Man Sentenced To Life In Prison For 1988 Murder: Police

SARASOTA, FL — David L. Stephens was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 murder of Judith Elaine Doherty on Wednesday, the Sarasota Police Department said in a news release.

A jogger found Doherty’s body in a field behind Booker High School, located at 3201 N. Orange Ave., on July 31, 2988. Sarasota police determined the 23-year-old Venice resident was also the victim of sexual battery.

There were few leads in the case, though, and it went cold for more than 30 years. Years later, Sarasota police sent DNA evidence to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for testing using technology that didn’t exist at the time of the crime. Stephens’ DNA, which was found at the crime scene, linked him to Doherty’s murder.

Stephens has been in prison at the DeSoto Correctional Institution in Arcadia on charges of armed sexual battery and burglary in connection to a February 1989 case that occurred in Sarasota County. He was scheduled to be released in July 2021.

Sarasota detectives served an arrest warrant to Stephens for the homicide and sexual battery of Doherty on Dec. 3, 2018. According to WWSB Channel 7, he was found guilty of the murder in January.

“The life sentence given to David L. Stephens brings closure to this case and comfort to the Doherty family, knowing that Stephens will never victimize anyone else,” said Detective Anthony DeFrancisco.

“In this case, DNA evidence was the silent witness for 32 years. Judith Doherty’s brutal sexual battery and death remained unsolved, yet the silent witness was always there to tell its story,” said Karen Fraivillig, assistant state attorney. “David Stephens’ DNA under Ms. Doherty’s fingernails linked him to her murder and showed how valiantly she struggled to loosen the grip of her killer’s hands from around her throat. The police are often faulted for having tunnel vision, but the Sarasota Police Department did a methodical, deliberate investigation, involving the FBI, local agencies and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The Sarasota Police Department worked for more than three decades to find Judith Doherty’s rapist and killer. The State is gratified to finally obtain justice for Judith Doherty.”