Former boxer confesses double murder
Posted: 23 Mar 2009, 14:41
This has been a stunning surprise to the Florida boxing community. My opinion is that this comes from a steroid-rage. Now a former real nice guy is looking at death row or life.
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HOLLYWOOD -- While students at Attucks Middle School today were learning of ways to cope with the murders of Joshua Bader and his mother, the boy's grandmother also tried to come to grips with the killings, allegedly at the hands of a former heavyweight boxer.
"I can't believe it," Carolyn May Walters said, throwing her head back to fight back tears while in her Davie home. "I want to see the bodies. They won't let me see them."
The bodies of Joshua, 13, and his mother, Renee Bader, 42, were found in their Hollywood mobile home Wednesday afternoon, police said.
William Medei, 52, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths.
Records indicate that Renee Bader and Medei were married Feb. 16 in Hollywood.
Walters, 64, said her daughter had recently filed for annulment of the marriage, because Medei was domineering and abusive. Walters said she got "bad karma" from Medei and urged her daughter to end the relationship. Medei also struck Walters as insecure, a man "out to prove something" by talking about things he used to own and by justifying actions, Walters said.
"I warned her," Walters said, taking deep breaths to fight back tears. "Get him out of there, change the locks, put his stuff out in the yard. But she would always have hope, that they'd work it out.
"I told her, 'Renee, if he ever hits you, you're a goner,'" Walters said.
Still, despite being faced with the two deaths and making arrangements for the funerals, Walters said, "It's so hard to believe."
Her husband Robert Walters, 64, trembled slightly when he spoke of the tragedy.
"You never think it's gonna happen to you, and when it does, it's devastating," he said. "I didn't like him."
A woman who answered the phone Thursday at a number listed for Medei's brother, Alan Medei, said the family did not wish to comment at this time.
Medei, a Schenectady, N.Y., native, had a 16-11-3 record during more than 20 years as a professional boxer and was known as the Italian Hammer.
His last fight was as a heavyweight in the Bahamas in 2004, which he lost in a third-round knockout.
Neighbors say Medei helped train kids in the area to box.
Police said they found the bodies at about 12:20 p.m. at the couple's home in the Okomo Mobile Home Park, after Medei came to the police station and said he had "done something terrible," according to a police report.
Medei told police his wife and son were dead in a trailer, and he called it the "worst day of my life," the report said.
"I really need to talk about this," the report quoted Medei as saying. "I feel so bad about what I've done."
Medei also said: "I should have just let her kill me," the report said, without giving further details.
The killings in the mobile home in the 10 block of Loop Road left longtime associates and friends reeling from shock today.
They said Medei was happy recently, because he'd gotten married and had a new job as a ringside security guard at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Since he stopped fighting, he'd fallen on hard times, took steroids at one point and was even living in his car, Medei's friend and former manager Murray Gaby said.
Medei, according to court records, has also been accused or been the accuser in three domestic violence cases in the past three years in Broward County, according to court records. Details about his marriages and divorces, which occurred in Miami-Dade County, were not available Thursday. The details of those cases were not immediately available.
Then, he met Bader at a church and moved in with her, Gaby said.
"He didn't know her very long, and it surprised me that he married her," said Gaby, who had lunch with the newlyweds four days after they tied the knot.
"He raved about the boy, said he's a sweet, nice boy. She was a sweetheart. It looked like a blissful thing that happened," Gaby said.
Boxing promoter Tommy Torino was also shocked, and said he's received scores of phone calls today from those who knew Medei.
Torino said he saw Medei get upset only two or three times over the years, and that was when he lost a fight.
"He's the kind of guy if you met him, you'd want to introduce him to your best friend or your sister, because he seemed so clean-cut," Torino said. "He's had a tumultuous time since he left boxing, and was in out and of relationships, but people go through that. He just seemed to have gotten his act together."
Dr. Allan Fields, chief ring physician for Florida Boxing Commission, recommended Medei for the Hard Rock security guard position.
