Second man convicted in murder of popular Dunedin woman

LARGO — A second man has been convicted in the brutal slaying of Mary T. Dittus of Dunedin, who was popular at her mobile home park and was the center of a group of friends who gather often along the Pinellas Trail.

Anthony Dadabo, 40, was convicted Friday of first-degree murder, which carries a penalty of life without the possibility of parole.

Dadabo was a friend of Dittus’ who benefited from her hospitality. She put him up in Grand Bay Mobile Home Estates, where she also had a home. Her main conditions were that he stay away from drugs and from his pal Joseph Difiore, who was convicted in her murder last week.

Authorities said the men killed Dittus, 60, thinking she had won big at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. They hit her with a hammer and stabbed her with a knife.

The jury took a half-hour to decide Dadabo’s guilt.

“The prosecution had an overwhelming case,” jury foreman Charles D. Shapero said after the verdict.

Dittus’ daughter Lori Larsen said “my mother just wanted the best for this man... she wanted to get him away from the negative people that were in his life.”