On February 24, 2020, Sarah Boone and her boyfriend Jorge Torres were spending an evening together at Sarah’s home. The couple had a bit of a tumultuous past, both had been arrested on domestic violence charges, but they always seem to get back together. On this night the two were drinking but what happened next is almost inexplicable. Jorge got inside of a suitcase that was then zipped shut. Why? And exactly how he got into the suitcase is not 100% clear. But what is clear is that at one point he wanted to get out, he pleaded with Sarah to open the suitcase but she refused.
Torres: “Sarah…” Sarah Boone: “For everything you’ve done to me.” Torres: “Sarah…” Sarah Boone: “For everything you’ve done to me.” Torres: “Sarah…” Sarah Boone: “Fuck you! (laughing)” Torres: “Sarah…” Sarah Boone: “(laughing) You stupid.” Torres: “Sarah…” Sarah Boone: “That’s my name.” Torres: “Sarah, I can’t breathe, babe. Seriously.” Sarah Boone: “Yeah, that’s what you do when you choke me.” Torres: “Sarah, Sarah, Sarah…” Sarah Boone is laughing. Torres: “Sarah, I can’t breathe, babe.” Sarah Boone is laughing: “That’s on you.” Torres: “Sarah, I can’t breathe.” Sarah is laughing: “That’s on you.” Torres: “Sarah… Sarah, I can’t breathe, babe.” Sarah Boone: “That’s how I felt when you cheat on me.” Torres: “Sarah…”
She eventually called 911, and said she and Jorge were playing hide and seek and Jorge ended up in the suitcase.
Actually, Sarah Boone used a baseball bat and was hitting Jorge Torres to prevent him from getting out of the suitcase, until she zipped it to the point of no return.
Sarah has been charged with second degree murder, but now she claims she was the victim and is claiming battered spouse syndrome.
Sarah Boone hasn’t been to get along with a single court-appointed lawyer since she was arrested in 2020 for allegedly killing her partner Jorge Torrez Jr. Her case has been delayed repeatedly as a list of attorneys withdrew from her case. Judge Michael Kraynick ruled that Boone’s behavior meant she had forfeited her right to an attorney and said she would have to represent herself. She had many reasons for being dissatisfied with her attorneys. For example, Boone told the judge that she was unhappy with her latest court-appointed lawyer, accusing her of lying and having “a snotty attitude,” among other claims. That lawyer told the judge that Boone had walked out of at least two conferences between them. “I feel she is untruthful with me and full-blown prejudiced against me, which I believe adds to her nasty attitude towards me, and I do not trust her,” Boone told Circuit Court Judge Michael Kraynick. “Everyone constantly, constantly, constantly blames me, that I am the reason why I am supposedly going on attorney number eight, which I am not the reason for any of them.”
When Judge Kraynick refused to reconsider his ruling, Boone went so far as to create an advertisement for an attorney to help her — and it appears to have worked! The full-page, handwritten ad featured questions: “Looking for a prosperous challenge? Ready for your close-up on nat’l television? Are you zealous with a side of keen?”
Attorney James Owens filed a notice of appearance, and then immediately filed a motion asking for Boone’s trial to be delayed and said that as of Aug. 30, 2024, he would be representing the defendant. In the motion, he noted he was drawn to the case after seeing her advertisement. In the motion, Owens says that he has met with Boone four times at the jail, and during the meetings, they discussed exculpatory evidence in her case.
While reviewing Boone’s court file, Court TV also reviewed behavior notes from the Orange County Jail that were entered into Boone’s case. The notes reveal that Boone has been using a laptop to review evidence daily, but has also been refusing meals and showers, at times. A corrections officer described Boone as having a “patronizing tone” and persistently misrepresenting what was being said during a conversation about access to materials in jail.
James Ownes did his best to defend her in accordance with her wishes. But cross examination left no doubt about her guilt.
According to Boon Jorge was violent with her, that he was violent with her on more than one occasion and especially when he was intoxicated. So keeping him confined, she says, gave her a chance to feel safe from him.
– That’s when I went over and decided to videotape to just see the, I guess, the gest in it for him to understand that right now I feel safe, and right now I had the ability to actually speak to you in a manner that normally I would not have the ability to do. – And you were intoxicated? – Yes. – And you would agree that you said some things you should not. – Yes. – But you realized he could not get out and get at you. Is that fair? – At that moment, yes. – So it goes on for about 10 minutes? – Yes. – You heard it here today. Did you not? – Yes. – You heard his voice as he was speaking from the suitcase? – Yes. – That was his voice on the video in audio? – Yes. – And you heard your voice on the video and audio? – Yes. – That was your voice? – Yes. – All those things said by the man were said by Jorge in that two-minute video? – Correct. – All the words said by the female were said by you in that two-minute video? – Correct. – Will you intending on showing him the video the next day? – Yes. – At the time or the next day, is it fair to say you don’t even remember a videotape? – I do not. – Okay. – So from what you can tell from watching it, did that refresh your memory about that event. – It did. – Why did you say all that? – I want you all to know that I the majority of the time am always afraid, and always scared. – All right. I understand that. Okay. I understand that. But would it be fair to say that you had some anger at that point? – I did. – Would it be fair to say that you wanted to tell him off to some degree? – I just wanted… Yes, for him to have a better understanding which was the whole point of the videos and documentation prior. – And you could tell that he was uncomfortable? – I’m guessing. – And did you want him to feel some discomfort? – I did. – Okay.
