A Keys man burned up his girlfriend’s boat and dismembered her turkey. He’s paying now

A Key West man was sentenced to three years in state prison for burning down his girlfriend’s 41-foot houseboat at a local marina on Thanksgiving Day 2018.

Yimis Martell-Roman, 41, pleaded no contest and was found guilty of arson of the boat, named Sojourner, and also guilty of battery and criminal mischief.

On April 16, Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones sentenced Roman to 37.05 months in prison followed by 36 months of drug-offender probation, and after that, a decade of probation.

Martell-Roman must also undergo a psychological evaluation, pay $106,313 in restitution to Sunset Marina on Stock Island, where the boat was docked at the time, and write an apology letter to the boat’s owner, his then-girlfriend, Elizabeth Krause, 37.

Assistant State Attorney Cristy Spottswood handled the case, which was closed April 21, said State Attorney’s Office spokesman Larry Kahn.

On Nov. 22, 2018, Key West police were called to Sunset Marina, 5555 College Rd., for a report of a vessel fire.

But police were already at the marina to investigate an earlier report that Martell-Roman had trashed the houseboat, owned by Krause, where he lived with her, and struck her, according to the arrest warrant.

Krause and her friends were at a Thanksgiving party hosted by the marina while Martell-Roman had stayed on the boat.

Krause returned to the boat and saw Martell-Roman, her boyfriend of seven years, destroying the area inside.

The turkey she had cooked in the oven was ripped apart and on the floor and broken glass was also tossed about, police reported.

She told police she tried to stop him and he threw her onto the bed and then into a toilet.

While Krause waited for police at the marina store, another couple walking on the pier by the houseboat noticed the vessel was on fire and called 911.

When police and the victim got to the boat, docked at Barracuda Pier, they found it was engulfed in flames and had sunk.

Martell-Roman was arrested that day on a battery charge of striking Krause. On Nov. 27, 2018, he was arrested on an arson charge.

This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 1:24 PM.

Gwen Filosa

Miami Herald

Gwen Filosa covers Key West and the Lower Florida Keys for FLKeysNews.com and the Miami Herald and lives in Key West. She was part of the staff at the New Orleans Times-Picayune that in 2005 won two Pulitzer Prizes for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. She graduated from Indiana University.