American man of Florida arrested for killing his own 16-year-old son with angle grinder

Stephen Thomas Rodda, 37,  is accused of murdering his son with an angle grinder, according to Polk County authorities

By Edward Era Barbacena 

Pure White Evil

When it comes to the cases of murdering your own family member, Americans particularly white people are surely on the top list. 

A Florida father used an angle grinder to murder his 16-year-old son at a trailer park Monday morning, police said.

Stephen Thomas Rodda, 37, used the power tool to fatally attack his child — Stephen Rodda — sometime between 8 and 11 a.m. inside the teen's grandfather's trailer in Lake Wales, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said Monday.

Stephen Thomas Rodda then walked outside and told his father, “I wouldn’t go in there if I was you,” according to Judd.

He allegedly added: “I killed someone. You may need to call the police.”

When the grandfather walked into the home, he discovered his grandson’s lifeless body in the dining area of the trailer, the sheriff said.

Judd said investigators don't have a motive for the killing.

"We’ve got an evil, evil man in custody," he said. "We’re going to do our best to see that he spends the rest of his life in prison.”

Rodda allegedly abused methamphetamine and was prone to psychotic episodes, Judd said.

Judd described the victim as a “great kid” who was in eleventh grade at nearby Frostproof Middle-High School.

“He was going to start work next week at Burger King so he could earn money to buy a car,” Judd said. “He was also studying to be an electrician. That was his dream in life.”

The sheriff added the teen was living with his grandfather so he could lend a hand because his grandmother was being treated at a rehab facility.

Stephen Thomas Rodda, the suspected killer, had shown up to the mobile home about a month ago after spending time living around the country, including in Ohio, South Carolina and Washington, DC.

“This guy has been nothing but a problem to society for a very long time, a very long time,” Judd said of the suspected killer. "And now he’s turned [from] a problem person into an evil person when he murdered his son and created a horrible set of circumstances for a loving family.”