“You can always buy a new truck, but nothing on earth will bring my Daddy back. I just want you to know that you killed someone’s Dad.” – Peter’s 10-year-old daughter Theresa
It was just after 4 am on this day in 1994 that John Henry Peters, his wife Veronica and John’s partner Joseph Holland arrived at the address of 31-year-old Roberto Pagan at 211 W. Alva St. in Tampa Heights, FL. In the open side yard of the small house Pagan lived in with his mother on the corner, they spotted Pagan’s 1984 Ford Bronco. Leaving his wife at the wheel, Peters and Holland left the safety of the car and approached the SUV. A dog barked from the backyard as Peters entered the Bronco and started the engine when they heard someone inside shout: “Get out of my yard!”
A shot was fired from inside the house and Holland ducked for cover, yelling “Repo!” repeatedly. Pagan stepped out of the house and into the yard leaving his mother in the doorway as he fired round after round at Peters backing out of the driveway all the way to the street and speeding away. Veronica and Holland realized he’d been shot as they saw him slump to the right side of the seat as he drove past them heading south. Fearing more gunfire, Holland told Veronica to drive east and they lost sight of Peters.
Pagan called 911, breathing heavily, but calm as he tells the operator, “I’ve just had my vehicle stolen. I’m at 211 W Alva.” Pagan never mentions he had just fired nine .45-caliber bullets at the man.
Shortly afterward, Joseph Holland, called 911, his tone far more agitated and panicked than Pagan’s. “We’ve got gunshots,” Holland shouts. “My buddy here’s been shot.”
“We repo’d a car and the guy shot him,” Holland shouts through his cell phone to the 911 dispatcher as Veronica can be heard sobbing in the background repeatedly stating, “Oh, my God.” over and over. Getting a description of the Bronco from Holland, the dispatcher suddenly realizes that the description matches the one given earlier by Pagan as well as officers up the road.
“Listen to me, Listen to me, or I can’t help you.” Urged the dispatcher. “Go to Tampa and Indiana.” Almost at the same time, Holland and Peters spot the flashing lights of police cruisers at the intersection ahead. “We see the cops,” Holland says. “We’re going to them.”
As they neared, they spotted the Bronco parked by the police cruisers. Closing in, they saw a lifeless body in a pool of blood on the ground next to the bullet riddled Bronco.
“Aw, man,” Holland muttered over the phone as Veronica Peter begins to wail in the background: “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! John! John!” she bawled in a chilling surge of grief.
Peters had been shot twice in the left arm, severing an artery. He was rushed to Tampa General Hospital, but emergency room staff were unable to stop the bleeding. John Henry Peters, 32-year-old husband and father of two, died two hours later on September 14, 1994.
On November 6, 1995, charged with second-degree murder, Pagan went to trial. As has traditionally been the disingenuous defense for murdering repossession agents, Pagan’s attorney, Nicholas Matisini, claimed the shooting was in self-defense and that Peters had pointed something silver and shiny at him. Pagan claimed that he pushed his mother aside and fired through the window as Peters began backing out of the driveway. He claimed that Peters again pointed the silver and shiny object at him when he fired again.
When Pagan was arrested, his attorney said that Pagan feared for his property, his life and the life of his mother and that he thought he was being burglarized and that the intruder had pointed a gun at him. “Mr. Pagan’s actions were justified that night. He fired in self-defense and used deadly force.” Defense attorney Matisini urged the jury and Hillsborough Circuit Judge Cynthia Holloway.
Contrary to Pagan’s testimony, police found spent bullet casings littered around the yard, disproving his claim of shooting from inside. No weapons were found on Peters by police who responded before Holland and Veronica Peters, also discrediting Pagan’s claims.
Almost as damning was a video tape of Pagan during a daytime repossession of his Jeep at a gas station in July of 1993 by “RepoMan.com” Publisher Dan Meeks and another agent. “Where I come from, you get shot or hurt for doing something like this. If you had come over to my house at night, I would have blown you away.” Pagan boasted to them when he found out that they were not allowed to carry firearms.
During the 1993 repossession, Pagan was delinquent 5 payments for $2,022. Soon after, Pagan, bought the Bronco from Gulfcoast Auto Mart in St. Petersburg and soon after defaulted. He was three months’ delinquent and about $700 in arrears at the time of the Peters murder.
“Perhaps it was to remind himself of the dangers of his job, perhaps it was a premonition” remarked the prosecuting attorney as he described Peters blood-soaked belongings at the time of the murder. Along with a “World’s Greatest Dad” baseball hat, Peters kept a newspaper story clipping of Tommy Deen Morris’s murder in his wallet.
On November 8, 1994, Pagan was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20 years in prison. In sentencing, Judge Holloway told Pagan that she strongly believes in the right to own a gun and to protect yourself and your family. “But not in my wildest dreams do I think it’s appropriate to defend a vehicle,”
Peter’s 10-year-old daughter Theresa read her statement to Pagan. “You can always buy a new truck, but nothing on earth will bring my Daddy back. I just want you to know that you killed someone’s Dad.”
“I hope he spends as many sleepless nights filled with pain as we have,” said Peters’ widow Veronica as she hugged her daughter and her 12-year-old son John. “I hope everybody has learned from this,” Mrs. Peters said. “You pull a gun, you shoot somebody, you go to jail. We know that Daddy didn’t die for nothing, don’t we?”
With so little justice having been served for the senseless murders of Repossessors over the decades, at least the Peters family, unlike Donna Morris and so many others, had a taste of it. Regardless, none of this can take away all that they’ve lost. With 27 years having passed, I have little doubt that these pains linger to this day. In memory of John Henry Peters and the Peters family, God bless you all.
This is an excerpt from my upcoming book on the history of auto repossessions which we are working hard on getting out before Christmas.
Here’s another if you’d like: 1932 – Repo Gone Wrong
Kevin Armstrong
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