TAVARES, Fla.—The suspect in a brutal 2022 Mount Dora double murder is now competent to proceed, according to an order signed by Lake Circuit Judge Cary Rada last month.
Vickie Lynn Williams, 51, is accused of stabbing Darryl Getman, 83, and Sharon Getman, 80. The married couple was murdered in their Waterman Village home sometime between the hours of 11 p.m. Dec. 30, 2022, and 2 a.m. Dec. 31, 2022.
After allegedly murdering the couple, Williams stole their green Kia Soul and was still driving it when she was apprehended by a Savannah Police Department officer at a Georgia Amtrak station on Jan. 2, 2023. She was indicted later that month and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case that shocked Lake County.
In May, Williams was found incompetent to proceed and turned over to the Department of Children and Families (DCF.) While in its custody, Williams was evaluated and a “Competency Evaluation Report to the Court” completed in September and authored by Dr. Armando Collado Ph.D., was submitted to the Court and independently reviewed by Rada.
“The defendant’s appreciation of the charges, appreciation of the possible penalties, understanding of the adversarial nature of the legal process, capacity to disclose to counsel facts pertaining to the proceedings, capacity to manifest appropriate courtroom behavior, and capacity to testify relevantly are all acceptable,” Rada stated in his order.
Williams next plea negotiation conference is scheduled for Tuesday.
TAVARES, Fla.—The woman suspected of brutally murdering an elderly Mount Dora couple “is incompetent to proceed” to her murder trial due to her mental illness, Lake Circuit Judge Cary Rada ruled earlier this week.
Vickie Lynn Williams, 51, is accused of stabbing Darryl Getman, 83, and Sharon Getman, 80. The married couple was murdered in their Waterman Village home sometime between the hours of 11 p.m. Dec. 30, 2022, and 2 a.m. Dec. 31, 2022.
After murdering the couple, Williams stole their green Kia Soul and was still driving it when she was apprehended by a Savannah Police Department officer at a Georgia Amtrak station on Jan. 2, 2023. She was indicted later that month and prosecutors were seeking the death penalty in the case that shocked the community.
Darryl and Sharon Getman were found murdered in their home Dec. 31, 2022.
A competency hearing for Williams was held earlier last week and employees at the Lake County Jail testified, in addition to two experts for the defense and one for the state. Dr. Jason Demery Ph.D., expert for the state, “expressed concerns the Defendant was malingering (faking mental illness,) and further stated he would not opine an individual is incompetent if they are malingering,” Rada’s order states, but also said he had no opinion because Williams “failed to produce reliable data,” by not participating in the interview.
“Dr. (Jeffrery) Danzinger opined the Defendant has no rational understanding of the outcomes and penalties of her case, and that she has partial factual understanding of the roles of officers of the court. Dr. Danzinger further opined that Defendant would not be able to relevantly testify because of delusional beliefs and her inability to accurately recall information. Dr. Danzinger also opined that Defendant’s ability to consult with counsel is substantially impaired.” He stated Williams is “not competent to proceed due to what is likely schizophrenia in exacerbation,” and she “should be involuntarily committed because she has been aggressive and violent in jail,” but also said it is “reasonably probable competency could be restored in 6 months,” the order states.
Vickie Lynn Williams is seen here in an earlier court appearance.
According to reports by Dr. Bushan Agharkar, also an expert for the defense, found Williams to be “mentally ill and urgent need of psychiatric hospitalization and treatment.” He testified he met with her at her cell door because she refused to meet in an attorney booth at the jail, and said Williams was wearing a suicide smock, had poor hygiene and there was liquid on the cell floor he believed to be urine. Williams did not appear to be bothered by the odor and denied it was urine, he said.
During the proceedings Williams mumbled to herself, stated her name was “Candace” and urinated on herself, her chair and the floor while handcuffed and shackled to the defense table. She was removed from the courtroom to clean herself up and she refused to change her clothes. Her attorney, Assistant Public Defender Morris Carranza waived her appearance for the rest of the hearing.
Lake Circuit Judge Cary Rada
On Monday, less than a week after the hearing, Rada rendered his decision. He stated in his order that he took all the testimony into consideration but “competent substantial evidence outweighs any concerns of malingering,” and ordered Williams be committed to the Department of Children and Families to be placed in a mental health treatment facility. He further ordered DCF to report directly to the Court on issues of competency and the need for continued commitment. Williams will remain in the treatment facility until a further order from the Court.
Publisher’s note: The following story contains graphic details. Reader discretion is advised.
MOUNT DORA, Florida—The Mount Dora couple found dead in their home in Waterman Village on New Year’s Eve was brutally stabbed and it was a gruesome and bloody scene, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Vickie Lynn Williams, 50, is accused of murdering Darryl Getman, 83, and his wife, Sharon, 80, sometime between the late hours of Dec. 30 and the early morning hours of Dec. 31. Williams was captured on video surveillance leaving Waterman Village property in the couple’s stolen green Kia Soul at 2:02 a.m. Dec. 31.
Darryl and Sharon Getman were found murdered in their home Dec. 31.
She was apprehended Jan. 2 in Savannah, Georgia, taken into custody and held in the Chatham County Jail in Georgia until she was extradited to Lake County Friday. Also, on Friday, Inside Lake uncovered video surveillance showing a woman who appears to be Williams interacting with Mount Dora Police officers at a local hotel on Dec. 30, just hours before the slayings.
