Pubdate: Sat, 06 Jun 2009
Source: Bradenton Herald (FL)
Copyright: 2009 The Associated Press
Contact: http://www.bradenton.com/contact_us/feedback/
Website: http://www.bradenton.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/58

FLA. RELEASES DOCUMENTES IN INFORMANT SLAYING CASE

Two men accused of killing a college student working as a confidential
informant got their getaway car stuck in a ditch less than 30 minutes
after police lost contact with her, then fled in her car, according to
state documents.

Nearly 250 pages of documents were released Friday by the State
Attorney's Office in the May 2008 death of Rachel Hoffman. The
documents, obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat, provide more
information about investigators' search for her and the whereabouts of
suspects Andrea Green and Deneilo Bradshaw in the hours after Hoffman
went missing.

Hoffman, 23, was killed while helping the Tallahassee Police
Department with a sting operation. The first-time informant was sent
with $13,000 to buy drugs and a handgun. Her death led to a law signed
by Gov. Charlie Crist earlier this year on confidential informants.

Green and Bradshaw have been charged with first degree murder. A trial
date has not been set.

According to the heavily redacted documents, a witness stopped to help
a man fitting one suspect's description free his silver BMW from a
ditch between 7 and 7:30 p.m. on May 7. The witness didn't have the
tools to get the car out of the dirt and became suspicious when the
driver opened the car's trunk. Inside was a camouflage blanket and
neatly stacked clothing.

The witness reported that a silver Volvo, the kind of car Hoffman
drove, was idling nearby but drove off when he stopped. He watched it
come back as he left. Police later learned the BMW was stolen.

Hoffman's silver 2005 Volvo S40 was found about noon the following day
and her body the morning of May 9 in the woods nearby. Police believe
she was shot with the same gun she intended to buy as part of the sting.

The names of the witness and the location where the vehicle was stuck
were blacked out in the document.

The documents also reveal that officers who searched Hoffman's
apartment after she went missing found a plastic bag with marijuana on
her bed. Hoffman was in a court-ordered drug diversion program and
agreed to become an informant after being busted by police with
marijuana less than a month before she was killed.
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