Brennan was released from prison in November 2022, according to court records
Credit: Florida Department of Corrections
NEED TO KNOW
- A 63-year-old woman’s body was found floating in the Atlantic Ocean near Boca Raton on Aug. 4
- Patricia Brennan was identified shortly after, and it is unclear what condition her body was found in or whether foul play was suspected in her death
- Brennan previously served prison time for her elderly mother’s 2014 stabbing death
A woman whose body was found floating off the coast of Florida has been identified as a convict who served jail time in connection with her mother’s death.
The body of Patricia Brennan was found in the Atlantic Ocean approximately two miles east of 2500 N Ocean Blvd. on Tuesday, August 4, the Boca Raton Police (BRP) said in a post shared on X. She was 63.
Police said Brennan’s body was found after a boater reported seeing it just after 8 a.m. local time. Officers responded to the scene, and a dive team eventually recovered her body from the water. She was identified shortly after.
It is unclear what condition Brennan’s body was in, or whether foul play is suspected in her death.
Credit: getty
The BRP said the Boca Raton Fire Rescue, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and the U.S. Coast Guard assisted at the scene.
PEOPLE has reached out to the BRP for further comment on the case.
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Brennan was previously charged in May 2014 with second-degree murder with a deadly weapon, according to Broward County Clerk of Courts records viewed by PEOPLE.
She struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to the charge, and Brennan was sentenced in September 2016 to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years of probation, with credit for 839 days served. She was released from prison in November 2022.
Brennan’s charge was connected to the death of her 76-year-old mother, Regina Suknaic, who was found with stab wounds outside their shared home in Hollywood, Fla., according to The Palm Beach Post, CBS 12 and NBC Miami.
Suknaic reportedly told officers that Brennan stabbed her, beat her with a vodka bottle and held her captive for 13 hours, and she escaped when her daughter was sleeping, according to CBS 12 and The Palm Beach Post.
She was hospitalized and died several days later, per the outlets.
Credit: Florida Department of Corrections
Police arrived at the scene and reportedly found a blood-stained butcher knife and a bloodied empty vodka bottle.
Brennan, who struggled with bipolar disorder, initially denied attacking her mother, according to The Palm Beach Post.
Brennan was eventually arrested on a murder charge, which was later downgraded to second-degree murder.
She was also initially charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery on a person 65 or older and kidnapping and domestic violence charges, but those charges were all eventually dropped, court records show.
Brennan was also arrested in October 2023 for trespassing at a hospital in Pensacola. She was booked into the Escambia County Jail, but was later released with 14 days’ worth of medication, The Palm Beach Post reported.
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