A Ukrainian adoptee has been charged with two counts of murder after his “caring” American parents were found dead.
Dima Tower, 21, faces the charges after real estate agents Robbie and Jennifer Tower were found dead in North Port, Florida, reports the New York Post. The pair are said to have rescued Tower from a prison-like orphanage in Ukraine seven years ago.
Police initially attended the property having been called to a domestic dispute. Speaking to The Post, Robbie Tower’s uncle Warren Rines, said: “These were two really good, caring people.
“It just makes no sense, none of us understand the hate. They were the only two people in his life who ever tried to help him. They treated him like their own son.”
Tower – whose mother died and was reportedly abandoned by his father – is said to have left the scene in the car his parents had bought him before heading into the woods. He was arrested after almost eight hours.
Rines told The Post his nephew and wife went on several Christian missions to Ukraine. Unable to have children on their own, they decided to adopt the boy as a 14-year-old.
“He would have bruises on him in the orphanage,” Rines said. “When they went out to eat, he would have like six hot dogs. He wasn’t getting a lot to eat. These orphanages are like prison for kids.”
Rines says the couple believed the boy would overcome his past. He says however the boy struggled to acclimate to his new surroundings.
Police did not reveal whether they believe Tower had a motive. They noted there were large pools of blood throughout the house, indicating a prolonged and frenzied attack.
When they arrived a neighbour reported someone was banging at her door, screaming for help. When she opened it, she said the woman was gone but had left a blood splatter on the ground.
Arriving officers saw the suspect closing the trunk of his vehicle and ordered him not to move. Tower however ignored the commands and hit the gas, leading police on a highway chase.
He eventually abandoned the car and sprinted into nearby woods. Tower was taken into custody at 8 a.m. the following morning.
