William Case Charged in 2011 Homicide

NEWS RELEASE 17-264 - DECEMBER 19, 2017
Case, William

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office charged William Case, DOB 04/05/63, in connection with the March 2011 murder of Karen Courts at her home in the Kensington Park neighborhood of Sarasota. 

William Case was a suspect in 2012 after he attempted to murder a Sarasota County Sheriff’s deputy serving an eviction notice. Case was arrested by detectives and incarcerated in the Sarasota County jail. Case submitted his fingerprints and DNA during the booking process and fingerprint technicians connected his prints to two burglaries that occurred in Sarasota County. Case was subsequently charged with two counts of Burglary.

One of the burglaries occurred at a residence directly across the street from Karen Courts’ home on the same date she was murdered. During an ongoing and lengthy investigation, detectives and crime scene personnel were able to link Case to the murder of Karen Courts through shoe impressions left at the burglary and murder scenes. In November of this year, detectives received a report from FDLE stating the shoes Case wore were consistent in brand, model, size, and pattern recovered from the murder scene.

Additional evidence linking Case with the murder of Karen Courts was DNA recovered from her vehicle that he stole and later abandoned at Westfield Sarasota Square Mall. Detectives recovered video surveillance from Sarasota County Area Transit vehicles which captured Case driving, parking, and exiting Karen Courts’ stolen car at the mall.   

During the murder investigation, Case was deemed “incompetent to proceed” by a judge in August 2012 and then again in May 2014, related to the attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and two burglary charges. Case was admitted to the Florida State Hospital. In July 2017, the State Attorney’s Office advised detectives that the Florida State Hospital was requesting a hearing to transfer Case to a less secure civil commitment. 

Based on the completion of evidence processing, a revised mental health evaluation, and in collaboration with the State Attorney’s Office, detectives charged William Case with the murder of Karen Courts.  On Monday, December 18, 2017, William Case was arrested by the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office through an arrest warrant obtained by detectives and transferred to the Sarasota County jail where he remains today without bond.