Lee County judge rules Mark Sievers files will have to be released by end of November

A Lee County judge has ruled he must receive key documents related to the 2015 murder-for-hire of a Bonita Springs woman by the end of November.

Mark Sievers, 55, on death row for the murder-for-hire of his wife, Teresa Sievers, 46, on April 26 and June 9 filed separate motions for a court order directing the Postconviction Records Repository to send all sealed or redacted documents.

The Postconviction Records Repository maintains and indexes the copies of records submitted to them by law enforcement, investigative or other agencies.

Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle ruled Monday that the Postconviction Records Repository, at the request of the Officer of Capital Collateral Regional Counsel for the Middle Region, by Nov. 30 will have to deliver containers from the District 21 Medical Examiner's Office; the Lee County Sheriff's Office; the Florida Department of Corrections; the Collier County Sheriff's Office; the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office; and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for an in-camera inspection.

An in-camera review happens when a judge looks at confidential or sensitive information and determines which may be made public.

If the court determines any agency or entity’s records are confidential medical, mental health or substance abuse treatment records, Mark Sievers requested the release of those records to his attorneys after the court completes the records review, the motions indicated.

The motions said that failing to release the records would violate Mark Sievers' Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendment constitutional rights.

In May, the state asked for a three-month extension in the release of files including an excess of 80,000 pages of discovery, more than 60 depositions, hours of audio and millions of videos in the case Mark Sievers to the repository of the Secretary of State, which oversees executions. The files include the documents Mark Sievers is asking Kyle to review.

It is one of several motions Mark Sievers' post-conviction counsel has filed.

In July, Mark Sievers' post-conviction counsel sought the release of files allegedly in the possession of his trial attorneys, "destroyed" by Hurricane Ian in September 2022.

Mark Sievers' initial death row appeal was denied last year.

The Florida Supreme Court on Feb. 3 affirmed his sentence and conviction.

A jury convicted Sievers on Dec. 4, 2019, in the slaying of Teresa Sievers, a Southwest Florida doctor.

On June 28, 2015, Teresa Sievers left a family vacation and returned alone to her Bonita Springs home.

After she pulled into the garage, retrieved her luggage and walked into the house, Curtis Wayne Wright, Jr., and Jimmy Ray Rodgers beat her with hammers.

Lee Circuit Judge Bruce Kyle sentenced Rodgers to life in prison after he was convicted of second-degree murder and trespassing by a Lee County jury in October 2019.

On Feb. 10, 2020, Kyle sentenced Wright to 25 years for his role in the murder after he pleaded guilty.

Sievers hired Rodgers and Wright to kill his wife.

Tomas Rodriguez is a Breaking/Live News Reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. You can reach Tomas at TRodriguez@gannett.com or 772-333-5501. Connect with him on Threads @tomasfrobeltran, Instagram @tomasfrobeltran, Facebook @tomasrodrigueznews and Twitter @TomasFRoBeltran.

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: Mark Sievers files to be sent to judge by late November, ruling says