“She was talking about how she was . . . God’s wife, and we were all demons, and our dogs were hell hounds and all of this, and it was just a crazy and insane moment.”
— witness interviewed by WESH-TV
This story broke over the weekend, but I didn’t report on it immediately because there wasn’t much information on the suspects. A deputy was killed, and two others were wounded, when they were ambushed after responding to a situation that began with a woman attacking her neighbors on Brookside Drive in Lake County, Florida. The woman, subsequently identified as 48-year-old Julie Sulpizio, was under some sort of religious delusion, claiming to be acting on behalf of God against pedophiles and “dark souls.” She was taken into custody for psychiatric evaluation under the Baker Act, but not before encouraging deputies to go to her house. When they followed up, there was no response from the occupants of the residence and, because a screen on one of the windows had been disturbed, deputies suspected that there might have been some kind of home invasion. Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell laid out the details of what happened at a Monday press conference:
“The [911 caller] stated [Julie Sulpizio] was acting religious, accusing them of being sinners, and she knows what they did…” Grinnell explained. “But Julie states that she is ‘Helen’ under God’s will.”
Just before 8 p.m., a deputy arrived at the scene, and despite being ordered otherwise, Sulpizio began to approach the deputy, according to the sheriff’s office. As a result, the deputy pointed his Taser at Sulpizio, prompting her to take a few steps back.
“During a calm verbal exchange, Julie Sulpizio states that ‘they’ — meaning the group of people that was present there — were involved in pedophilia. She again claims to be Helen, and she asked one of the victims that she had battered, ‘Who is your God?’
“Julie Sulpizio stated to them that ‘Julie is in heaven.’
“She then went on to state, ‘You see, the thing is, we needed to trick Lucy.’ And we later learned to be a name she calls Lucifer. She then points at (the deputy) and states, ‘You are one of them.’” . . .
[After Julie Sulpizio was taken into custody] Two deputies then went to Sulpizio’s home — a short walk away — to perform a well-being check on her husband and two daughters — Michael Sulpizio, 48; Cheyenne Sulpizio, 23; and Savannah Sulpizio, 22.
No one answered the door when the deputies arrived, though they saw three people running within the house, Grinnell said. Two small dogs were also found dead in the front yard.
According to investigators, the deputies then heard a “loud banging” and discovered an open window with the screen kicked out, which sparked concern over the well-being of Michael Sulpizio and the two daughters.
As a result, the deputies called for backup, believing some kind of home invasion or burglary had taken place.
In addition, investigators interviewing neighbors discovered that Michael Sulpizio a few days prior had allegedly threatened to shoot the neighbor’s children the next time he saw them, Grinnell said.
Just after 9 p.m., four deputies attempted to enter through the rear door at the driveway, announcing their entry, Grinnell added.
“As Master Deputy (Bradley) Link crossed the threshold into the hallway, his body-worn camera captures several frames of what appears to be a male in a black-sleeve T-shirt or body armor positioned with a rifle on the arm of a couch, waiting to ambush deputies,” the sheriff explained.
Investigators reported that the deputies were then met with heavy gunfire, which struck Link in the back. Someone also began shooting at the deputies outside, and another deputy — Master Deputy Sheriff Harold Howell, 41 — was also injured by the gunfire.
Link was immobilized, though the remaining deputies cleared out of the home, Grinnell explained. Investigators tried to negotiate with those inside the home to release Link, but they were refused.
“Master Deputy Link’s body-worn camera continuously recorded audio and video from within the residence facing up toward the ceiling, and at 9:24 p.m., a female yells from within the residence as she racks a firearm and states, ‘My king will kill all of you. You are Lucifer’s children,’” Grinnell said. “This was in response to deputies yelling for Master Deputy Link to crawl to them.”
Afterward, a plan was put in place to rescue Link. According to Grinnell, Deputy First Class Stefano Gargano, 28, led a rescue team inside while using a ballistic shield as cover.
However, Gargano was shot several times through the wall as he moved through the home, causing him to be incapacitated, according to the sheriff’s office. He was ultimately extracted from the home and taken to the hospital in critical condition.\
Eventually, a SWAT team was able to get into the home and rescue Link, though he later died from his wounds at the hospital.
Cheyenne Sulpizio and Savannah Sulpizio were also found dead inside the home, having shot themselves in the head, Grinnell said. Michael Sulpizio was also found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, and he died at the hospital afterward, Grinnell added. . . .
Inside the home, investigators found over 20 firearms, stockpiled ammunition, gas masks, body armor, ghillie suits, medical bags, MREs and bottled water, alongside “anti-government propaganda” and “conspiracy-theory-related media,” Grinnell said.
In a later interview with Julie Sulpizio, she told detectives that her name is actually “Helen” and that God speaks through her, Grinnell continued. He added that Julie Sulpizio told them her husband Michael Sulpizio was actually the biblical guardian angel Michael, who obeyed God’s commands through her.
“She stated that she was trying to lure the neighbors to her residence so that Michael could kill them,” Grinnell stated. “She was not successful because of our deputies.”
Sulpizio faces charges of premeditated first-degree murder on a law enforcement officer, seven counts of attempted murder, and four counts of battery.
While the investigation is still ongoing, the sheriff and his lead detective said enough during the press conference that we know the family was socially isolated. The two daughters had reportedly been withdrawn from school when they were middle-school age, and did not have access to TV or other media. Despite the evidence of religious mania, there is no report of the family attending any church. The sheriff said the family were not “on the radar” of local law enforcement as any kind of extremist threat.
So there are still lots of unanswered questions, but this would seem to be what we might call “QAnon adjacent” insanity. How it got to the stage where deputies were ambushed in this manner, that’s the real puzzle. I mean, there’s lots of people out there with kooky ideas, without ever resorting to deadly violence. Three of the suspects in this case are dead, and the survivor in custody is so crazy that there’s a real chance she’ll be found incompetent to stand trial, which means that detectives face a difficult task of putting together a coherent narrative about how this family descended into dangerous lunacy. But as always, we know what the real lesson is: Crazy People Are Dangerous.
