Convicted killer sentenced to death for 4th time in Daytona Beach sword-slaying

A twice-convicted killer was sentenced to death Monday for the fourth time for killing a man with a sword in a Daytona Beach motel three decades ago.

Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols sentenced James Guzman, 60, to death during a hearing at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.

It was the fourth time since 1992 that a judge sentenced Guzman to death for killing David Colvin, a 48-year-old businessman from Norfolk, Virginia.

Guzman was free from prison for several months on another murder charge when he killed Colvin.

Guzman did not appear to show any reaction when the judge imposed the death sentence.

He did not make any statements before the judge began pronouncing his sentence.

Instead, Guzman's attorney, Candace Hawthorne, asked that the Volusia County Branch Jail refund her client a $25 booking fee that it had charged him when he was brought to the jail.

Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak said he had no objection and the judge said she would enter an order that the money be refunded.

Guzman then said he wanted to take some "hygiene items" back to prison. The judge said that was up to the Department of Corrections.

Judge Nichols said she would follow the jury's recommendation and impose the death sentence.

Guzman will return to death row and will get an appeal.

Guzman has spent 2,769 days in the Volusia County Branch jail as his case wound its way through the legal system in between his stints in state prison.

In a press release, 7th Circuit State Attorney R.J. Larizza said Guzman was finally being held accountable for the "brutal and callous murder."

“This case confirms that — in Florida — there is no time limit on making justice a reality. My only regret is that the family of our murder victim had to wait so long!” Larizza stated.

Jury unanimously recommends death for Daytona Beach sword-killing

A Volusia County jury on March 22 recommended in a 12-0 vote that Guzman be put to death for Colvin's murder.

Guzman had been free from prison less than four months for killing a woman in Miami-Dade County when he murdered Colvin.

Guzman inflicted 19 sword wounds on Colvin on Aug. 10, 1991, in a room at what was then the Imperial Motor Lodge on South Ridgewood Avenue.

Guzman had been chauffeuring Colvin. But Guzman killed Colvin to rob him and had told his former girlfriend that if he ever robbed someone he would kill the person because dead witnesses can't talk, according to court records.

Guzman stole cash and a diamond ring from Colvin. He sold the ring and used some of the money to buy crack cocaine.

Guzman was found guilty in 2016 of first-degree murder and robbery with a weapon in Colvin’s killing and sentenced to death. The jury then voted 11 to 1 to recommend Guzman’s death.

But the Florida Supreme Court in 2018 struck down the death sentence because it had not been unanimous.

But last year, state law changed requiring eight out of the 12 jurors to recommend death.

Guzman's previous two convictions and death sentences in Colvin's murder were overturned on appeal. One of those was a bench trial in which a judge sentenced Guzman to death without a jury recommendation.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Killer in Daytona Beach sword-slaying gets 4th death sentence