Pennsylvania man accused in co-worker deaths tells Florida deputies he was raped

DAVENPORT, Fla. — An electrician accused of killing three co-workers on assignment in central Florida told detectives he did it because his colleagues had raped him, but a Florida sheriff on Monday said there was no evidence to support the claim.

Shaun Runyon, 39, confessed multiple times to the murders during interviews with detectives, telling them that the co-workers had raped him, and “he hated all three of them,” but a sexual battery test failed to confirm the allegation, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd during a news conference.

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The sheriff used hand air quotes when saying the word “raped.”

“I want to underscore there is absolutely unequivocally zero evidence,” said Judd, whose county is located between Tampa and Orlando.

Runyon was charged with three counts of first degree murder and one count of aggravated battery over the weekend. There was no online docket for Runyon, so it was not immediately clear if he had retained a lawyer who could comment on the charges.

Runyon had been out on bail from other charges in Pennsylvania, including a felony count of strangulation -- applying pressure to the throat -- on May 21, along with misdemeanor counts of child endangerment, terroristic threat and reckless endangerment, the sheriff said.

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