Tony Alvin Ables: Serial Killer of the Tampa Bay Area
Overview
Tony Alvin Ables is an American serial killer and convicted murderer whose violent crimes spanned two decades in Florida. Born on December 28, 1954, in St. Petersburg, Florida, Ables developed a long criminal history that began when he was still a teenager. Authorities have linked him to at least four murders between 1970 and 1990, although he was officially convicted in only two of those cases. DNA evidence later connected him to additional killings that had remained unsolved for years.
Ables is considered one of Florida's lesser-known serial killers. His victims ranged widely in age and background, including an elderly widow, romantic partners, and a potential robbery victim. Several of his crimes involved extreme violence, sexual assault, or burglary, indicating that Ables was an opportunistic killer. Investigators have stated that it is possible he may have been responsible for additional unsolved crimes.
Early Life and First Murder
Ables grew up in a troubled and abusive household in St. Petersburg. According to court testimony, his father was abusive and the family experienced significant instability. By his early teenage years, Ables had already developed a pattern of criminal behavior.
In 1970, at approximately 15 years old, Ables participated in a robbery in St. Petersburg that resulted in the death of a man. The victim, Thornton Groce, was in their 60s. Although this victim's name does not appear widely in publicly available records, newspaper clippings from the Tampa Bay Times listed Groce as either 63 or 68. Groce was pronounced dead at the Bayfront Medical Center after being discovered with a large caliber gunshot wound to the heart in an alley west of 22nd Street near 12th Avenue S in St. Petersburg, Florida. The police did not rule out robbery as a motive at the time, but noted that the man still had "several coins in his pockets". Ables was arrested and later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in March 1971. He received a life sentence but was released on parole in 1983 after serving approximately twelve years.
The Murder of Adeline McLaughlin
Only a few months after his release from prison, Ables committed another homicide.
On June 25, 1983, he broke into the apartment of Adeline McLaughlin, an 83-year-old widow living in St. Petersburg, Florida. Investigators determined that he entered through a window. During the attack, McLaughlin was suffocated with a pillow. Her apartment was then burglarized.
At the time, the murder shocked residents of the retirement community where she lived. McLaughlin was described by neighbors as a quiet and friendly elderly woman. The case remained unsolved for more than two decades.
In 2006, advances in DNA testing linked Ables to the crime. Although authorities officially connected him to McLaughlin's murder, he was never brought to trial for the case.
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