‘A coward.’ Miami man gets life in prison for brutal beating death of city accountant

After murdering his former girlfriend in a savage attack inside her South Miami home, Eugeno Fariñas spent 12 years free before homicide detectives compiled enough evidence to arrest him.

He’s now going to spend the rest of his life in prison.

A Miami-Dade judge on Thursday sentenced Fariñas, 77, to life in prison for the beating and strangulation death of Gladys Jorge in 2003. Eight months ago, a jury convicted him of second-degree murder, swayed by DNA evidence placing him at the crime scene.

“Frankly, beyond any scientific certainty, Mr. Fariñas is the person who committed this crime,” Circuit Judge Charles Johnson said during the Zoom hearing.

Homicide detectives long considered Fariñas the chief suspect in the murder of Jorge, a city of Miami financial administrator who was close to retiring when she was slain at 57. She’d been hit in the head at least nine times, possibly with a dumbbell, and also strangled.

At trial, prosecutors Marbely Hernandez and Kim Rivera laid out a mostly circumstantial case that focused chiefly on Fariñas’ DNA — and a host of other clues pointing to the boyfriend.

“This is a gruesome homicide,” Hernandez said Thursday, holding up a photo of Jorge’s bloodied body on the floor of the home. “This is what the family arrived to.”

Even though Fariñas remained the sole suspect, authorities did not have enough to charge Fariñas until 2015, after advancements in DNA technology.

Fariñas did not speak at Thursday’s sentencing. Jorge’s daughter, a former Broward assistant public defender, called him a “coward” and pushed for the max.

“He was free for many years. He was able to live his life as a free man,” Jennifer Jorge said, adding: “I lost my mother. She was taken way too young.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2020 at 1:30 PM.