The murder case involving an Indialantic woman, a love triangle, claims of psychic premonitions and two former Indialantic mayors is once again in the news.
Sheila Graham-Trott, the Indialantic woman convicted of murdering Kelly Brennan – who was found bludgeoned to death in 2010 – is asking the court to vacate her sentence and grant a new trial. Brennan had been dating Graham-Trott’s estranged husband, Daniel Trott, who was mayor of Indialantic from 2002 to 2006.
The sensational case made national headlines and was featured on the CBS television show “48 Hours: A Vision of Murder.”
In her motion for post-conviction relief, Graham-Trott claims she had ineffective assistance of counsel from her initial attorney of record, Todd Deratany, because he told the prosecution she had written a letter confessing to Brennan’s murder. Deratany was mayor of Indialantic from 1996-1998. He is no longer a practicing attorney.
Graham-Trott also names her trial attorneys in the motion – Michael Pirolo, Mark Lanning and Tamara Meister – for failing to object and move for a mistrial twice for statements the prosecution made during closing arguments.
In addition, she claims her trial attorneys failed to raise certain issues pertaining to blood transfer, call an expert witness to testify as to the effects of the sleep medication Ambien, and did not call a witness that could have attacked prior damaging testimony.
Graham-Trott says these combined actions prevented her from receiving a satisfactory plea offer.
But Deratany, who left the case before it went to trial, disagrees.
“She wouldn’t let me try the case,” Deratany said. “It was a slam-dunk win until she sent me a written confession.”
He said the police approached him to ask if there was such a letter. He admitted there was, but that he no longer had it.
“Then she voluntarily gave the letter to ‘48 hours,’” Deratany said. “This was six years later, mind you; I told no one of the existence of the letter until they approached me during the trial.”
The case
On Feb. 15, 2010, a missing person’s report was filed after the 46-year-old Brennan, who was living in Indialantic at the time, missed an appointment with her personal trainer.
That same night, something was wrong with Sheila Graham-Trott. She was speaking incoherently and banging her head against the wall.
In the midst of a divorce from her husband, Graham-Trott was home with her two sons, Graham and Creighton, and a girlfriend of one of her sons. Worried their mom might be having a seizure, paramedics were called. Graham-Trott went to the hospital but an examination found nothing wrong and she returned home. However, her sons were concerned that she kept talking about seeing Brennan’s face and saying she thought the woman was hurt and at a beach near Marks Landing. Her son Graham suggested they take a drive to the beach and look around to alleviate her fears. But when they arrived, they discovered Brennan’s bludgeoned body.
At the time, no one called the police; instead they returned home, and her son called their grandmother who rushed to the house where she found her daughter shaking and repeating the disturbing story. The grandmother called police and said her daughter may be having a nervous breakdown – and may have killed someone – someone named Kelly.
The next day, Brennan’s body was spotted by air from a Brevard County Sheriff’s Office helicopter, and police rushed to the site.
On Feb. 18, 2010, Graham-Trott was arrested for first-degree murder.
While there was no physical evidence linking Graham-Trott to the crime, the prosecution pointed to her own words and those of her family members as an admission of guilt. Graham-Trott has repeatedly insisted she did not kill Kelly, instead suggesting she had experienced some kind of physic premonition.
The prosecution said she was bitter and angry over the relationship between Brennan and her estranged husband. However, Graham-Trott professed to setting them up herself and said there were no hard feelings.
On Sept. 16, 2014, after three hours of deliberation, a jury found Graham-Trott guilty of the first-degree murder of Brennan. She was sentenced to life in prison.
She appealed the verdict the following month, but the conviction was upheld.
On Oct. 1, 2018, Circuit Judge Kelly McKibben ordered the state respond to Graham-Trott’s motion for post-conviction relief within 60 days.
