Contractor’s death penalty trial for Fleming Island murder delayed
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – The man accused of killing a Fleming Island woman who paid him $12,000 to remodel her bathroom got another delay in his death penalty trial when judge Steven B. Whittington indefinitely delayed the scheduled start.
A jury was supposed to be selected on Oct. 6 at the Clay County Courthouse, but Corey Louis Binderim’s lawyers filed more than 20 motions, including one to block the state from seeking the death penalty and to declare the state’s death penalty unconstitutional.
The state and defense teams said they still are gathering evidence and statements from possible witnesses, so Whittington delayed the start. A new pretrial date was set for Nov. 28.
The state already has more than 200 listed as possible witnesses.
Binderim’s legal team also has asked the court to ban some evidence photographs “designed to create sympathy for the deceased, including, but not limited to, the impact of the offense on the friends and/or family of the deceased, the impact of the offense on the community, the life history of the deceased, or any personal characteristics of the deceased.”
Binderim, a contractor from Fleming Island, was charged with first-degree murder, burglary, assault and tampering with evidence after a friend reported the 65-year-old woman missing from her Eagle Harbor home on Oct. 25. 2019. Susan Mauldin’s remains evidentially were found in the Chesser Island Landfill in Folkston, Georgia on Jan. 29. 2020.
According to the affidavit for an arrest warrant, detectives with the Clay County Sheriff’s Office said financial records and documents show Binderim was paid to remodel her bathroom in early 2019. After he demolished it, he failed to return to finish the job. Mauldin demanded Binderim repay the $12,000 or that she would sue him.
Binderim was supposed to meet with Mauldin on Oct. 23, 2019, but he was a no-show, according to Mauldin’s friend, Phyllis Yates. A day later, Yates said although her car was in the garage, Mauldin didn’t answer the door or her phone. Yates called CCSO on Oct. 25 and reported her friend as missing.
Binderim was seen on surveillance video buying 60 pounds of concrete and heavy-duty construction demolition bags. Doorbell videos in the neighborhood showed Binderim backing his truck to Mauldin’s garage. He left 15 minutes later and then was seen at the Rosemary Hill Solid Waste Facility in Green Cove Springs dumping 300 pounds of bagged material in the construction area of the landfill. The waste then was transferred to Georgia.
He was arrested on March 3, 2020, while he was at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office jail for reportedly taking money for another construction job and not completing the work.
The state announced on May 4, 2021, it intended to seek the death penalty.

Man re-arrested for human
trafficking after not paying monitoring fees

ORANGE PARK – A man who was out on bond while awaiting his trial for kidnapping and human trafficking was re-arrested on Oct. 11 for not paying for his electronic monitoring device.
Lorenzo J Tobler, 37, of Orange Park, now will remain in jail without bond until his trial. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 7.
According to the arrest warrant, he was arrested on Jan. 13 for engaging in human trafficking for labor or services of a child 18 or younger.

Raiford man in jail after
being accused of groping 13-year-old girl
GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A 61-year-old man from Raiford turned himself into the Clay County Jail on Oct. 3 after learning he was wanted for lewd and lascivious behavior on a 13-year-old girl.
Tony Madison McCord now is being held with a $250,003 bond after the girl’s family brought her to the sheriff’s office after she said McCord grabbed her chest in front of her 11-year-old sister sometime between April 1 and June 26 when they were in Middleburg and at his home in Union County. Both girls were interviewed independently by the University of Florida Child Protection Team.

Man charged with shooting a man during road rage incident

ORANGE PARK – A Clay County Sheriff’s Office deputy arrested a man wanted for a road rage shooting on Oct. 7 during a traffic stop a day later after he recognized him from an agency-wide alert.
Timothy Floyd, 57, of Orange Park, was quickly arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm from a vehicle within 1,000 feet of a person after a man was shot in the shoulder on Blanding Boulevard near Jefferson Avenue and another person suffered cuts to their face and eye after Floyd reportedly became angry because he the victim didn’t let him merge into his lane.
Floyd’s bond was set at $700,012. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 14.

Another man arrested as part of ‘Operation Lucky 777s’ drug sweep

JACKSONVILLE – A third man now is behind bars as part of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office’s “Operation Lucky 777s” investigation aimed at taking distributors off the streets.
Raymond Giuseppe Brewer, 44, was charged with trafficking more than 28 grams, but less than 150 kilograms, of cocaine after he was tied to a drug ring that used the U.S. Postal Service to get drugs from California.
The investigation into Brewer started when he was pulled over on Blanding Boulevard on Aug. 17 for careless driving. A CCSO K-9 later alerted deputies of the likely presence of illegal narcotics in the car. A subsequent search uncovered a “large piece of a hard white substance” inside a cup filled with iced tea. They also found other drugs in the center console and under the driver’s seat.
According to the sheriff’s office, he was suspected of being one of three people involved in the drug ring. Jason Setzer, 46, of Orange Park, and Alvin Mercado, 37, of Fleming Island, were arrested on Sept. 11 and charged with trafficking 8.35 kilos of fentanyl, 1.36 kilos of cocaine and 2.38 kilos of cocaine.
Setzer also was charged with having 30 firearms as a convicted felon.
According to the affidavit for an arrest warrant, the drugs were sent from a cartel in Mexico to a house in California. From there, they were sent to Mercado and he took them to Setzer so they can be broken down into smaller quantities for sale.
Setzer’s bond was set at $17 million and Mercado’s bond is $10 million.
Brewer’s bond was set at $500,003.