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'Spree killer’ held man captive as he stabbed two others to death, Polk sheriff says

Stanley Mossburg, who claimed to have killed eight people, fired at the deputies who came for him, Sheriff Grady Judd says.
 
Stanley Mossburg was already wanted in a slaying at a Tennessee laundromat earlier this month when he killed two people at their home in Winter Haven home, deputies said.
Stanley Mossburg was already wanted in a slaying at a Tennessee laundromat earlier this month when he killed two people at their home in Winter Haven home, deputies said. [ Polk County Sheriff's Office ]
Published Oct. 15, 2019|Updated Oct. 15, 2019

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Stanley Eric Mossburg held a terrified Winter Haven man captive in the man’s home as he stabbed to death another man and a woman who also lived there, investigators said.

Then Mossburg threatened to kill his captive if he alerted authorities and drove off Monday with a promise to return for the bodies.

The man waited for hours before finally dashing to a neighbor’s house and calling 911.

Mossburg, 35, of Spartanburg, S.C., also known as “Woo Woo,” was arrested Tuesday at a home nearby by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team.

Investigators learned he also is wanted in a slaying two weeks ago at a laundromat in Tennessee.

Mossburg told his captive he had killed as many as eight people and had a goal of killing 11, saying “I want to be a serial killer, I like killing people," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd told reporters Tuesday.

Judd said he had no way to verify the claim.

He called Mossburg a “spree killer.”

The sheriff gave this account of the slayings.

Stanley Mossburg was already wanted in a slaying at a Tennessee laundromat earlier this month when he killed two people at their home in Winter Haven home, deputies said. [ Polk County Sheriff's Office ]

A man was doing laundry at a laundromat in Greeneville, Tenn. the night of Oct. 1 when Mossburg entered, pulled a gun, bound him and walked out holding the man at gunpoint. The abduction was captured on video.

Around 2 a.m., the man’s wife tried to text him but received a “vile, nasty, ugly text," Judd said. She called 911 and police arrived at the laundromat to find the man’s car missing. Later that morning, customers found the man’s body behind the laundromat.

Mossburg drove the stolen car to Spartanburg, S.C., where he lives, Judd said. Three days later, on Oct. 4, Spartanburg police spotted the stolen car at a scrapyard.

Meanwhile, Judd said, Mossburg’s sister bought him a Greyhound bus ticket and drove him to Atlanta, where he boarded a bus to Orlando.

On Wednesday, Mossburg stole a black pickup truck in Seffner. Two days later, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office got word that a man wanted for a murder in Tennessee had pawned property at a pawn shop in Auburndale.

Around 4 p.m. on Sunday, Mossburg was chased away from a home in Winter Haven. Later, around 10:30 p.m., a man returned to his home in Winter Haven to find Mossburg there.

A woman who also lives in the home had been tied to a chair.

Mossburg approached the man and told him, “I have guns and knives, and I’ll kill you if you resist me.”

Mossburg tied the man to a chair with computer cords, demanded money and valuables, and was given the combination to a safe.

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Hours later, he told his captive that another man who lived at the home had tried to fight back, “so I made him suffer before I killed him.”

He later returned to the room to report that he also had killed the woman, but did it quickly, "because she was cooperative.”

“He has slashed and murdered both of these victims,” Judd said. “He slashed and murdered the victim in Tennessee. With knives.”

The names of the victims were not released.

Mossburg poured bleach on his Winter Haven victims, mixed a cleaning solution and mopped the floors, Judd said. He stayed overnight at the home.

At sunrise, Mossburg untied his captive because had been cooperative and allowed him to sit in the living room. At one point, the man asked Mossburg if he could turn down the air conditioning because he was cold.

“I need to keep it cool," Mossburg replied, "so these bodies don’t start to smell.”

Throughout the morning, Mossburg loaded stolen property into the woman’s car. Around noon, he told the man he was leaving but would return for the bodies, threatening to kill the man if he told the police.

The man remained on his couch throughout the afternoon, worried that Mossburg was still outside. Around 6 p.m., the man ran to a neighbor’s house and called 911.

The woman’s car was found half a mile from the murder scene, the hood still warm. The truck stolen in Seffner was found at a house nearby, painted white.

Deputies and detectives entered the house and came to a locked door. As they tried to kick it down, they were met with gunfire.

The SWAT team was called. They deployed chemicals inside the house, knocked down the garage door and spotted Mossburg beneath a pool table.

K-9 dogs were used to apprehend him.

Mossburg was taken to Winter Haven Hospital, where he was treated for dog bites before was booked into jail.

Mossburg faces charges in the Tennessee slaying, two charges of first-degree murder in the Winter Haven killings and attempted murder charges for shooting at the Polk County deputies, Judd said.