Florida man accused of killing adoptive parents faces life in prison as trial comes to an end

NORTH PORT, Fla. - A North Port man who was adopted from Ukraine as a teenager will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury found him guilty Friday of murdering his adoptive parents in 2023.

The backstory:

Cameras captured 24-year-old Dima Tower confessing that he planned the attack in August 2023, killing his father, Robbie, as he slept. He then chased his mother, Jennifer, when she ran to a neighbor’s house for help. Tower said he forced her to return home, made her sit on the couch, and told her what he had done before stabbing her multiple times.

Prosecutors say Tower’s testimony confirms premeditation, a key element in their case for first-degree murder. Investigators testified that Tower’s DNA was found on one knife and his father’s blood on another.

"You pulled out a sharp knife, and you walked into your parents' bedroom, didn't you?" Assistant State Attorney Karen Fraivillig asked Tower during cross-examination. "What were you thinking about between the time you took that sharp knife, walked into your parents' bedroom, and started to stab your father in the dark?"

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Tower answered, "I wasn't thinking anything... what is there to think?"

Police say Tower tried to clean up the scene before loading his car and taking off. Officers found him covered in blood and led a chase down I-75 before he ran into the woods. He was arrested the next day at a gas station.

What's next:

Tower’s defense attorney asked jurors to consider a manslaughter conviction, arguing Tower was "temporarily insane" and emotionally scarred after being abandoned as a child in Ukraine before his adoption in 2015.

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What's next:

Since he was convicted of first-degree murder, Tower faces a mandatory life sentence.