Wife of Murdered Tampa Cop Faces Killer

Yesterday in sentencing phase of the murder trial of Tampa, Florida Police Corporal Mike Roberts, his wife delivered a statement to the Court, which was directed squarely at his killer, Humberto Delgado, Jr.  The following is the transcript of Cindy Roberts’ words to the man who murdered her husband:

“Your honor, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to address the court. During my victim’s impact testimony the defense team was able to censor my statement and I did not feel that that followed the spirit of what the victim’s impact statement was supposed to provide.

“But mostly, I want to speak to you [addressing Delgado]. You, the defendant, I will not speak your name. You are not worthy of such respect. You have been given several opportunities to speak during this trial and like a coward, you have remained silent and you are not remorseful.

“Over the past 2 1/2 years when you’ve looked my way, I have seen the face of evil and disdain. What bothers me most was knowing that was the last face my husband saw on this earth. Pure hate and evil. You coward. You murdered my husband in cold blood. You pistol-whipped him till he was unconscious. He was no threat to you. But you willfully and intentionally shot him anyway. Purposefully shooting him through the lungs and the heart. I hope that when your time comes, you too, would choke on your own blood.

“If you were afraid of law enforcement, you would have left then, but you didn’t. You stayed around, and waited until you could see that other officers were coming, and then you ran. You ran and hid. That was cruel, heinous, and atrocious.

“My husband was completely unable to defend himself, and then you took his radio so you could monitor where the responding officers were. And then you ran. You ran away and made a phone call for help. Not for my dying husband, but you wanted your family to bail you out again like they had in the past.

“During the trial, the question was asked, ‘Why you didn’t attack the officer in Pinellas County,’ and quite frankly, you didn’t have the guns with you. They were still in (a) storage unit, otherwise this trial might have taken place in Pinellas County. You didn’t kill more officers after Mike because you heard them on Mike’s radio. You knew they were coming, and there were too many for you. You knew you could not possibly kill them all or you would have.

“You should not be here. You chose to leave your birth family, you chose to leave your wife and children, you chose to leave your girlfriend and your baby, you chose not to accept help, you chose to buy several guns and you chose not to accept a ride that day. That fateful day on Aug. 19, 2009:  You chose to murder.

“You have no regard for anyone but yourself. You sat in this courtroom before the trial started one morning watching home videos. You had no respect or concern for anyone else and for Mike’s family and friends that were here to watch you laugh and chuckle, and having a good time.

“You think the world owes you something – a job, money, a place to live – all on your terms, all for free. You think you’re entitled. You’ve spent years blaming someone else for your shortcomings. You will get what you wanted. In jail you will have a free lifestyle and many of us will suffer for it. I lost my husband, my friend and my soul mate, and my son lost his daddy, his role model.

“We were given a life sentence – all of us, Mike’s family and friends, and we did nothing wrong. You should get a more severe penalty. Much more. As long as you are alive, you can contact your family. That is a luxury you do not deserve. You should not be here. You will still be a danger to the detention deputies because you have no respect for the laws or people.

“I hope you receive the death penalty and so does Mike. So does Mike. He had no tolerance for cop killers and thought you should get the death penalty for it. You should not be here. You were quoted once saying you were just trying to get through this world without losing yourself. Well, you failed at that, too.

“You no longer have a name. You’re just an inmate number, but to many of us, you will just be known as “cop killer.”

“This case is not about an illness. This is pure evil and hatred. You should not be here. When you finally leave this world, you can join your father for eternity. You and the devil can dance in the pale moonlight, in the darkness, in hell, where all evil starts.

“You should not be here. And you will still be a murdering cowardly cop killer.

“Your honor, I thank you for the court’s time.”

The cold-blooded killer Humberto Delgado, Jr. was then sentenced by Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett Battles to death.

Tampa Police Department Corporal Michael Roberts—E.O.W.–8/19/2009