A Florida man has invoked a “temporary insanity” defense in connection with the tragic 2023 deaths of his adoptive parents, a case that has captured widespread attention.
On Thursday, during the trial proceedings, Assistant State Attorney Karen Fraivillig rigorously questioned 24-year-old Dima Tower, who took the stand to defend himself, according to a report by the Herald-Tribune. The courtroom was tense as Tower attempted to explain his actions.
Tower is currently facing serious charges, including two counts of murder for the deaths of his adoptive parents, Jennifer and Robbie Tower, in 2023. Additionally, he has been charged with evading law enforcement, as noted by CrimeOnline.
In her cross-examination, Fraivillig pointedly reminded Tower of the brutal nature of the crime, emphasizing that he had stabbed his adoptive parents, who provided him with a better life, more than 140 times. She suggested that his actions were not only premeditated but fueled by intense anger.
Throughout his testimony, Tower repeatedly claimed, “I was temporarily insane,” in an attempt to justify his actions.
Earlier in the trial, defense attorney Marc Gilman highlighted Tower’s troubled background, noting that he had been adopted from Ukraine at the age of 14 after experiencing neglect from his birth parents who, according to Gilman, did not “want to deal with him.”
Tower provided additional details Thursday, regarding his early life before moving to the U.S. He said he moved in with different relatives in Ukraine, following his mother’s death, who died before he turned 10.
He then moved into an orphanage in a different region, while the country was at war. He remained there until he turned 14, when the Tower couple adopted him.
Tower also testified that he arrived in Florida without knowing English and, by 10th grade, had dropped out of high school.
He admitted that he did not get along with his new father.
Tower told the court that Jennifer and Robbie were not his true parents and that they had no idea how to deal with someone with his background. He said that Jennifer, at some point, told him that her husband did not want to adopt at all.
On August 31, 2023, Dima attacked his parents with a steak knife, inside the family’s North Port home, in the 1200 block of Mallicoat Road.
Tower walked into his parents’ bedroom and first began stabbing his father. When Jennifer ran for help next door, Tower followed her, forced her back home and stabbed her in the neck 38 times.
Investigators found blood on the couch that Tower forced Jennifer to sit on while he stabbed her. They also found blood throughout the hallway and in the master bedroom.
Fraivillig: “You pulled out a sharp knife, and you walked into your parents’ bedroom, didn’t you? 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?”
Tower: “I wasn’t thinking anything… what is there to think?”
The defense is pushing for a manslaughter charge and temporary insanity, claiming that Tower’s longstanding trauma impaired his judgment, and that the killings were not premeditated.
Police, however, said the defendant attempted to clean up the crime scene before loading his personal items into a vehicle and fleeing.
During a high-speed chase, deputies with the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office used stop sticks to get Tower’s car to stop. They apprehended Tower after he fled on foot into a wooded area.
The defense argued that Tower panicked and that his actions does not equal premeditation.
Meanwhile, records from the North Port Police Department and Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office obtained by FOX 4 show multiple domestic violence calls involving Dima since 2018.
READ MORE: Dima Tower Murder Trial: Son Slaughters Adoptive Parents After History of Violent Assaults
The trial continues. Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: Tower family/Facebook]
