New DNA evidence links Delmer Smith to 2009 homicide

The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office today charged Delmer Smith III in connection with the 2009 death of a 34-year-old Sarasota woman after DNA evidence connected him to her death, police said in a statement.

Through DNA evidence, detectives said they determined Smith killed the woman on or around April 6, 2009, inside her Sarasota home. An investigation from detectives and the Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the woman was hit with a baseball bat that was found next to her body. Detectives also determined she was sexually battered.

In November 2017, detectives received a report identifying Smith’s DNA on the clothing worn by the woman the day she was killed. The victim did not know Smith, and detectives strongly theorize his DNA could not in any other way be on her clothing, the sheriff's office said in a release.

Smith was arrested by the SCSO on Sept. 10, 2009 on a federal warrant for a violation of probation after a bar fight in Venice. He was subsequently linked to four home invasions and the killing of 48-year-old Kathleen Briles on Aug. 3, 2009, in Manatee County. 

During its investigation, police discovered electronic gear in his home and notified the sheriff’s office. Sheriff’s investigators discovered that some of the merchandise was stolen during the home invasions.

Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight said in 2009 that DNA collected at all four locations matched Smith’s DNA. He was charged with four counts of home invasion robbery, five counts of false imprisonment and two counts of sexual battery.

Smith was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2011 in a Sarasota home invasion and sentenced in 2013 to death in the Briles case.

He is currently in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections awaiting transfer back to Sarasota County.