‘She asked me to kill him, but I couldn’t…’

Posted on March 21, 2018

By ANGELA M. CASTELUCCI & CAITLYN BURCHETT

“She asked me to kill him, but I couldn’t.”

With that stark testimony Tuesday morning, Douglas Mihal pointed the finger at his former girlfriend, Oriana Forsythe, for the 2016 murder of Steinhatchee resident Aaron Tappe.

Dressed head-to-toe in black and wearing a sweater that swallowed her already-petite frame, Forsythe shielded her face with her left hand and averted her eyes as Mihal, her ex-boyfriend, took the stand in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

That was the scene played out before jurors as prosecutors began laying out their case against Forsythe for first-degree murder.

PHOTO: Oriana Forsythe, 19, twisted her hair and kept her head down as testimony began Tuesday morning in her first degree murder trial. Although initially not scheduled to testify, her attorney announced Tuesday afternoon that Forsythe will take the stand in her own defense today (Wednesday, March 21).

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