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Father of slain Orange County teen has words with suspect in court

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The anger of a father who lost his son in what prosecutors call a cover-up murder boiled over in Orange County court Thursday.

Rafael Zaldivar and his son's accused murderer, Bessman Okafor, exchanged words in court.

Channel 9’s Kathi Belich was the only television reporter in the courtroom when it happened.

Murder victim Alex Zaldivar's father said he didn't like the look he got from Okafor and had a gut reaction.

“He looked at me.  He gave me that kind of smirk. So, I just kind of pointed at him and told him, "You're dead," and he reacted to that, so I think he gets the picture,” Rafael Zaldivar said.

Prosecutors said Okafor murdered the 19-year-old to prevent him from testifying in a home invasion case.

Okafor was convicted of the home invasion in May of 2012.

On Thursday WFTV learned his co-defendant, Donnell Godfrey, who's also facing the death penalty for first-degree murder, wants to get out of jail and go on house arrest.

Belich asked Rafael Zaldivar how he feels about Godfrey wanting to go free.

“I'll look forward to that. I hope they will. I'll probably kill him. I'll probably kill him. So he's safer in prison I can tell you that,” Rafael Zaldivar said.

Okafor, Godfrey and Emmanuel Wallace will face trial for Alex Zaldivar's murder in October.

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