According to court documents Darryl Barwick would follow Rebecca Wendt into her Panama City Florida apartment and would attempt to sexually assault the woman before stabbing her 37 times
Darryl Barwick would be convicted of murder, armed burglary, attempted sexual battery and armed robbery.
Florida is scheduled to execute a man Wednesday for breaking into a woman’s home and stabbing her to death in 1986, a crime that came months after he was released from prison for rape.
Darryl Barwick, 56, is set to be executed at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Darryl Barwick confessed to killing 24-year-old Rebecca Wendt in her Panama City apartment on March 31, 1986, after watching her sunbathing outside and following her back to her room. He said he intended to rob Wendt but then killed her as she resisted, stabbing her 37 times while she tried to fight him off.
Wendt’s bathing suit appeared as though someone had tried unsuccessfully to remove it, officials said. There was no evidence of sexual assault, but medical examiners reported finding semen on a blanket where her body was found.
Authorities linked Barwick to the crime through his confession, the semen stain, a witness who saw him heading toward and leaving Wendt’s apartment, and footprints left inside and outside the apartment.
He was convicted of first-degree murder, armed burglary, attempted sexual battery and armed robbery in November 1986, and sentenced to death two months later on the jury’s 9-3 recommendation.
Darryl Barwick killed Wendt less than three months after he was released from prison for raping a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint, according to court records. In his confession for Wendt’s killing, Barwick said he stabbed Wendt because he did not want to go back to prison.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Barwick’s death warrant last month. It is the third execution scheduled in Florida this year after a break dating back to 2019. The execution will mark the state’s 102nd since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.
A Florida man was executed Wednesday for breaking into a woman’s home and stabbing her to death in 1986, a crime committed months after he was released from prison for a rape.
Darryl B. Barwick, 56, was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. Wednesday following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the inmate’s final appeal for a stay of execution earlier in the day.
After being brought into the death camber, Barwick said, “I can’t explain why I did what I did. It’s time to apologize to the family … I’m sorry.” He added that he state needs to show more compassion and kindness for people, criticizing Florida’s sentencing of teenagers to life in prison.
Barwick began receiving the sedative at 6:02 p.m. and closed his eyes several minutes later. The warden checked Barwick’s eyes, shook his shoulders and yelled his name to make sure he was unconscious before the execution continued.
Barwick didn’t meet in person with family members in his final hours, but had spoken with them by phone in recent days, prison officials said ahead of the 6 p.m. execution time. Officials said no relatives of the victim had arranged to witness the execution.
Barwick had confessed to killing 24-year-old Rebecca Wendt in her Panama City apartment on March 31, 1986, after watching her sunbathing outside and following her back to her room. He said he intended to rob Wendt but then killed her as she resisted, stabbing her 37 times as she tried to fight him off.
Wendt’s bathing suit appeared as though someone had tried unsuccessfully to remove it, officials said. There was no evidence of sexual assault, but medical examiners reported finding semen on a blanket where her body was found.
Authorities said they linked Barwick to the crime through his confession, the semen stain, a witness who saw him heading toward and leaving Wendt’s apartment, and footprints left inside and outside the apartment.
He was convicted of first-degree murder, armed burglary, attempted sexual battery and armed robbery in November 1986, and sentenced to death two months later on the jury’s 9-3 recommendation. The Florida Supreme Court threw out that conviction in 1989 because of prosecutorial misconduct. Barwick was again convicted at his 1992 retrial, and that jury unanimously recommended death.
Barwick killed Wendt less than three months after he was released from prison for raping a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint, according to court records. In his confession for Wendt’s killing, Barwick said he stabbed her because he did not want to go back to prison.
DeSantis signed Barwick’s death warrant last month. It was the third execution conducted in Florida this year after a hiatus dating back to 2019. It also was the state’s 102nd execution since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.
The State of Florida is getting ready to execute Louis Gaskin tonight, April 12 2023, for a double murder. According to court documents Louis Gaskin broke into the home and would murder Robert and Georgette Sturmfels. Louis Gaskin who has been on death row in Florida since 1990. If the execution takes place it will be the 100th execution in Florida since capital punishment resumed in the 1970’s
Louis Gaskin News
Florida has ramped up executions under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, with a man known as the “ninja killer” set to die Wednesday for the 1989 slayings of a couple visiting the state from New Jersey.
