Sentence Is Death In Videotaped Murder, Despite Duress Plea

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - A woman whose killing of a man was videotaped received a death sentence despite her claims it was either kill or be killed.

Deidre Hunt, 21, said her manipulative boss forced her to fatally gun down Mark Kevin Ramsey, 19, while the victim was tied to a tree. The videotape viewed in court showed her fire three shots, then grab Ramsey by the hair and deliver a final shot to the temple.

The condemned woman bowed her head and wept when Circuit Judge S. James Foxman imposed the death penalty Thursday. The judge called the killing ``cold, calculated and premeditated.''

Hunt's former boss, Kosta Fotopoulos, 31, faces multiple murder charges and was accused of videotaping Ramsey's killing.

``I was confronted with a decision that Kosta Fotopoulos had absolutely already made,'' Hunt said Thursday. ``It was my decision of living by shooting Mark Kevin Ramsey or dying with Mark Kevin Ramsey. My decision was a choice to survive and I chose to live.''

Prosecutors said Fotopoulos wanted Ramsey killed because he knew of a counterfeit scheme involving Fotopoulos.

Hunt had pleaded guilty to murder charges in the deaths of Ramsey and Bryan Chase, 18. She also was sentenced to six life prison terms for two counts of attempted murder, two counts of solicitation to murder and one count each of conspiracy to murder and armed burglary.

Chase was killed after allegedly shooting Fotopoulos' wife, Lisa. Hunt, allegedly at Fotopoulos' bidding, hired Chase to kill Mrs. Fotopoulos so they could inherit her wealth along with $700,000 in life insurance.

Fotopoulos allegedly shot Chase after the 18-year-old broke into the house Nov. 4 and shot Mrs. Fotopoulos in the head. Prosecutors say he was shot to prevent exposure of the plot. Mrs. Fotopoulos recovered from her wound.

Hunt apologized to the victims' families and blamed Fotopoulos.

``He's evil, vicious and a professional assassin who eliminates human beings for a living and for his own personal gain,'' she said. ``He didn't just eliminate others' lives, he eliminated minds as well.''