On October 18, 1992, police were summoned to the residence of Dorothy Berger. Neighbors had noticed that her door was open and her television and air conditioner were on, but she was not home.

Although, there were no signs of forced entry, several items were out of place, and a shoe impression was visible in the dust on the floor. Berger’s car was also gone. The previous evening, a witness had seen Berger’s neighbor, Johnnie Hoskins, driving a car similar to Berger’s.

The same day police were called to Berger’s house in Brevard County, Hoskins arrived at his parent’s home in Georgia and asked to borrow a shovel. He returned to his parent’s house about 20 minutes later.

Hoskins was stopped in Georgia on October 19, 1992, for a traffic violation and the car he was driving was later determined to be Berger's.

Along with blood, police found vegetation in the trunk that was later used to discover the victim’s body in a grave. Her hands were tied behind her back and her mouth was gagged.

Postmortem examinations indicated the victim was raped, and DNA evidence found in semen on the victim and the victim’s bed could have come from Hoskins. Berger received several blows to the head and numerous bodily injuries, but her death was caused by strangulation.

Source: Florida Commission on Capital Cases