Jury selection begins in trial of convicted Orange County rapist accused of assaulting and mutilating woman

ORANGE COUNTY, Florida. — Jury selection will be finalized Monday morning in the trial of a convicted Orange County rapist accused of attacking a woman months after his release from prison.

Bruce Whitehead is accused of raping and mutilating a woman in December 2022 after serving a 20-year prison sentence for another attack.

According to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, Whitehead picked up a woman on South Orange Blossom Trail and then drove her to Pine Hills, where he attempted to kill her.

A few months ago, investigators charged Whitehead with witness tampering after he allegedly tried to prevent the woman in the case from testifying against him by asking another inmate who was about to be released to “take care of” the victim.

Court records obtained by News 6 show that in 1987, Whitehead was found guilty of dragging a woman from her car into the woods at knifepoint, repeatedly raping her and then stabbing her 25 times. She survived the attack.

A judge sentenced Whitehead to 40 years in prison for attempted murder, armed kidnapping and sexual assault in Duval County, records show. News 6 could not immediately confirm whether Whitehead received any time credit to reduce the length of his sentence, which was originally set to end in 2027.

(RELATED: ‘No longer poses a threat’: Records show ‘brutal rapist’ arrested in Orange County was released in May)

The victim in the Orange County case was helped by bystanders after escaping the attack, officials said.

Orlando Rolon, a law enforcement expert at News 6 and former Orlando police chief, said the justice system needs to be more “prudent” in the future to prevent such incidents from happening again.

“Law enforcement can arrest them all day long, but the justice system must keep them behind bars if they deserve to stay behind bars,” Rolon said back in December 2022.

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