Louis Bernard Gaskin, 56, was scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. by lethal injection for the deaths of Robert Sturmfels, 56, and Georgette Sturmfels, 55, on Dec. 20, 1989, in their Flagler County winter home on Florida’s northeastern coast.
DeSantis has been signing death warrants at a rapid pace this year as he prepares his widely expected presidential campaign. He oversaw only two executions in his first four years in office, both in 2019.
This execution comes six weeks after Donald Dillbeck, 59, was put to death for the 1990 murder of Faye Vann, 44, in Tallahassee, and three weeks before the scheduled execution of Darryl B. Barwick for slaying Rebecca Wendt, 24, in 1986 in Panama City.
Barring any stays for Gaskin and Barwick, it will be the shortest period that three executions have been carried out in Florida since three were put to death within 36 days in 2014 under former Gov. Rick Scott, also a Republican.
It will be the state’s 100th execution since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. There are an additional 297 people on Florida’s death row.
Gaskin, who was dubbed the “ninja killer” because he wore all-black ninja clothing during the crimes, shot his victims with a .22-caliber rifle, investigators said. He was convicted of first-degree murder.
Property that he stole from the Sturmfels’ home — a clock, two lamps and a videocassette recorder — was found at his residence and were intended to be Christmas gifts for his girlfriend, according to investigators. He was also convicted of armed robbery, burglary and the attempted murder that same night of another couple who lived nearby.
Local media reported at the time that Gaskin quickly confessed to the crimes and told a psychologist before his trial that he knew what he was doing.
“The guilt was always there,” Louis Gaskin said. “The devil had more of a hold than God did. I knew that I was wrong. I wasn’t insane.”
Jurors voted 8-4 in 1990 to recommend the death sentence, which the judge accepted. Florida law now requires a unanimous jury vote for capital punishment, although the Legislature could send DeSantis a bill this week that would allow 8-4 jury recommendations for capital punishment.
The state and U.S. supreme courts have rejected appeals Gaskin filed since his death warrant was signed, with the latest denial coming Tuesday.
Florida executed a man known as the “ninja killer” on Wednesday for the 1989 slayings of a couple visiting the state from New Jersey.
Louis Bernard Gaskin, 56, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection, the governor’s office said. He was convicted of killing Robert Sturmfels, 56, and Georgette Sturmfels, 55, on Dec. 20, 1989, in their Flagler County winter home on Florida’s northeastern coast.
Gaskin woke up at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday and had his last meal at 9:45 a.m., Department of Corrections spokesperson Kayla McLaughlin Smith said during a news conference. The meal included BBQ pork ribs, pork and turkey neck, Buffalo wings, shrimp fried rice, french fries and water.
Gaskin was visited by his sister Wednesday, but he did not meet with a spiritual adviser, McLaughlin Smith said. No relatives of the victims had arranged to be in the witness room during the execution, which was scheduled for 6 p.m. and started without delay.
When asked if he had any final statement, Gaskin said: “Justice is not about the crime. It’s not about the criminal. It’s about the law.”
He then referred to the legal proceedings surrounding his case and the appeals and finished his statement saying, “Look at my case.”
Gaskin began receiving the lethal cocktail of drugs at 6:02 p.m., causing him to breathe heavily as his chest rose and fell under a white sheet. The prison’s warden went to check on whether Gaskin was still conscious at 6:05 p.m. He didn’t respond. Gaskin’s breathing appeared to stop at 6:07 p.m. A doctor entered the death chamber at 6:14 p.m. to examine Gaskin and declared him dead a minute later.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has been signing death warrants at a rapid pace this year as he prepares his widely expected presidential campaign. He oversaw only two executions in his first four years in office, both in 2019.
Gaskin’s execution came six weeks after Donald Dillbeck, 59, was put to death for the 1990 murder of Faye Vann, 44, in Tallahassee, and three weeks before the scheduled execution of Darryl B. Barwick for slaying Rebecca Wendt, 24, in 1986 in Panama City.
Barring any stays for Barwick, it will be the shortest period that three executions have been carried out in Florida since three were put to death within 36 days in 2014 under former Gov. Rick Scott, also a Republican.
Gaskin’s death marked the state’s 101st execution since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. There are an additional 297 people on Florida’s death row, which is located at Florida State Prison, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Jacksonville.
Gaskin, who was dubbed the “ninja killer” because he wore all-black ninja clothing during the crimes, shot his victims with a .22-caliber rifle, investigators said. He was convicted of first-degree murder.
