TAVARES, Fla.—Julie Sulpizio, the woman who set Friday night’s tragic events in motion, has been arrested and is a facing a litany of charges.
Sulpizio is facing charges of principal to premeditated murder of a law enforcement officer, seven counts of attempted murder, battery on law enforcement officer, battery by strangulation, and two counts of battery.
She was arrested Monday afternoon at AdventHealth Waterman and transported to the Lake County Jail in Master Deputy Bradley Link’s patrol truck and cuffed with his handcuffs, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said at a press conference following her arrest.
Link’s unit, Agriculture and Marine, made the arrest after detectives worked around the clock to develop probable cause for her arrest.
Sheriff Peyton Grinnell released details unknown to the public until Monday and choked back tears several times during a press conference as he explained how the events unfolded and called his deputies’ actions heroic.
Sulpizio attacked several of her neighbors early Friday evening, prompting them to call LCSO for help around 7:45 p.m. The complainant said a female was trespassing on his property, attacking them, “acting religious,” accusing them of being sinners and said she “knows what they did.” The complainant identified her as Sulpizio, his neighbor, but she was stated she was “Helen under God’s will.”
An LCSO corporal arrived at 38226 Brookside Drive in unincorporated Eustis just before 8 p.m. and Sulpizio approached him with her hands behind her back. He ordered her to back up and she continued to walk toward him until he unholstered his taser and pointed it at her.
She accused her neighbors of being involved in pedophilia and claimed again her name was “Helen,” and said, “Juile is in heaven,” and asked one of the neighbors, “Who is your god,” Grinnell said.
She then said, “You see, the thing is, we needed to trick Lucy.” Lucy, LCSO learned, is Sulpizio’s nickname for Lucifer. She then pointed at the corporal and said, “See, you are one of them. See, we needed to trick the evil to come out.”
One of the victims told deputies Sulpizio wanted the neighbors to walk in front of her and go to her house, but they refused because they did not trust her, Grinnell said.
The victim asked her if Michael Sulpizio was OK, and she said, “Oh see, he sent me down here.”
The victim responded, “Oh, did he,” and she said, “Yes, my husband, my God.”
She attempted to convince them to go to her house and said, “Yes, Michael I’m coming,” and walked toward the LCSO corporal who put out his hand to block her and Sulpizio pushed his hand away. He pointed his taser at her which emits a piercing sound and a flashing light and Sulpizio said, “That’s God’s light.”
She walked toward the corporal again and he redirected her to the ground and told her to stay down. He began to cuff her, and she said, “You wanna play? You’re just making me madder.”
Sulpizio, now on her back, stated, “Let’s do this now. I can feel him.” Then she yells, “Michael, Gabriel, Timothy; it’s time now to protect my children.” Another deputy arrived and the corporal handcuffed Sulpizio.
The corporal and a sergeant arrived at the Sulpizio home, which is in walking distance of the original incident, to conduct a well-being check on Cheyenne and Savannah Sulpizio, Julie’s biological daughters and the adopted daughters of Michael.
They announced themselves at the door and attempted to make contact with someone inside. No one responded and the sergeant saw three people run through the home and one of them looked at the sergeant as they passed the closed door. Deputies also found two small dogs dead in the front yard.
Deputies heard loud banging but could not identify what it was and the corporal noticed an open window with a broken screen and was concerned the occupants may have been victims of a home invasion or a burglary, Grinnell said, and the corporal asked for additional deputies to respond.
Backup deputies arrived and positioned their marked units with their lights on, in view of the Sulpizio home. Master Deputy Bradley Link made multiple announcements over a PA identifying the deputies and calling out to the residents.
A neighbor gave deputies Julie’s number, and deputies called the phone, believing it was inside the home, but it went straight to voicemail.
Shortly after 9 p.m., Link, Master Deputy Harold Howell and and two other deputies attempted to enter the Sulpizio home. They entered through the rear door near the driveway. The door opens to a small laundry room that leads into a hallway that goes left and right.
Link approached the hallway and announced he was going left and indicated Howell should go right. As Link walked into the hallway, his bodycam picked up several frames of what appeared to be a male wearing a black shirt or body armor, with a rifle, positioned on the arm of a couch, ready to ambush deputies. Link did not see the man because he was looking left down the hallway, and the bodycam was facing forward, Grinnell said.
Link entered the hallway and the suspect, believed to be Michael Sulpizio, opened fire, shooting Link in the back several times. Howell is also shot in the wrist. Howell and the other two deputies were forced to retreat out of the residence and Link was immobilized, suffering multiple gunshot wounds and he attempted to crawl on his back to cover, but was unsuccessful. Link emptied his duty weapon of all rounds, Grinnell said.
Link moved his hand in what appeared to be an attempt to answer his radio as his ID number was called out but was also unsuccessful. He was shot several more times.
Someone in the home then started shooting at deputies outside, they took cover and returned fire. Deputies and supervisors on scene attempted to negotiate with the suspects for the release of Link—but they refused.
Link’s bodycam continued to record audio and video and was pointed toward the ceiling, and at 9:24 p.m., a female yelled, “My king kill all of you. You are Lucifer’s children,” in response to deputies asking for Link’s release.
Two minutes later the rescue team entered the home, with Deputy Stephano Gargano in the lead with a ballistic shield as cover. As he approached the threshold of the hallway, Gargano was shot through the wall multiple times, by a high-caliber round, causing him to become incapacitated. The rest of team extracted Gargano and he was transported to HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital as a trauma alert.
Link’s body cam continued to record, capturing a female making statements about suicide, in addition to capturing the sound of racking and reloading firearms, Grinnell said.
Just after 11 p.m. deputies heard two rapid gunshots and a third shot a few minutes later and LCSO’s SWAT Team ripped a wall off the residence and extracted Link. He was rushed to a waiting ambulance for transport to a landing zone so he could be flown out for treatment. While en route, the decision was made to transport him to AdventHealth Waterman in Tavares, where he was ultimately pronounced deceased.
As the SWAT Team cleared the home, they found two deceased females on the couch, dead from what appeared to be self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head. Michael Sulpizio was found on the couch with a gunshot wound and a faint pulse. He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced deceased.
A search of the home revealed a stockpile of 20 firearms placed strategically around the home. Ammunition, food and water, medical bags and bugout bags, in addition to anti-government propaganda were also found. No illegal drugs were found in the home.
In a later interview, Julie Sulpizio, claiming to be God and often Helen, said God speaks to her. She said Michael was the guardian angel which obeys her (God’s,) command. She said she planned to lure the neighbors to her home so Michael could murder them. She told a detective she could visualize souls and whether they were black or white and her job was to bring Michael dark souls.
“She was not successful because of our deputies,” Grinnell said.
When Julie was informed her family was dead, she said they are free and in heaven now, but did not seem to grasp the concept they are dead, Det. Josh Mercer said.
Several of Sulpizio’s charges are capital crimes that are punishable by death; 5th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Bill Gladson said his office has 45 days to decide whether they will seek the death penalty.
She is being held in the Lake County Jail on no bond in protective custody and is on suicide watch.
Gargano and Howell are still in the hospital, and Gargano’s condition has been upgraded from critical to stable. He underwent his third surgery Monday. Howell also underwent surgery Monday and is expected to make a full recovery.
