State
of Florida
Office of the State Attorney
16th Judicial Circuit
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Office of the State Attorney 16th Judicial Circuit
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Criminal Justice System Overview Employment Opportunities |
January 10, 2005 A Stock Island man pleaded guilty to kidnapping and aggravated assault charges for a rampage stretching from Big Coppitt Key to Marathon in April 2003 reported State Attorney Mark Kohl. Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones sentenced Joseph Mazza, 36, to twelve years behind bars and five years probation for the brutal abduction and beating of Malia Deel, 41, of Big Coppitt Key. Mazza’s guilty plea shut down a jury trial which was set to begin today. Deel’s kidnapping in the early morning hours of April 14, 2003 was the twisted consequence of her trying to help out a friend. Several days before, Jacquelyn Kanowicz had approached Deel about leaving her then-boyfriend Mazza. She asked Deel for a place to stay. Deel agreed to let Kanowicz move in. On the evening of April 13, Mazza came to Deel’s house to find his girlfriend. Finding a group of his acquaintances at the house, he demanded to see Kanowicz. When he was told that she was not there, Mazza became enraged. He scuffled with the group, attacking one of the women there with a bamboo stick and then, according to Monroe Sheriff’s Office accounts, he “turned on [Deel and] proceeded to drag her off the property hitting her and screaming at her.” Mazza threw Deel into a vehicle driven by his friend Rodrigo Cruz, 24, of Key West. Cruz drove away while he and Mazza held Deel down. Mazza continued to scream that “he was going to kill her” and directed Cruz to drive to a dirt road where he would do so and leave her body. Deel later told the Sheriff’s Office that a panicky Cruz persuaded Mazza to take her to the hospital for her serious injuries. Mazza acquiesced and Cruz dropped the kidnapper and his victim at Fishermen’s Hospital emergency room. Cruz left and telephoned the Sheriff’s Office from Big Pine Key where he had left Mazza and Deel. Both Mazza and Cruz were quickly apprehended. Deel suffered from a severely fractured arm which required surgery as well as cuts and abrasions to her entire body. Assistant State Attorney Manny Madguga who was to prosecute the case for Kohl’s office said “This crime shows just how dangerous domestic violence can be, not only for the intended victim, but for anyone in the line of fire.” |
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Last modified:
10/23/07
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