Evidence stretching from a Florida retirement community to Savannah helped jurors convict Vickie Williams of two first-degree murders.
MOUNT DORA, Fla. — The investigation into the deaths of Darryl and Sharon Getman moved hundreds of miles from their Florida home because one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case was already on the road: their green Kia Soul.
Inside the missing vehicle was Sharon Getman’s cellphone. Detectives used information from the phone and license-plate readers to trace the Kia north after the married couple were found stabbed to death at the Lakeside at Waterman Village retirement community on Dec. 31, 2022. The trail reached Savannah, Georgia, where police arrested Vickie Lynn Williams on Jan. 2, 2023. Nearly four years later, prosecutors used the car, the electronic trail, surveillance footage, forensic testing and property taken from the Getmans’ home to secure two first-degree murder convictions against Williams.
The vehicle connected the crime scene to the suspect in a way investigators could follow beyond Lake County. Surveillance footage showed the Getmans’ Kia leaving the senior community after Williams had been seen in the area. Police then tracked movement associated with Sharon Getman’s phone, while automated license-plate information helped establish the car’s path. By the time Williams was taken into custody in Savannah, investigators had recovered not only the vehicle but also a major link between a double homicide in Central Florida and a woman found several states away.
Back inside the Getmans’ home, investigators collected a different kind of evidence. Prosecutors presented forensic testing that connected Williams to items recovered at the scene, including knives and other objects. A Florida Department of Law Enforcement analyst testified during the trial about DNA testing, while authorities also documented evidence of movement through the home toward the garage. The State Attorney’s Office later said laboratory work from FDLE’s Orlando Regional Crime Laboratory was critical in establishing Williams’ connection to the residence.
The evidence extended to belongings that were missing from the home. Prosecutors said jewelry and paintings belonging to the Getmans were taken along with the Kia. During the trial, the couple’s adult daughter, Brittany Getman, was shown recovered property and identified items that had belonged to her parents, including her mother’s wedding ring. That testimony tied personal possessions found during the investigation back to the victims and supported the prosecution’s account that Williams left the home with more than a vehicle.
Investigators also reconstructed Williams’ presence at Waterman Village before the killings. Police said security video showed her moving through the retirement community, and testimony described her approaching residents. She had asked for help that included using a shower and charging a cellphone. Those encounters became important because they placed Williams in the complex before the Getmans died. Prosecutors later argued that her actions before and after the killings showed purposeful behavior, a point that mattered because the defense did not simply dispute identity; it argued Williams was legally insane.
That defense transformed the meaning of the evidence. Williams’ lawyers acknowledged severe mental illness and presented testimony that she suffered from schizophrenia and psychosis. They argued she was unable to understand the wrongfulness of her actions when Darryl Getman, 83, and Sharon Getman, 80, were killed. Prosecutors did not deny that Williams had psychiatric problems. Instead, they asked jurors to consider the same evidence gathered by investigators — her movements, cleanup activity, taking of property and flight from Florida — as proof that she understood what she had done and knew there would be consequences.
Testimony from Savannah added another piece to the prosecution’s reconstruction. Fuller Blue, whom Williams knew, told the court that Williams arrived at his apartment after the homicides and spoke about having a new car. He recalled her laughing as she said things were OK and that she had bought herself a vehicle. Prosecutors cited her behavior after reaching Georgia as part of their argument against the insanity defense. The testimony drew attention because of its tone, but it sat within a much larger evidentiary record that included DNA, video, stolen property and electronic tracking.
By the time the case reached closing arguments, jurors had been presented with two questions that were related but distinct. The physical and digital evidence addressed what happened and connected Williams to the Getmans’ home, their property and their car. The psychiatric testimony addressed whether she could legally be held responsible despite that evidence. After more than a week of testimony, jurors deliberated for about 30 minutes and found Williams guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and the theft charge.
The convictions did not end the jury’s work. Because prosecutors were seeking the death penalty, the case moved into a separate penalty phase. The focus shifted away from tracing the Kia or identifying DNA and toward the punishment Williams should receive. Prosecutors emphasized the circumstances of the murders and the victims’ ages. Defense attorneys again stressed Williams’ severe mental illness, asking jurors who had rejected insanity as a defense to treat her psychiatric condition as a reason not to impose death.
The Getmans’ children also addressed jurors during the penalty proceedings. Their testimony supplied a form of evidence that had a different purpose from the laboratory results and surveillance recordings. Brittany Getman described how the deaths had changed the emotional texture of everyday life. Anthony Getman said he still sends texts to his parents’ old phone numbers on birthdays and holidays to preserve a small sense of connection. Their accounts gave the jury information about the lasting effect of the killings as it considered the prosecution’s request for capital punishment.
Jurors chose life. Judge Cary F. Rada sentenced Williams to life in the Florida Department of Corrections after the recommendation, ending the immediate question of whether she would be executed. The result left intact the jury’s finding that the evidence established criminal responsibility beyond a reasonable doubt while declining to impose the punishment sought by the State Attorney’s Office. Williams will spend her life in prison for a case that investigators initially had to follow from a bloodstained Florida home onto highways stretching toward Georgia.
The Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office credited Mount Dora police, FDLE, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Savannah police with assembling the case. State Attorney Bill Gladson said the jury’s decision held Williams accountable for the deaths. Assistant State Attorneys Thomas Wieczorek and Nicholas Camuccio prosecuted the case. What began as the discovery of two bodies and an empty garage ultimately became an evidence trail spanning forensic science, surveillance, stolen possessions, electronic tracking and interstate police work.
With Williams sentenced to life, the investigative chain that began on New Year’s Eve 2022 has reached its trial-level conclusion. Darryl and Sharon Getman’s Kia was recovered within days of their deaths, but the legal process continued for years. The jury’s verdict and sentencing decision now establish the outcome: Williams was convicted of killing the couple and taking their property, but she will serve life in prison rather than face execution.
Author note: Last updated November 7, 2026.