-old Jon Payne described him as a loving man with a beautiful sense of humor. Authorities say he was murdered in his home off Cascade Oaks Drive on Monday night. His 69-year-old wife, Anabella, was also attacked. We talked to her cousin Marlene Martinez.
"They didn’t have much. They just had each other and this guy just took it away from them," said Marlene Martinez, Anabella's cousin.
Ironically, it was a week before the murder and home invasion that Martinez wrote a blog about her cousin. Anabella is a breast cancer survivor who recently suffered a stroke. Martinez isn’t sure how long Anabella will survive.
"It was really important to tell their story before she left, and to find out that it was him, I have no words."
Deputies haven’t said how Payne died, because the case is still under investigation. Martinez said he was Anabella’s hero and caregiver.
"When he met Anabella, she had just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and he said 'Let’s get married to make sure you have someone there.'"
She said Anabella is bedridden due to the stroke and isn’t sure what she’ll do now.
"She’s very scared of what’s going to happen to her now because he was her rock."
Martinez wishes the Orange County Sheriff’s Office would have told residents about this vicious attack for their own safety.
"It's important the entire neighborhood know this happened -- that someone broke in and someone died because of it."
She is pleading to the public for information, saying the wife of this Vietnam veteran who was once happily married now fears for her own life.
"If someone has whispered anything, please let us know. We want Anabella to feel safe again."
Anabella is in stable condition. If you have any information about this case call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477).