Man accused of killing, burying woman files challenge to his 8th lawyer

Russell Tillis claims his current attorney is 'fool' who caved in to judge

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A man accused of killing a woman and burying her body on his Southside property is going all out to get rid of his latest defense attorney.

In a motion asking to change lawyers, Russell Tillis called Michael Bossen “a fool” who’s going to get Tillis put to death for a crime he did not commit.

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Bossen is the eighth lawyer to represent Tillis since his arrest in 2015. He is accused of murder in the death of Joni Gunter.

Tillis has also filed a complaint with the Judicial Qualifications Commission against Judge Mark Borello, citing “an abuse of discretion” and the judge’s “intimidating, dominating” attack on Bossen during a motion hearing in December.

That hearing was called after Bossen filed a motion to depose Borello in the case. Tillis and Borello have clashed often in court over the years. During that hearing last month, Bossen cited cases in which defendants who felt their judge was hostile to them sought to have them removed from the case. After the hearing, Bossen withdrew the motion to depose Borello, which Tillis says was done without his knowledge.

Tillis delivered a hand-written 17-page petition for a hearing to Judge Borello demanding that Bossen be discharged from the case. Tillis called Bossen incompetent and unprepared, saying he caved in to Borello’s intimidation, and abandoned Tillis’ defense strategy. 

Tillis wrote that his trial strategy, which includes putting Borello under oath, relies on “presenting the whole truth to the jury as a means to show the jury a true account of events that led up to a human body being exhumed” from Tillis’ back yard. 

Tillis’ much-delayed trial is set for May. It is a death penalty case.

Tillis wrote that if he can’t have a lawyer who’ll follow his trial strategy, the jury will unjustly convict him and there will be an “unnecessary execution.”