Handyman could face death for elderly couple's murders

DOVER (FOX 13) - The murders of a retired couple were particularly heinous and cruel. Police say their handyman did it. Now, Michael Herald is charged with two counts of murder and could face the death penalty.

John and Nancy Englehart's final moments were violent, according to court documents released in the case.

Legal expert Anthony Rickman reviewed the case for FOX 13.

"They were bludgeoned to death, tortured to death," Rickman explained. "You see them bound. You don't bound someone who's already dead."

The Engleharts were found brutally murdered inside their backyard shed.

Documents show John was found hogtied with severe blows to the head and a cut to his neck.

His wife had suffered head trauma before a plastic bag was placed over it.

Prosecutors say the Engleharts' handyman did it.

Michael Anthony Herald is charged with two counts of murder.

Investigators say back in April of 2016, Herald who was hired by the Engleharts to do handy work around their house. They also say he brutally killed the retired couple.

And some of the crime was apparently caught on tape.

The Engleharts' surveilance cameras caught Herald leaving the shed, putting him at the crime scene at the time of the murders.

"One of the other things we have is defensive wounds on the defendant. One of the witnesses say they observed cuts on his hands," said Rickman. 

A neighbor reported hearing loud noises coming from the shed that sounded like a metal object, possibly a hammer or pipe.

After the murders, prosecutors say Herald took off in the victims' SUV. He was eventually caught in Kentucky and brought back to Tampa to face murder charges and possibly the death penalty.

No trial date has been set.