The Florida Files

Latest Episodes:

Police Shootout Gone Wrong: UPS Driver Held Hostage, Ep 3 Dec 16, 2022

Show notes

Three years ago, UPS driver Frank Ordonez was taken hostage while delivering packages on a Miami street. His truck, stolen by two armed robbers who had held up a jewelry store, took him and police on a 25-mile chase. When it was all over, Ordonez was dead and so was another innocent victim sitting in his car and caught in the crossfire. 20 officers from four police departments all shot at the truck after it got caught in rush hour traffic on a busy Thursday afternoon. Should police have shot at the truck? And who were the kidnappers? Plus an ironic twist of fate leaves another man dead. The Florida Files' Michelle Solomon takes listeners through the dreadful day, unearthing ties to the criminals, and how the families are still awaiting answers three years after the fact.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Police Shootout Gone Wrong: UPS Driver Held Hostage, Ep 2 Dec 05, 2022

Show notes

It's been three years since a UPS driver delivering packages was taken hostage after his truck was hijacked by two armed robbers leading police on a 25-mile chase. Frank Ordonez's stepfather says it didn't have to happen. His family and the family of another innocent victim, a union rep who was stopped at a red light on his way home from work killed in the crossfire, wonder why 20 police officers began shooting at the UPS truck. Frank's sister talks about finding out the horrible news about her brother on social media. Plus, a civil case ends badly for the family. The Florida Files' Michelle Solomon takes listeners through the dreadful day and up to the present as the families continue to seek justice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Police Shootout Gone Wrong, UPS Driver Held Hostage, Ep 1 Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

A 27-year-old father of two is delivering packages in a Miami neighborhood when two armed robbers hijack his UPS truck and take him hostage. Then the police chase, spanning 25 miles, which ends up in a busy intersection at rush hour. 20 police officers guns drawn begin shooting at the UPS truck. All captured on live TV. When the gunfire stops, the robbers are dead as is the hostage, and another innocent victim driving home from his union job. Three years later, the investigation remains open. The Florida Files' Michelle Solomon takes listeners through that day, hear 911 calls from frightened people in their cars, and from families with unanswered questions seeking justice.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Serial Killer: Samuel Little Got His Start In Miami Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

The FBI proclaimed him America's most prolific serial killer. Samuel Little, nicknamed the Choke and Stroke killer, criss-crossed the U.S. and confessed to strangling and killing 93 women. He got his murderous start was in Miami, where he knew the back roads and swampy Everglades were the ideal place to dump his victims. Many of the women's bodies have never been found. Cold case detectives are hoping someone remembers something that can help them.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Halftime History in The Purple Rain Jan 26, 2020

Show notes

Torrential downpours wouldn't let up in Miami. The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears slip and slide all over the field during Super Bowl XLI. What to do about halftime? For Miami football fans and players, the unrelenting rain may have been hell; but for performer Prince, the heavens opened up for him and he took full advantage with his finale of Purple Rain in a downpour, making history as the Best Halftime Show ever.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eugene Robinson's Biscayne Blunder Jan 26, 2020

Show notes

Players called him "The Prophet" because of his work ethic and for never missing a chance to lead the locker room in pre-game prayers. But on the night before Super Bowl XXXIII in Miami, Atlanta Falcons safety Eugene Robinson decided to go for a little drive. He ended up in the wrong place at the worst time, offering $40 to an undercover policewoman posing as a prostitute in exchange for oral sex. He played in the game the next day against the Denver Broncos, but he and the rest of the Dirty Birds couldn't overcome Robinson's big blunder.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Game Must Go On Jan 26, 2020

Show notes

Jan. 22, 1989, In the huddle near the end of Super Bowl XXIII, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana settles his teammates' nerves by pointing out comedian John Candy in the stands. The levity caps off one of the most tense Super Bowl weeks ever. While preparations are under way, a race riot breaks out in a Miami neighborhood and thousands of out of town visitors are arriving for the festivities. Should the game go on? The former mayor of Miami tells the Florida Files he was scared for his life.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miami's Murderous Cult Leader: Yahweh Ben Yahweh, Pt. 5 Sep 23, 2019

Show notes

The judge overseeing the case against Yahweh ben Yahweh and his followers writes that the case is arguably the most violent ever tried in a federal court with beheadings, stabbings, and severing of body parts. Strange coincidences occur outside the courtroom as the U.S. assistant attorney's secretary is murdered outside her front door, and another witness is run over by a train. The verdict arrives, but things are far from over as Yahweh ben Yahweh is charged with one count of first degree murder by the state of Florida. What was truth about the Temple Of Love? Was Yahweh ben Yahweh wrongly persecuted or rightly prosecuted

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miami's Murderous Cult Leader: Yahweh Ben Yahweh, Pt. 4 Sep 16, 2019

Show notes

Assistant US Attorney Richard Scruggs gets a box of files from then Florida State Attorney Janet Reno's office. One of his prosecutor's calls it "Janet Reno's 'trash.'" Scruggs has heard of Yahweh Ben Yahweh and knows trying to convict the spiritual leader will be difficult and dangerous. But, it has to be done. Thirty years later, he reflects on the case, never before speaking publicly about it, except to The Florida Files. How he hated the star witness Robert Rozier, but had to place nice with him in the courtroom. Scruggs answers the question: Did the government pay witnesses to lie to convict Yahweh? Venita Mitchell recalls the night thousands of UFOs descended on Miami’s Temple Of Love before her father’s conviction to greet the self proclaimed son of God.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Miami's Murderous Cult Leader: Yahweh Ben Yahweh, Pt. 3 Sep 09, 2019

Show notes

There are many Miami killings linked to the Yahwehs, but investigators believe there is only one that happens inside the Temple of Love. When a karate champ shows, Yahweh Ben Yahweh challenges him to fight one of the Yahwehs. The disciple loses to the karate champ, but still Leonard Dupree is beaten to death. A former Yahweh member says that the spiritual leader calls him speaking in code. Yahweh Ben Yahweh says a goat was sacrificed in the Temple Of Love. Khalil Amani knew exactly what he meant.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected