Michael Sulpizio, his wife Julie, and their two children, Cheyenne, 22, and Savannah, 23, allegedly murdered a sheriff’s deputy in the harrowing ambush at their Florida home outside Orlando on Friday.
The mother, Julie Ann Sulpizio, 48, has been accused of orchestrating the horrifying plot to lure their neighbors to their deaths but was foiled by the officers.
Master Deputy Sheriff Bradley Link, 28, and another officer responded to a 911 call when Sulpizio’s neighbors reported that she was assaulting them, Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said at a press conference.
When they arrived, Sulpizio told officers that her neighbors were pedophiles, Grinnell said, adding that Sulpizio was trying to trick her neighbors into entering her home, where her husband and daughters were waiting to ambush them.
Instead, Link was killed and two other deputies were injured after unsuspectingly walking into the ambush themselves.
LYING IN WAIT
When cops first arrived at the scene of the neighbor’s 911 call, they found Sulpizio “acting religious,” accusing the neighbors of being “sinners” and telling the deputies she knows “what they did,” Sheriff Grinnell said.
The neighbors identified Sulpizio by name, but she told the deputies that her name was “Helen, under God’s will,” adding that “Julie is in Heaven,” according to Grinnell.
Sulpizio was eventually handcuffed and taken into custody.
The cops then decided to conduct a welfare check at Sulpizio’s house nearby after she reportedly used religious references to try to lure them there, Grinnell said.
When the officers arrived at the home in Eustis, which is about 40 miles from Orlando, they found two dead dogs on the property and an open window with the screen kicked out, leading them to call for backup.
They entered the home and Link’s body camera reportedly captured a man who appeared to be wearing body armor sitting with a rifle on a couch, Grinnell said.
The officers were met with heavy gunfire by Sulpizio’s husband, Michael, and their two daughters.
Link, who had his back turned, was ambushed and shot in the back by Michael, who was “armed and ready,” according to the sheriff.
The deputy’s body camera footage showed that he was shot several more times as he attempted to crawl away after running out of bullets, Grinnell said.
The other officer retreated and tried to negotiate for Link’s release, but the family refused.
Grinnell said that on the body camera footage, one of the daughters was heard shouting, “My King will kill all of you! You are Lucifer’s children!”
The video revealed that Michael and his two adopted daughters discussed suicide before they were found dead in the home with apparent self-inflicted gunshot wounds to their heads.
A search of the home after the ambush revealed a stockpile of more than 20 guns, ammunition, body armor, gas masks, ready-to-eat meals, bottled water, and anti-government propaganda, Grinnell said.
LCSO said the family had no cellphones or TV.
“This was nothing short of an ambush. The evidence will show that,” Gladson said.
The sheriff said that in a later interview, Sulpizio admitted that she was originally trying to lure her neighbors into the home so that Michael could kill them.
However, the attempted trap for her neighbors was interrupted by the officers.
“She was not successful because of our deputies,” the sheriff said.
One of the officers, Master Deputy Sheriff Harold Howell, was struck in the arm and is expected to make a full recovery.
Deputy First Class Stefano Gargano, the other officer injured in the shooting, is stable and in critical condition after undergoing a third surgery this weekend, Grinnell said.
NO REMORSE
Sulpizio faces 12 charges in total, including premeditated murder of a law enforcement officer and multiple counts of attempted murder, according to State Attorney Bill Gladson.
Grinnell said Sulpizio appeared to show no remorse about the attack and was described to be “joyful.”
After spending the weekend in the hospital, she was arrested on Monday with Deputy Link’s handcuffs.
Sulpizio was denied bond in her first virtual court appearance on Tuesday.
She remains in the Lake County Jail. Her arraignment is scheduled for September 3.
LCSO has told The U.S. Sun that footage of the ambush will be provided once it’s made available.
