Jacksonville area homeowners unaware of the haunting history of their homes

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — It didn’t take long for Shawn and Leah Crawford to choose the house where they wanted to start their life together.

The couple said they did their research, but there’s one thing they didn’t know – their house is where 74-year-old Janice Fulton was murdered by her nephew.

Shawn said, “You feel lied to, so, it’s a big mix of emotions."

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Action News Jax reporter Beth Rousseau visited nearly a dozen homes and apartments in Jacksonville that were scenes of well-known murders.

Many people had no idea, like Dario Zurida, who just moved into the home where Jennifer Embree was shot and killed in 2018.

Local mom Bonnie Haim disappeared from a Jacksonville home in 1993 – her body was found buried in the backyard in 2014.

Rousseau talked to the current residents who say neighbors told them about Haim after they moved into the house.

Sally Suslak, owner of Traditions Realty, said she has sold homes that were once the scene of a crime.

When asked if she had to give buyers that information, Suslak answered, “Legally we don’t have to disclose that.”

According to Florida statute realtors don’t have to disclose if a property is the site of a homicide, suicide or death.

However, in California and other states buyers must be told.

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According to Suslak, if you really want to know, be sure you ask.

“It would be up to the owner of the house to allow us as agents to be able to tell people that or put that on their seller disclosure,” she said.

Some buyers aren’t fazed.

The elderly woman who lives inside the Hendricks Avenue home where two people were killed decades ago says she was aware and bought the house anyway.

Martha Massey told Action News Jax, “The fact that some nitwit killed some people, I just couldn’t let that affect my purchase.”

When Rousseau asked the Crawfords if the knowledge would have changed their purchase, Shawn responded, “I think I’m going to say … I still would have bought it.”

The couple said they would make sure anyone who lives there in the future knows the home’s dark past.

There are ways families can search for information about the home you’re buying or renting.

In Jacksonville, the sheriff's office keeps an online database showing both murders and homicides listed by address.

Cox Media Group