The man charged in a horrific triple killing in a Tamarac neighborhood earlier this year that left his estranged wife, her father and a neighbor dead was back in court Friday.
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Tamarac triple murder suspect appears in court amid attorney issues
The man charged in
a horrific triple killing in a Tamarac neighborhood earlier this year that left his estranged wife, her father and a neighbor dead was back in court Friday.
Nathan Gingles has refused to appear in many of his prior criminal court proceedings but he was in court in a striped prison uniform for a hearing to determine who will be his attorney.
Much of the discussion was over whether or not he can afford to pay for a private attorney.
Gingles told the judge he cannot but prosecutors brought up how he receives about $40,000 a year in veteran benefits and transferred a $195,000 inheritance to his sister's bank account in February of 2024.
The judge is expected to make a decision regarding his attorney on Monday.
The attorneys for Nathan Gingles, the man charged in a Tamarac triple murder, listened to him call them “corrupt” and accuse them of working with the prosecution. Then those attorneys a…
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Triple murder suspect’s jail calls reveal accusations against his own attorneys
In jail phone recordings played in a Broward courtroom Friday, attorneys representing the man charged in a Tamarac triple murder listened while he called them “corrupt” and accused them of working with the prosecution. Then they argued that they should keep defending him.
“They’re in the same office building as all the other dirtbags here,” Gingles said of his attorneys in one jail call from June that was played to the courtroom Friday, as they stood a few feet from him before Judge Marina Garcia-Wood. “… My own counsel is flat-out lying to me. I want counsel that does their job.”
Gingles was calm as he sat in the courtroom Friday in handcuffs and a jumpsuit. He faces three counts of first-degree murder and is accused of hunting his wife down through the Tamarac community of Plum Bay on a quiet Sunday morning while their 4-year-old daughter followed him, according to the
Broward Sheriff’s Office. Prior to her death,
Mary Gingles had repeatedly warned the Sheriff’s Office and a Broward judge that her husband was
planning to kill her, saying he had broken into their home and left a backpack of strange supplies in her garage.
Friday’s hearing centered around whether Gingles can afford a private attorney, which would make him ineligible for the public defense he is currently receiving. Assistant Broward State Attorney Kristine Bradley argued that his current public attorneys should be taken off his case, pointing to jail calls where he repeatedly expressed his intention to hire a private attorney, as well as his ability to afford one. Gingles had received an inheritance of close to $200,000 in 2024, which he transferred to his sister, and still receives monthly veteran’s benefits totaling approximately $4,000.
The same friend who Gingles has been speaking with from jail is receiving the veteran’s benefits on his behalf and sending it to his commissary account, Bradley said, which he has spent on a variety of books, including a guide to prosecutorial misconduct, a law dictionary, and the dystopian novel Red Rising.
“The defendant is not entitled to have the state of Florida fund his defense while he uses his commissary to pay for books and snacks,” Bradley said.
But Gingles’ attorneys argued that his ability to pay is different from his desire to pay. Even if he wants a private attorney, he can’t afford one, Gonzalez and Halperin said. The veteran’s benefits are not enough for
a death penalty defense, and Gingles does not have access to the inheritance, which they said he mistakenly received and sent back to his sister, who sent it to his uncle. Bradley said that he had sent the money to his sister during his divorce from Mary Gingles because he thought it would be considered a marital asset.
Gonzalez compared Gingles’ money to an inheritance received by Nikolas Cruz during the Parkland school shooting trial, where a judge had allowed the Broward Public Defender’s Office to stay on because the amount was not enough for a capital defense.
“This man needs at least $250,000 to fund the type of defense he’s going to need for this case,” she said.
Whether or not Gingles wants to keep his attorneys is another question. Earlier in the hearing Friday, he said that he wanted to stay with his current counsel. But in the jail calls, he repeatedly criticized them. In some calls, he talked about hiring his divorce attorney, Vanessa Lezcano, for his criminal case, and asked for his friend to have his cousin “take care” of the retainer.
“They’re basically working with the prosecutor against me,” Gingles said of his attorneys during one call.
“I mean, out of every lawyer you’ve had, you only had one that actually did anything,” the friend replied.
“Yeah, she was from Miami, that’s why,” Gingles said, laughing. “The Broward attorneys here are all corrupt.”
The hearing grew increasingly contentious as the jail calls were played. At one point, Halperin accused the prosecution of trying to get him and Gonzalez taken off the case because their replacement would do a worse job. He said he wanted to be there while all of the jail calls were played rather than have prosecutors send them to the judge outside of Friday’s hearing.
A frustrated Judge Garcia-Wood eventually ended the hearing without issuing an order, saying she didn’t think the jail calls were relevant. She will enter an order on Gingles’ eligibility for a private attorney on Monday.
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