Ukrainian adoptee Dima Tower, 21, is charged with murder after ‘slaughtering his ”caring” Florida parents and laying their bodies head-to-head in blood-spattered home’

A Ukrainian adoptee who was saved from a prison-like orphanage by a devoutly religious American couple has been charged with their murders in Florida.

Dima Tower, 21, allegedly stabbed his adoptive parents Robbie Tower, 49, and Jennifer Tower, 51, in their home in North Port, Florida on Friday, before he led cops on an eight-hour manhunt that ended with his arrest on Saturday morning.

The Christian missionary couple, who also worked as real estate agents in the area, were found on their living room floor lying head-to-head surrounded by blood, according to local news outlet WinkNews.  

Tributes have poured in for the ‘caring’ couple, who adopted Tower seven years ago from an orphanage where he was beaten and ‘bruised’.

While relatives say the deeply religious parents tried to shower him with love, Tower struggled to adjust and allegedly displayed disturbing, violent behavior before the killings. 

Relatives said that Dima struggled to adjust to his life in America and would seek out fights at school because he ‘wanted to hurt’ people

Dima Tower, 21, allegedly stabbed his ‘caring’ parents to death seven years after they adopted him from a prison-like Ukrainian orphanage

Rob Tower’s mother said the couple spent their ‘entire life savings’ to adopt the boy, with the trio seen above celebrated welcoming him to their family seven-years ago 

Investigators said there were several large pools of blood around the house that suggested the attack may have taken place over a long, frenzied period of time

Police arrived the Tower’s Florida home on Friday evening after a neighbor reported someone banging on her door screaming for help

Police arrived the Tower’s Florida home on Friday evening after a neighbor reported someone banging on her door screaming for help. When the resident opened the door, the woman was gone but they found blood spatters on the ground.  

After police rushed to the scene, they allegedly found Tower outside the home with blood on his clothes as he was closing the trunk of his car. 

Police claim he ignored their orders to freeze before he hopped into the car and sped away, leading officers on a high-speed chase. 

The daring escape almost came to a close when he hit spike strips on I-75, but cops claim he fled on foot and hid in a wooded area. The suspect remained at large for almost eight hours before he was tracked down and taken into custody on Saturday morning. 

Investigators found the couple, who both worked as real estate agents, seemingly positioned head-to-head on their blood-covered living room floor. 

Police have not revealed a motive for the killings. Investigators believe the attack took some time as the house was filled with several large pools of blood, which were found in the master bedroom, living room couches, the inside of the front door, and the kitchen, according to local reports.  

Family members said that the couple’s response to Dima’s difficulties was to shower him with love and embrace him into their family

Police are yet to establish a motive in the shocking killings, and a neighbor said Dima was ‘his mom’s world’

Robbie (left) and Jennifer Tower were said to have heaped their adoptive son with love and would buy him ‘whatever he wanted or needed’

Robbie Towers’ uncle, Warren Rines, told the New York Post that the couple, who could not have children of their own, were devout Christians who heaped their son with love and attention. 

‘It just makes no sense, none of us understand the hate. They were the only two people in his life who ever tried to help him. They treated him like their own son,’ he said.

‘These were two really good, caring people,’ he added, noting that the couple travelled to Ukraine several times on Christian missions. 

Rines claimed that the alleged murders are not the first instance of Towers’ attacking his adoptive parents, alleging that his nephew called the police three years ago after the Ukrainian left him with a black eye. 

The incident led Robbie to sent his son to relatives for a period of time, before insisting he return home because ‘they forgave him for everything.’  

They decided to adopt their alleged killer seven years ago to save the then-14-year-old from a prison-like orphanage, Rines said. 

‘He would have bruises on him in the orphanage,’ he continued. ‘When they went out to eat, he would have like six hot dogs. He wasn’t getting a lot to eat. These orphanages are like prison for kids.’ 

The 21-year-old was captured by police after a near-eight-hour manhunt 

Police rushed to the family home in North Port, Florida, where the suspect led cops on a high speed chase and remained at large for almost eight hours 

Despite his sad past, the couple believed they could help him by welcoming him into their family, but he allegedly struggled to fit in and often launched into fights at school.

‘When I first met him, he was interested in boxing,’ Rines said. ‘But he didn’t want to box. He wanted to hit. He wanted to hurt.’ 

He added that their Florida home was not ‘all bad’, as the slain parents never stopped showering him with love despite Towers acting out.

‘I think the boy just had a lot of hate in him already before he came here. And I guess you take it out on the ones closest to you,’ he said, adding that they would buy him ‘whatever he wanted or needed’, including the car he allegedly tried to make his getaway in. 

Before he was adopted seven years ago, Tower was housed in a prison-like orphanage where his relatives said he was beaten and ‘bruised’ 

Neighbor Ann-Marie Lidinsky said the alleged murders have come as a shock as the family appeared to be happy 

Those that knew the slain couple have shared their heartbreak at the loss, with Robbie’s mother Debbie Tower saying on Facebook: ‘They spent their entire life savings to adopt him and this is how he repays them.’ 

‘I don’t really know how I am going to get through this… Rob and Jen were not just my kids, they were my best friends and we did everything together,’ she said. 

It is unclear how many children the couple adopted, but Debbie said they ‘took the boys all the time to fun things.’ 

Neighbor Ann-Marie Lidinsky told Fox13 Tampa Bay that the alleged murders have stunned the local community as the family appeared to be happy, and the parents ‘sacrificed a lot for him.’ 

‘He was adopted, and he was his mom’s world, he was everything to her… It’s definitely not going to be the same without them.’