Danny Rolling's 1990 Murder Spree Terrorized Gainesville After 5 Student Killings
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 19
Danny Rolling's 1990 Murder Spree Terrorized Gainesville After 5 Student Killings
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 19
Summary
Five student murders over three nights in August 1990 left the University of Florida campus in panic, with former students recalling sleepless nights, improvised weapons and packed gun counters.
Erik Tallbacka and other alumni said the fear spread townwide because no one knew who the killer was, and with no social media, students relied on nightly TV reports while treating every stranger as a threat.
The killings of Sonja Larson, Christina Powell, Christa Hoyt, Tracy Paules and Manny Taboada shattered any sense of safety; alumni said Taboada's death especially drove home that no one on campus was secure.
Steve Spurrier's Sept. 8 debut brought a measure of relief when Florida beat Oklahoma State 50-7, a game former students said helped a traumatized town begin returning to normal.
Rolling later pleaded guilty to the Gainesville murders and other killings in Louisiana, was sentenced to death and executed in 2006, but alumni say the week remains vivid 36 years later.