Video: Accused Valrico Bank Robber, Carjacker Charged With Murder

VALRICO, FL — A man accused of robbing a Valrico bank and killing the owner of a carjacked vehicle was arraigned Wednesday on felony charges of premeditated first-degree murder, carjacking, grand theft auto, kidnapping, robbery and resisting arrest with violence.

The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said James Hanson Jr., 39, was booked into the Orient Road Jail around 11 p.m. Tuesday after confessing to robbing the CenterState Bank in Valrico and carjacking and murdering 68-year-old Mathew Korattiyil of Valrico.

According to the sheriff's office, Hanson got away with less than $300 when he robbed the bank at 1815 State Road 60 in Valrico around 10:30 a.m.

Korrattiyil had just pulled his white Lexis SUV into the parking lot of the bank when Hanson came out of the bank. At gunpoint, he carjacked Korattiyil's SUV with Korattiyil inside.

An hour and a half later, deputies spotted Hanson behind the wheel of the Lexus. Hanson sped away, blowing through the intersection of South St. Cloud Avenue and S.R. 60 where deputies had placed stop sticks to deflate the tires on the SUV. Hanson struck another vehicle before the Lexus overturned.

Hanson was able to get out of the overturned SUV and began to run away but was apprehended by deputies.

Korattiyil, however, was nowhere to be found.

Shortly before 4 p.m., deputies found Korattiyil's body behind the Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Community Center, 2620 Washington Road in Valrico. The Sacred Heart Knanaya Catholic Community Center where Korattiyil and his family were longtime members is less than five minutes from the bank where Korattiyil was carjacked.

A father and grandfather, Korattiyil was well-known in the tightly-knit Knanaya Catholic community. The Valrico parish serves about 250 Knanaya Catholic families in central Florida, who trace their roots to Malabar (present-day Kerala, India) where the community was founded by St. Thomas Christians of Malabar in 345 A.D. Many of these former Syrian Christians migrated to the United States in the 1950s.

Korattiyil was among the Knanaya Catholics immigrants who moved to the United States with his extended family. He and his wife, Lillykutty, raised three children in Valrico. He owned the Marathon M and M Food Store at 1700 N. Valrico Road in Dover (now the Valrico Food Store) for 25 years before retiring.

The sheriff's office has not said how Korattiyil's body came to be at the community center. Hanson has admitted to strangling him. Korattiyil's family has not made a public statement and has asked for privacy during this tragedy.

Korattiyil would have never encountered Hanson if the career criminal hadn't been granted a reduced sentence for an armed robbery in hillsborough County in 2002. In 2003, Hanson was sentenced to life in prison, but he was released July 2 after serving 16 years of his sentence.

Hanson's criminal record dates back to 1996 when he was 16 years old and includes robbery with a dangerous weapon, possession of stolen goods and conspiracy to commit armed robbery in North Carolina as well as burglary with assault, passing forged instruments, larceny, burglary of a dwelling with assault, burglary of dwelling unarmed, grand theft, trespassing after warning and robbery with firearm in Florida.

"We committed nearly 100 deputies and members of the FBI to searching for him, but unfortunately this innocent man's life was taken at a location less than five minutes from where he was kidnapped," said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. "Senseless acts of violence like this are not common in Hillsborough County, but they will never be tolerated. We will work to make sure the person responsible for Mr. Korattiyil's murder is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

Related story: Man Found Dead After Being Carjacked In Valrico