"I was horrified," he said. "Bill Medei was a very likable, personable type individual."
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HOLLYWOOD -- While students at Attucks Middle School today were learning of ways to cope with the murders of Joshua Bader and his mother, the boy's grandmother also tried to come to grips with the killings, allegedly at the hands of a former heavyweight boxer.
"I can't believe it," Carolyn May Walters said, throwing her head back to fight back tears while in her Davie home. "I want to see the bodies. They won't let me see them."
The bodies of Joshua, 13, and his mother, Renee Bader, 42, were found in their Hollywood mobile home Wednesday afternoon, police said.
William Medei, 52, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths.
Records indicate that Renee Bader and Medei were married Feb. 16 in Hollywood.
Walters, 64, said her daughter had recently filed for annulment of the marriage, because Medei was domineering and abusive. Walters said she got "bad karma" from Medei and urged her daughter to end the relationship. Medei also struck Walters as insecure, a man "out to prove something" by talking about things he used to own and by justifying actions, Walters said.
"I warned her," Walters said, taking deep breaths to fight back tears. "Get him out of there, change the locks, put his stuff out in the yard. But she would always have hope, that they'd work it out.
"I told her, 'Renee, if he ever hits you, you're a goner,'" Walters said.
Still, despite being faced with the two deaths and making arrangements for the funerals, Walters said, "It's so hard to believe."
Her husband Robert Walters, 64, trembled slightly when he spoke of the tragedy.
"You never think it's gonna happen to you, and when it does, it's devastating," he said. "I didn't like him."
A woman who answered the phone Thursday at a number listed for Medei's brother, Alan Medei, said the family did not wish to comment at this time.
Medei, a Schenectady, N.Y., native, had a 16-11-3 record during more than 20 years as a professional boxer and was known as the Italian Hammer.
His last fight was as a heavyweight in the Bahamas in 2004, which he lost in a third-round knockout.
Neighbors say Medei helped train kids in the area to box.
Police said they found the bodies at about 12:20 p.m. at the couple's home in the Okomo Mobile Home Park, after Medei came to the police station and said he had "done something terrible," according to a police report.
Medei told police his wife and son were dead in a trailer, and he called it the "worst day of my life," the report said.
"I really need to talk about this," the report quoted Medei as saying. "I feel so bad about what I've done."
Medei also said: "I should have just let her kill me," the report said, without giving further details.
The killings in the mobile home in the 10 block of Loop Road left longtime associates and friends reeling from shock today.
They said Medei was happy recently, because he'd gotten married and had a new job as a ringside security guard at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
Since he stopped fighting, he'd fallen on hard times, took steroids at one point and was even living in his car, Medei's friend and former manager Murray Gaby said.
Medei, according to court records, has also been accused or been the accuser in three domestic violence cases in the past three years in Broward County, according to court records. Details about his marriages and divorces, which occurred in Miami-Dade County, were not available Thursday. The details of those cases were not immediately available.
Then, he met Bader at a church and moved in with her, Gaby said.
"He didn't know her very long, and it surprised me that he married her," said Gaby, who had lunch with the newlyweds four days after they tied the knot.
"He raved about the boy, said he's a sweet, nice boy. She was a sweetheart. It looked like a blissful thing that happened," Gaby said.
Boxing promoter Tommy Torino was also shocked, and said he's received scores of phone calls today from those who knew Medei.
Torino said he saw Medei get upset only two or three times over the years, and that was when he lost a fight.
"He's the kind of guy if you met him, you'd want to introduce him to your best friend or your sister, because he seemed so clean-cut," Torino said. "He's had a tumultuous time since he left boxing, and was in out and of relationships, but people go through that. He just seemed to have gotten his act together."
Dr. Allan Fields, chief ring physician for Florida Boxing Commission, recommended Medei for the Hard Rock security guard position.
"I was horrified," he said. "Bill Medei was a very likable, personable type individual."
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