Christopher Sutton openly pondered hiring someone to kill his parents shortly before a gunman’s bullets wounded his father and killed his mother inside the couple’s elegant Coral Gables home last year, according to court records prosecutors released on Monday.
A gunman shot Sutton’s mother, Susan Sutton, a former nurse, in her bedroom as she spoke on the phone with her husband’s law partner on Aug. 22. John Sutton, a prominent trial lawyer was shot in the face during the ambush attack, but he managed to call police before collapsing from the wound that left him blind.
In March, Miami-Dade police arrested Christopher Sutton’s close friend, Garrett Kopp, on first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder charges. Sutton was arrested about 10 days later.
The court records, mostly comprised of police statements made by Kopp and Sutton’s girlfriend, portrayed the 25-year-old as an angry son who had long thought about cashing in on his parents’ wealth by having them killed.
According to the statements, Sutton repeatedly told his longtime girlfriend, Juliette Driscoll, that all his problems would be solved if he hired someone to kill his parents. A former co-worker also told investigators that Sutton once asked him if he knew a hitman, records show.
Sutton’s ire stemmed from constant battles with his adoptive parents for money and from his continual bitterness over their decision more than a decade ago to send him to American Samoa, where for two years he attended a boot camp for troubled youth, his girlfriend told investigators.
Christopher Sutton, a 6-foot tall, 250-pound man who floated between odd jobs and whose only prior arrest was for possession of marijuana, was at the movies with Driscoll during the surprise attack.
Authorities said Kopp confessed to shooting the couple and implicated the son, but authorities have not revealed Sutton’s involvement. Prosecutors redacted nine pages from Kopp’s statement, leaving out Sutton’s role. Prosecutors said the redacted material was Kopp’s alleged confession.
Driscoll, told police that Sutton had a torrid relationship with his parents and acted strangely the evening of the shootings.
That night, Driscoll and Christopher Sutton went to celebrate his mother’s birthday with his parents. They had dinner at the couple’s home in a ritzy section of Coral Gables known as the Gables Waterway. But Christopher Sutton insisted on leaving early to watch a movie, Driscoll said.
Later, Kopp called Christopher Sutton as the movie was about to start, Driscoll recalled.
Driscoll, who worked as a legal secretary at John Sutton’s law firm, found out about the shootings the next morning. She told police that the Suttons frequently argued with their son over money.
Weeks before the shootings, Christopher Sutton learned that his father settled a lawsuit for $1.5 million and asked his parents for $1,500 to pay for his car insurance. His parents rejected him, and he became furious, Driscoll told police.
Driscoll also told investigators Christopher Sutton was still angry that his parents had sent him to America Samoa to attend a rehabilitation school for troubled teens. Sutton often complained that he was frequently beaten at the school, she said.
Christopher Sutton’s attorney, Jeffrey Feiler, said he had not had a chance to go over the court documents. However, Feiler said the only thing that directly links his client to the crime is Kopp’s confession.
“From what I have heard, all they have is a confession of a man who would say anything to avoid facing a lethal injection,” said Feiler.
Ihosvani Rodriguez can be reached at or 305-810-5005.
