MONDAY, JANUARY 5, 1998
Ronald Jorgenson vs State of Florida

No. 86,916

Place of Origin
Lakeland, Polk County

Facts
On Dec. 2, 1993, Jorgenson called the Polk County Sheriff's office and reported that his live-in girlfriend, Tammy Jo Ruzga, was missing. She had a serious drug problem, he said, causing him to fear she may have been harmed purchasing drugs. The same day Ruzga's body was found in her car in a rural area north of Lakeland, shot three times in the head. Another of Jorgenson's girlfriends turned states evidence and told how she witnessed Jorgenson kill Ruzga. Jorgenson was tried and sentenced to death. This is his direct appeal.