Local Man Found Not Guilty of Murder in Lealman After Spending 18 Months in Jail
Posted: May 1, 2015 – 9 PM
Today, James Ellul had his day in court after being incarcerated in the Pinellas County Jail for the past 18 months after being denied bail. The jury of his peers found him Not Guilty in only 43 minutes of deliberation according to his attorneys, Scott Weinberg and Christopher H. Brown. The jury found that Mr. Ellul had acted in self-defense.
Ellul was being held in the Pinellas County Jail on the charge of murder in the second degree and aggravated battery in an incident that occurred at the Sunshine Mobile Home Park located at 7403 46th Avenue North in unincorporated St. Petersburg.
On Wednesday, November 20, 2013, Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office detectives were called out to the Mobile Home Park to investigate a homicide that was the result of a physical altercation between two neighbors. This altercation left 55 year-old Jerold Lester Jr. dead from multiple stab wounds.
According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, a verbal argument began between Jerold Lester Jr. and James Ellul which resulted from an ongoing dispute over the noise coming from Lester’s motorcycle being driven inside the mobile home park. The verbal argument then escalated and became physical. At some point during the physical altercation, Ellul grabbed a large knife and stabbed Lester multiple times in his side. Lester’s girlfriend, 46-year-old Kimberly Bordner, attempted to break up the fight and was also stabbed in the arm by Ellul.
Lester was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and died. Bordner and Ellul were also transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Detectives investigated the circumstances of the case and charged Ellul with murder the following day. He was denied bail and remained in custody for about 18 months. Ellul walked away from the courthouse a free man and according to his attorney is looking forward to his “life as normal.” He will be spending the night at a local hotel with his girlfriend who stood by his side during the ordeal.
Weinberg called this “an obvious case of self-defense and the jury agreed finding him not guilty in only 43 minutes.”