Florida Keys man who killed brother, stabbed father, sentenced to mental health center
A Monroe County judge this week sentenced a Florida Keys man charged with stabbing his brother to death and seriously wounding his father five years ago to a mental health facility.
Daniel Weisberger, now 22, was a teenager when he killed his 14-year-old brother Pascal-Rene Zue Weisberger in the early morning of May 27, 2020, and then stabbed his father, Ariel Poholek, inside the family’s Executive Bay townhome in Islamorada.
Poholek has urged leniency for his son since that day, insisting that years of mental abuse at the hands of his mother contributed to his mental health declining as a teenager, which contributed him to going in and out of the juvenile justice system.
READ MORE: A Keys teen stabbed his family, cops say, then later jumped in front of oncoming traffic
On Tuesday, Judge Mark H. Jones sentenced Weisberger to four years and 11 months in state prison with credit for time served, meaning he won’t be locked up.
Instead, he is sentenced to a minimum of two years in a mental health facility, with the length of stay to be determined by the facility chosen. Prosecutors pointed out that medical professionals at whichever institution he ends up in have the authority to keep him there for up to 20 years, depending on their assessment of his mental health.
As of Thursday, he was still in Monroe County jail. He must also serve 25 years of probation on the attempted fist-degree murder charge for the attack on his father and 40 years probation for killing his brother.
The probation sentences are to run concurrently with each other.
Poholek praised Jones’ decision as “the appropriate response” and “compassionate.”
“I’ve said from the beginning of this tragic situation, that, as terrible as losing Pascal has been, given the overall circumstances of the case, particularly Daniel’s age, mental illness, history of being abused, as well as family and community support, which has existed for him, a unique approach was needed,” Poholek told the Herald.
Both prosecutors and Weisberger’s attorneys agreed to have his trial held in front of a judge, and not a jury. Jones found Weisberger guilty on both charges in January and had the option of sentencing him to life in prison.
When reached Wednesday, Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward said his office disagrees with Jones’ decision.
“My job is to protect the community, and I don’t think this decision does that, because of the violent, horrific manor in which he practically cut his brother’s head off,” Ward said.
A reluctant witness
Poholek, who wanted his son to be tried as a minor since he was 17 at the time of the crime, had been at odds with Ward’s office throughout the prosecution and argued Weisberger was not receiving the proper mental health care while he was in county jail.
Given he was the main witness to the crime, his quest for mercy for his son made it difficult on prosecutors.
READ MORE: Florida Keys man found guilty of killing brother, stabbing father during 2020 rampage
After Jones convicted Weisberger, Poholek issued a statement to the Herald that he and his family were “profoundly disappointed by the judge’s decision, and continue to strongly believe that the evidence showed Daniel was not in a rational state of mind on May 7, 2020, when he attacked Pascal and I.”
“We, and all who knew both of the boys, including Pascal’s closest friends, know that Daniel greatly loved Pascal, and could never have committed the acts he did unless he was in an altered mental state, as I personally experienced him being when the events of that day unfolded,” he continued.
The manhunt
The slaying of Pascal shocked in the Upper Florida Keys community, which, while certainly not immune from crime, rarely experiences brutal murders. Also, many in the area knew the family well and have been supportive of both Poholek and Weisberger since the murder, writing letters to the court on their behalf.
After killing his brother and wounding Poholek, Weisberger held his father hostage in his bedroom for about two hours before running away. Poholek was then able to make his way to a neighbor’s house and call 911.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office launched a manhunt for Weisberger that last into the evening and included Miami-Dade police and helicopters, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, as well as U.S. Border Patrol agents.
Authorities were even looking for him on the mainland. He didn’t go nearly that far, it later turned out.
He was hiding in the woods in between his neighborhood and Founders Park at mile marker 87.2 of the Overseas Highway — which is what U.S. 1 is called in the Keys — right next to Executive Bay.
Around 7 p.m. — 12 hours into the search — he surfaced and ran into heavy U.S. 1 traffic. He was struck by a pickup truck, suffering serious injuries that required him being sent to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
From Scouts to juvenile justice
Weisberger’s descent into trouble with the law happened gradually. He, his brother and their father — a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration biologist — were well-liked and respected in Islamorada and Key Largo. The boys were active in Boy Scouts, soccer and volunteer efforts, including frequent beach cleanups.
Poholek was a single father, raising his sons alone ever since gaining full custody from his ex-wife in 2008.
But, by high school, Weisberger started acting out at home and getting into trouble at school — and with the law — his father told the Herald in the months after Pascal’s murder.
This included being arrested several times and placed into Department of Juvenile Justice detention in both the Keys and Miami-Dade County.
READ MORE: A dad, his two sons, and the dark secret that led to a deadly rampage in the Florida Keys
In January 2020, Poholek discovered Weisberger had brought a gun home, and he called the police on his son.
Weisberger was placed in juvenile detention in Key West for 21 days. During this time, Weisberger and his mother — Poholek’s ex-wife — reconnected, and she agreed to take Daniel to her Port St. Lucie home when he was released from custody.
A judge allowed the arrangement. Poholek, however, disagreed, concerned his son needed mental health help.
Pretty soon, Daniel began getting into trouble again. Poholek said his ex-wife — whom he met in Gabon, Africa, while in the Peace Corps in the early 2000s — reacted by locking their son out of the house and denying him meals.
Reaction to abuse
Poholek said the mother had abused Weisberger before the divorce. Poholek shared a report with the Herald from his son’s therapist diagnosing him with post traumatic stress disorder resulting from his childhood experiences.
Daniel had had a blood-soaked letter in in his pocket that police found the day of the murder in which he claimed his mother abused him.
READ MORE: Blood-soaked letter provides glimpse of motive in Florida Keys knife murder
The mother, Joceline Nguema, sent a statement to the Herald in 2020 denying she ever abused either of her sons.
“I always imagined them one day saying they wanted to spend more time with their mom, and I never abused or neglected my children in any way,” she said.
Nguema said she was forced to call the police on Weisberger on March 15, 2020, for a violent incident. He was arrested and placed on house arrest.
Nguema said in the statement that she still wanted to keep Weisberger, but Poholek picked him up early the next day before a scheduled emergency hearing.
Poholek agreed to let Daniel stay with him and Pascal in Islamorada. Things were going well at first, Poholek said.
His familiar troubled behavior began to resurface soon after though, and he began acting out, smoking marijuana and having run-ins with the law again. At that point, he had already dropped out of school.
The tragic attacks happened about a month after his return.
Poholek shared with the Herald audio of Daniel reading a letter he read to the judge in which he expressed his “deep regret” for killing Pascal, whom he referred to as “the angel that my brother was, and is now my god.” He said he “will be a dedicated son to my father” and vowed to “help his healing process and to make up for what I did to him and my brother.”
This story was originally published April 24, 2025 at 10:35 AM.
