A Florida woman accused of executing both of her ex-husbands in a calculated double killing was arrested after deputies say they caught her trying to scrub away the evidence — bleach in hand.
Susan Avalon, 51, is charged with second-degree homicide after authorities say she went to the homes of her two former husbands and shot them dead within hours. Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said investigators believe the killings were deliberate, coordinated, and cold.
“She knew what she was doing,” Wells told reporters Thursday. “It was planned.”
Deputies tracked Avalon to her home in Citrus County, where they say she emerged carrying cleaning rags and bleach before climbing into a silver Honda Odyssey and beginning to wipe it down. When detectives told her they were there to ask about her ex-husband, Avalon allegedly replied, “Which one?”
The investigation began Wednesday afternoon when deputies responded to a shooting at a home in Bradenton. There, they found a 54-year-old man shot twice but still alive. When asked who might have done this to him, the man answered, “Possibly my ex-wife.”
Inside the home was the man’s 15-year-old daughter, whom he shared with Avalon. She did not witness the shooting but told deputies she heard three gunshots and then saw a silver Honda Odyssey speeding away. She described the driver as wearing a gray sweatshirt and a surgical mask. The teenager was described by authorities as traumatized.
The man later died at the hospital from his injuries.
At the Bradenton scene, detectives discovered an odd clue: a bag of Panera Bread food. Surveillance footage from a nearby Panera showed a woman matching Avalon’s description walking into the restaurant, grabbing a delivery order from the pickup shelf — without paying — and leaving.
Panera Bread renovated the former Freddy’s Steakburgers restaurant at 1702 East Greenville St in Anderson, S.C. and has a sign at the front door “opening soon”.
“That’s how she got to the front door,” Wells said. “She just decides this is gonna be her way in.”
Investigators learned that Avalon and the Bradenton victim divorced 11 years ago and that Avalon allegedly owed him about $4,000 in child support. They also confirmed she drove a silver Honda Odyssey.
When questioned, Avalon reportedly began accusing one ex-husband of being a “molester” and “child abuser.” Deputies realized she appeared to be talking about a different former spouse — one who lived in Tampa.
That realization triggered a second response.
Tampa police went to the Hillsborough County home of Avalon’s other ex-husband but got no response. After being warned by Manatee deputies that Avalon had “beef with both these ex-husbands,” officers searched the property more closely and found damage to the back door. Inside, they found the second man dead from gunshot wounds.
Detectives later spoke again with Avalon’s live-in boyfriend, who said Avalon returned home wearing the same gray sweatshirt seen in the Panera surveillance video. He told police she then went “into the shower with her clothes on.”
The boyfriend also told investigators that Avalon had acted strangely the day before, telling him, “in case something happens to her,” that she loved him — a comment he described as completely out of character.
Avalon was arrested and charged with second-degree homicide. Sheriff Wells said his office is working with prosecutors to upgrade the charges to first-degree murder and pursue the death penalty. Additional charges may be filed in Hillsborough County.
She remains in custody in Citrus County.
Two ex-husbands. Two homes. One silver minivan driving away from both scenes. And, according to investigators, a trail of bleach that couldn’t wash the night away.
