"Vampire cult" leader Roderick Ferrell, in prison
for life for the 1996 deaths of Richard and Ruth Wendorf, now contends his
lawyers didn't prepare an adequate defense.
He said in court documents his attorney should have sketched out a plan to tell
the jury about his mental defects and the hallucinogenic drugs he had taken.
Instead, he said his attorneys coerced him to plead guilty to a murder charge
by providing him with misinformation.
He wants his guilty plea thrown out, and he wants a new trial.
Circuit Judge T. Michael Johnson on Tuesday agreed to allow Assistant State
Attorney Rock E. Hooker to examine confidential information shared between
Ferrell and his lawyers to evaluate Ferrell's claims.
The Wendorfs were beaten to death in their Eustis home in November 1996.
Authorities linked five teens to a blood-drinking vampire cult. Ferrell, 16 at
the time, was said to be the leader.