David Gore was executed by the State of Florida for a series of murders. According to court documents David Gore was a serial killer who along with his cousin Fred Waterfield was convicted of six murders around Florida. Fred Waterfield would receive a life sentenced and David Gore would be sentenced to death. David Gore would be executed by lethal injection on April 12, 2012
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A Florida inmate was put to death Thursday, nearly three decades after the murder of 17-year-old Lynn Elliott, whose failed escape attempt ended a string of rapes and slayings that shook the quiet coastal town of Vero Beach.
David Alan Gore, 58, was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. Thursday after receiving an injection at the Florida State Prison, officials said.
Asked if he had a final statement, Gore said as he lay strapped to a gurney: “Yes, I do.”
“I want to say to the Elliott family, I am sorry for the death of your daughter. I am not the man I was back then, 28 years ago. I am a Christian. Christ lives within me. I hope you all can find peace today,” Gore said.
Making no eye contact with the family, he added that he hoped the family could “find it in their hearts to forgive me” and concluded: “I don’t fear death.”
Family members of the victim watched as the drugs began flowing but made no immediate statement as they left after the execution was carried out.
In all, Gore killed four teenage girls and two women, authorities say. Elliott’s murder was the only one for which he was sentenced to death.
Elliott’s parents had said as Thursday’s execution time approached that this was the day they have been waiting for — a date many thought should have come years ago, considering there was no doubt he committed the crimes and he had shown no remorse for the killings.
“For us it’s been a nightmare, because I just turned 81. I was beginning to think that I might die before he went,” said Carl Elliott, the girl’s father, recently.
Jeanne Elliott almost did die. About two years ago she was in a coma, and doctors told her son to begin making funeral arrangements. She suddenly began recovering, and she said she believes it was because of her wish to see the 58-year-old Gore die first.
Gore met with a spiritual adviser earlier Thursday and was visited by his mother and an ex-wife. He was calm and cooperative, said Department of Corrections spokeswoman Ann Howard.
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a final appeal less than two hours before the scheduled execution.
On July 26, 1983, Gore and his cousin Fred Waterfield picked up Lynn Elliott and her 14-year-old friend hitchhiking to Wabasso Beach north of Vero Beach. They took them at gunpoint to Gore’s parents’ house. Waterfield left and Gore raped the girls, who were bound in separate rooms.
Elliott freed her legs and ran naked from the house, hands still tied behind her back. Gore, also naked, chased her, dragged her back toward the house as she kicked and screamed and then shot her twice in the head. Police were called after a boy witnessed the murder. Gore was caught and the other girl rescued.
After his arrest, Gore admitted to killing three other girls and two women and led authorities to the bodies of four of the victims. He was sentenced to life in prison for the other murders.
Gore managed to stretch out his appeals and remain on death row 28 years after he was condemned. Gov. Rick Scott signed his death warrant after the Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers asked him about the case.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for years. I would’ve saved the state a lot of money if they let me. I’d do it myself and have no qualms about it,” said Mike Daley, whose wife, Judy Kay Daley was killed by Gore in July 1981.
Daley was Gore’s third victim. He disabled her car while she was alone on a secluded beach, then waited for her to try to start it. When she couldn’t, he offered her a ride, raped her, killed her, then chopped up her body.
Five months earlier, Gore kidnapped, raped and murdered Ying Hua Ling, 17, and her mother, Hsiang Huang Ling, 48. Their bodies were stuffed in steel drums and buried in an orange grove where he worked.
Gore was arrested in July 1981 after being found in the back seat of a woman’s car. He was shirtless and had a cocktail in one hand and a gun in the other. He also had handcuffs, rope and a police scanner. Gore was sentenced to five years in prison, though he was paroled and served only about a year-and-a-half. He soon began killing again.
In May 1983, Gore and Waterfield picked up two 14-year-old hitchhikers, Barbara Ann Byer and Angelica LaVallee. The girls were raped, killed and dismembered. While Gore says Waterfield was his partner throughout the killing spree, this was the only case that earned Waterfield a murder conviction. He is serving back-to-back life sentences.
https://www.deseret.com/2012/4/12/20406578/florida-serial-killer-gore-executed
