MIAMI – Noel Doorbal and Daniel Lugo were back in a Miami courtroom on Tuesday, nearly 30 years after the crime that landed them on death row, as part of a resentencing trial.
Doorbal and Lugo were bodybuilders and members of the Miami Lakes “Sun Gym Gang” and were convicted of kidnapping and killing Kristina Furton and Frank Griga, of Golden Beach, in 1995.
The victims were injected with horse tranquilizers and their bodies were found chopped up and stuffed into barrels. The tale inspired the star-studded movie “Pain & Gain,” released in 2013.
Lugo and Doorbal were sentenced to death, but that sentence was later thrown out, paving the way for two new juries to recommend new sentences for each of them, deciding whether the two murderers should live or die.
Marc Shiller. who was also kidnapped by the pair and testified before, and even wrote a book about the ordeal, took the stand on Tuesday.
“That changed me as a person. Changed my relationships,” Shiller said. “You become a recluse because you’re afraid. You don’t trust anyone anymore. So it affects the rest of your life.”
Asked whether he’s in fear, Shiller said, “Yes, especially since it’s unresolved and you don’t know what’s gonna happen.”
The trial is expected to last two or three weeks.