So in other words she’s telling the jury that this video was her way to talk to Jorge, to get him to listen to her. But also in that video she can be heard seemingly mocking Jorge and reminding him of times where, she says, he beat her up. Now what is not on that video, she says, is Jorge threatening to hurt her, if he gets out of the suitcase.
– It got very heated very quickly and he continued to push on the suitcase and my fear was that he was going to break out of the suitcase, knowing that it was a broken suitcase and his hand started to come through his, his hand started to come through this way, and so I shook the suitcase. I shook the suitcase trying to get his hand to go back in shaking it. And telling him that please stop doing this. Please, please stop doing this to me. Please stop doing this to me. – So his hand actually got out of the suitcase? – Yes. – And you went to the suitcase? – Yes. – And shook it? – Yes. – Did that force his hand to go back in? – No. – So you’re shaking it. Were you shaking it to try to get his hand back in? – Yes. – How long did you shake it? – I don’t know. – But his hand was still out? – Yes. – Was he trying to get out? – Forcefully, yes. – Was he angry at you? – Yes. – Were you in fear? – Always. – If he would have gotten out of the suitcase, what would he have done to you? – Like he used to tell me. He probably would have made me unrecognizable, or I would have uh lost my life.
That testimony is key to Sarah Boone’s defense. She’s claiming self-defense. That her life was in imminent danger, if Jorge got out of that suitcase. And all of this fear stems from a history of alleged past abuse. So we’re at the point where Jorge is doing anything he can to get out of the suitcase, even sticking his hand through, but Boone claims she is deathly afraid and is not going to let him out.
– For the split second reaction that I had, I happened to see that and I grabbed the baseball bat and was trying to poke his hand to go back in, to please don’t go, don’t break through. Please. So I hit his hand. – And you said you poked him with it? – Yes, I kind of pushed like I held it with the skinny part here, and then. – So the grip here… – You grabbed it with both hands here? – Yes. – And then the barrel of the bat, the big part of the bat, is here? – Correct. – And you thrusted it into the different areas of the suitcase? – I started with his hand, in his hand. He was still trying to get out. He was still trying to do that. So I started to push on the suitcase, around it, hoping to have his hand retract and go back inside. – You made those injuries? – I did. – We’ve seen the photographs? – Yes. – We see the bruising. Is that from that bat? – Yes. – Eventually, did his hand go back inside from you doing? – Yes, finally he had subsided and retracted his hand. – So in your mind did you prevent him from attacking you? – Absolutely. – Did you believe that he could breathe in there? – Yes. – Did you ever believe he could die in there? – No. No. – Were you trying to kill him? – Never. – Did you want to kill him? – I did not. – How did you feel when you saw the suitcase? – I don’t think I’ve ever experienced anything like that before. – Describe it for the jury. – I guess it was, I was a gas and I just can’t describe the feeling. Terror to a certain degree. – I’m sorry, say that again now. – It was terror to a certain degree. I just can’t describe it in words the feeling of remembering and then he was still in there. – So what did you do? – I immediately unzipped the suitcase and I was screaming Jorge, Jorge, Jorge. And I was shaking him. I was shaking him. And I pulled him out, and I stretched him out flat, and then I began instantly trying to do CPR. And then was trying to look for a pulse or a breath or just anything, and was just screaming his name over and over, and over again. And come on Jorge, come on Jorge. And I continued CPR, continued CPR. And I continued CPR. And he was gurgling. – What color was he? – He was purple.
It’s at this point that Boone calls her ex-husband again who then tells her call 911, and then Jorge is declared dead.
– I lied to the police, basically everyone, because I was extremely fearful of being arrested. I made first attempt of me calling 911 by telling them what happened, and I thought they were going to help me, but instead I was arrested for calling 911. – So you made a decision to lie? – I did. – Did you stay with that lie? – I did. – Are you telling the truth today? – I am. – Now, let me take you back to this incident. Is it fair to say that when Jorge Torres is sober he commits no violence against you? No. – Is that fair to say? – Yes. Cross examination from the prosecution and the prosecution here questioned Sarah Boone on a few different things and they questioned her as to how much alcohol she actually drank. That day Boone testified under direct examination that she had several bottles of wine, but as the state pointed out based on the size of the bottles this would actually turn out to be a really significant amount of one. They poked her story. Prosecution asked Sarah to demonstrate how she zipped up a suitcase, which showed that her story was a lie.
James Ownes, Sarah Boone’s attorney, said he “strongly” suggested his client consider the plea deal before she was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of her boyfriend.
Sarah Boone, 47, was found guilty of second-degree murder in October, 2024. Sarah Boone Sentenced to Life in Prison.