On Dec. 31 just after 4 p.m., MDPD responded to two separate 9-1-1 calls and one caller stated two people had been killed, according to the affidavit. Officers arrived to find the garage door at 161 Lake Margaret Circle open and the couple’s SUV missing. Bloody shoe prints were observed on the garage floor and when officers enter the home, they found Sharon Getman in the entryway with a large amount of blood around her and several white towels, as if someone attempted to render aid or clean up, the detective noted in the affidavit. She suffered head trauma and lost a large amount of blood. Darryl Getman had severe head and facial trauma and a large butcher knife with a yellow handle was still in his abdomen when police found him; he also had defensive wounds.
Multiple knives were found around the kitchen area and numerous bloody footprints and shoe prints were found in the home and it appeared the suspect came out of her shoes during the attack, the detective noted. Crime scene investigators believed from the beginning there was only one attacker, and the attacker was female, due to the footprints that had a “very distinctive arch” the affidavit states.
A broken money clip with no cash was found on the center island in the kitchen, along with several credit cards. Sharon Getman’s wallet was found but her purse and cell phone were missing; the Getmans’ son told police his mother usually left her purse and phone in the Kia Soul, according to the affidavit.
“It appears the suspect attempted to clean up in the guest bathroom because there was a wet white and green in color washcloth with bloodstains and what appeared to be black, tight, curly hairs,” the detective noted in the affidavit.
Police viewed surveillance video from Waterman Village and an MDPD officer believed the suspect to be a local woman with an extensive criminal history. A BOLO (be on the lookout) was issued for the local woman, but when her photo was shown to several Waterman Village residents, no one picked her out of the lineup. Inside Lake is not naming the woman because she has not been charged in this case.
PHOTO: Marilyn M. Aciego/Inside Lake
The stolen Kia was picked up on license plate readers in Greenville, South Carolina and Hardeeville, South Carolina around 4:30 p.m. Dec. 31 and on Jan. 1 at around 6:45 p.m. a license plate reader hit on the Kia in Savannah, Georgia and again at 7:36 p.m., according to the affidavit.
An MDPD detective put a ping on Sharon Getman’s phone, and it pinged in several locations in Savannah. On Jan. 2, a Savannah Police officer located Williams and the Kia parked in a parking lot at an Amtrak station and she was taken into custody for grand theft auto without incident, the affidavit states.
A Savannah Police crime scene investigator processed and sealed the Kia and she found Sharon Getman’s purse, a coffee cup with what appeared to be a bloodstain and a similar stain on the outside of the vehicle; that stain contained a single strand of hair, the detective noted. A pair of white Puma slides, similar to the shoes Williams was wearing in surveillance video were found inside the Kia.
Two MDPD detectives and two Florida Department of Law Enforcement special agents traveled to Savannah to interview Williams on Jan. 3. She told investigators her name was “Victoreyah Coffee,” one of several aliases Williams has used in the past. Williams’ ex-husband’s last name is Coffee.
Williams told the special agents and detectives she was homeless and living out of a car and she was curious as to why Florida law enforcement officers were in Georgia. An FDLE special agent told her they were investigating the stolen vehicle she was located in.
Williams was read her rights and waived them and demanded a Georgia detective be present during the interview because she wanted everything “straight” between Georgia and Florida, the affidavit states.
Williams told investigators she was given the Kia by a friend named “Fuller Blue.” She said was walking in Savannah Dec. 31 when “Fuller Blue” approached her. She told him she was homeless, and he offered her the Kia, she said. She drove around for “a bit” and then parked the Kia at the train station where she stayed for several days, she told investigators.
She said in the interview, the two purses in the car belonged to her, along with the phone. She later changed her story and said her phone had been stolen on Dec. 29 or Dec. 30 and denied being in Florida or South Carolina. She was shown video surveillance from Waterman Village and said the shoes in the video looked like hers, “but lots of people have those shoes.”
Numerous items were taken for evidence, including jewelry, undergarments, clothing, a pink wig, tweezers, a watch and numerous DNA swabs.
Vickie Lynn Williams PHOTO: Chatham County Sheriff’s Office
Florida investigators requested a Canton, Ohio police sergeant contact Williams’ mother and son, who live in Canton, and they both identified Williams as the woman in the Waterman Village surveillance video and as the woman in custody in Savannah.
On Friday, an FDLE agent received a latent fingerprint report, and it identified a palm impression recovered from the Getman’s dryer as belonging to Williams; positively identifying her as being inside the couple’s home, the MDPD detective noted. Williams was extradited back to the Florida the same day and late that evening two charges of first-degree murder were added.
She made her first appearance in Lake County court Saturday, and she was ordered held without bond and appointed a public defender.
TAVARES, Florida—The woman accused of brutally murdering an elderly Mount Dora couple who was found dead in their home Dec. 31 made her first appearance in court Saturday morning, a week after the bodies were found.
Vickie Lynn Williams, 50, was soft-spoken as she answered Lake County Judge Emily Curington’s questions Saturday. Williams is facing two first-degree murder charges and a grand theft auto charge after being accused of killing Darryl and Sharon Getman in their home in Waterman Village and stealing their green Kia Soul. Williams was apprehended in Savannah, Georgia Monday and extradited to Lake County Friday.
Curington appointed Williams a public defender and scheduled her next court date for Jan. 30. Williams is being held without bond in the Lake County Jail. She was originally arrested just for grand theft auto, and two first-degree murder charges were added late Friday night; Inside Lake was the first media organization to report the added charges.
Inside Lake was the only media organization to discover Mount Dora Police officers interacted with a woman believed to be Williams at a Mount Dora hotel just hours before the murder.
Darryl and Sharon Getman were found murdered in their home Dec. 31.
