Close friends say Howell Donaldson III had hit rock bottom, was kicked out of his parents’ home and was strapped for cash during the timeframe of four murders in Seminole Heights.
Newly obtained recorded interviews between Donaldson’s friends and Tampa police reveal insight into difficulties he faced last fall.
News Channel 8 has learned that in addition to staying with a friend in Tampa, he also spent nights at a friend’s home in Pasco County.
Friends told police that Donaldson wasn’t acting like himself and was desperate for a place to stay.
They described him as “out of it” and his behavior as “weird.”
Friends did not get the impression that he was hiding from anyone. They noticed he kept many of his belongings in plastic bags inside his car as he went back and forth between friends.
He was arrested on Nov. 28 after a 51 day manhunt.
Tampa police say he gave coworkers at the Ybor City McDonald’s where he worked a food bag with a .40 caliber Glock inside. Workers there alerted police.
His manager told police that he asked her to sleep in the lobby of the restaurant hours before he handed over the gun.
She said that he told her he didn’t have a place to live and she told him he couldn’t stay there because it’s a 24 hour restaurant.
One friend said at the end of September, Donaldson asked him where he could get a gun. The question shocked the friend who said it was out of character for Donaldson and that he had no clue where Donaldson could get a gun.
The friend asked Donaldson if he was going to rob someone and he said Donaldson only said that he was going through a lot.
Police say the first victim was found shot to death a week later in Seminole Heights.
Many friends told police that they couldn’t get Donaldson to explain what was going on but encouraged him to make things right with his family.
They told police he started showing signs of opening up just before he was arrested.
Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Mark Wolfe ordered state prosecutors to release more than 1,300 pages of discovery material and several audio recordings with witnesses, including Donaldson in the back of a Tampa patrol car.
News Channel 8 will continue to analyze the new evidence.
