PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A witness reportedly told Pasco County Sheriff’s investigators that Michael Psilakis, Jr. began sending texts and making statements about killing the victim found in a burned car in Holiday after losing money to him in card games, according to an arrest report on the homicide charges against Psilakis.

  • Michael Psilakis, Jr. sent threatening texts about killing victim after losing money to him in card games
  • When deputy first made contact, he noticed burns on Psilakis' legs 
  • Psilakis called his mother to "coordinate stories"
  • More Pasco County stories

“I got something for you,” the witness said Psilakis told the victim after the victim refused to return $1,000 he won from Psilakis in an Oct. 29 card game.

The next day, Psilakis reportedly told the witness he was going to try to win the money back. Instead, he lost another $2,500 to the victim.

Psilakis allegedly sent a text message to the witness asking if he should kill the victim and said during a phone call that he was hanging out with the victim and "still ‘thinking about’ shooting him.”

Burns on his legs

The report states the victim’s mother reached out to the sheriff’s office and said family hadn’t heard from him since Oct. 30, and he was last seen with Psilakis, an acquaintance. She said her son was driving a car rented from Hertz that had been reported stolen to Tarpon Springs Police.

When a deputy first made contact with Psilakis at his mother’s house, he noticed his legs were burned. According to the report, Psilakis told the deputy his girlfriend threw hot oil on him during an argument.

On Nov. 1, the same day the burned car was found off of Baillies Bluff Road, a detective met with Psilakis’s mother, who reported blood in her garage on the outside of a car and on appliances. Psilakis called his mother while the detective was there, and she gave permission to record the call.

She asked Psilakis how he got burned, and he reportedly told her he became engulfed after putting gas on the car. The report also states he said “they were going to coordinate stories” about how he got burned.

Telltale Google Search

Psilakis was arrested at his mother’s house a short time later after arriving in a stolen vehicle. A stolen handgun was found inside the car.

A search of Psilakis’s cell phone found the recent internet searches “can u shoot through a seat”, “can a bullet go through seat”, “someone shot through car seat”, and “how to treat burns.”

A witness reported finding a bracelet that was identified as having been loaned to the victim inside a saw used by Psilakis and clothing worn by him inside a washing machine that appeared to have blood on it.

An analysis by the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement also found that bullets found in the burned car were fired from the stolen gun recovered from the stolen car driven by Psilakis.

We found Psilakis’s mother, Coredia Psilakis, at home Tuesday. Before requesting we leave the property, she declined to do an interview due to the ongoing investigation.

“I think it’s best for the people who have been hurt and have lost a loved one and for my family, being hurt because we lost a loved one, that everything just kind of goes through the courses at this point,” she said.

Psilakis faces charges of premeditated homicide.