Property that he stole from the Sturmfels’ home — a clock, two lamps and a videocassette recorder — was found at his residence and were intended to be Christmas gifts for his girlfriend, according to investigators. He was also convicted of armed robbery, burglary and the attempted murder that same night of another couple who lived nearby.
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FILE – This undated photo provided by the Florida Department of Corrections shows Louis Bernard Gaskin. Florida executed Gaskin, known as the “ninja killer,” on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, for the 1989 slayings of a couple visiting the state from New Jersey. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP, File)
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — Florida executed a man known as the “ninja killer” on Wednesday for the 1989 slayings of a couple visiting the state from New Jersey.
Louis Bernard Gaskin, 56, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection, the governor’s office said. He was convicted of killing Robert Sturmfels, 56, and Georgette Sturmfels, 55, on Dec. 20, 1989, in their Flagler County winter home on Florida’s northeastern coast.
Gaskin woke up at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday and had his last meal at 9:45 a.m., Department of Corrections spokesperson Kayla McLaughlin Smith said during a news conference. The meal included BBQ pork ribs, pork and turkey neck, Buffalo wings, shrimp fried rice, french fries and water.
Gaskin was visited by his sister Wednesday, but he did not meet with a spiritual adviser, McLaughlin Smith said. No relatives of the victims had arranged to be in the witness room during the execution, which was scheduled for 6 p.m. and started without delay.
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When asked if he had any final statement, Gaskin said: “Justice is not about the crime. It’s not about the criminal. It’s about the law.”
He then referred to the legal proceedings surrounding his case and the appeals and finished his statement saying, “Look at my case.”
Gaskin began receiving the lethal cocktail of drugs at 6:02 p.m., causing him to breathe heavily as his chest rose and fell under a white sheet. The prison’s warden went to check on whether Gaskin was still conscious at 6:05 p.m. He didn’t respond. Gaskin’s breathing appeared to stop at 6:07 p.m. A doctor entered the death chamber at 6:14 p.m. to examine Gaskin and declared him dead a minute later.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has been signing death warrants at a rapid pace this year as he prepares his widely expected presidential campaign. He oversaw only two executions in his first four years in office, both in 2019.
Gaskin’s execution came six weeks after Donald Dillbeck, 59, was put to death for the 1990 murder of Faye Vann, 44, in Tallahassee, and three weeks before the scheduled execution of Darryl B. Barwick for slaying Rebecca Wendt, 24, in 1986 in Panama City.
Barring any stays for Barwick, it will be the shortest period that three executions have been carried out in Florida since three were put to death within 36 days in 2014 under former Gov. Rick Scott, also a Republican.
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Gaskin’s death marked the state’s 101st execution since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. There are an additional 297 people on Florida’s death row, which is located at Florida State Prison, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Jacksonville.
Gaskin, who was dubbed the “ninja killer” because he wore all-black ninja clothing during the crimes, shot his victims with a .22-caliber rifle, investigators said. He was convicted of first-degree murder.
Property that he stole from the Sturmfels’ home — a clock, two lamps and a videocassette recorder — was found at his residence and were intended to be Christmas gifts for his girlfriend, according to investigators. He was also convicted of armed robbery, burglary and the attempted murder that same night of another couple who lived nearby.
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Local media reported at the time that Gaskin quickly confessed to the crimes and told a psychologist before his trial that he knew what he was doing.
“The guilt was always there,” Gaskin said. “The devil had more of a hold than God did. I knew that I was wrong. I wasn’t insane.”
Jurors voted 8-4 in 1990 to recommend the death sentence, which the judge accepted. Florida law now requires a unanimous jury vote for capital punishment, although the Legislature could send DeSantis a bill this week that would allow 8-4 jury recommendations for capital punishment.
The state and U.S. supreme courts rejected appeals Gaskin filed since his death warrant was signed. The latest denial came Tuesday.
Steven Lorenzo has been sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murders of two men in 2003. According to court documents Steven Lorenzo and his partner Scott Schweickert would terrorise the gay community in Florida as they would drug and rob men. Two of the men Jason Galehouse and Michael Waccholtz would end up being murdered by Steven Lorenzo and Scott Schweickert. Michael Waccholtz would be found dead in his car and Jason Galehouse was dismembered and his body was never found.
Scott Schweickert would plead guilty to the double murder back in 2016 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Both Steven Lorenzo and Scott Schweickert were already serving a 200 year Federal sentence for drug related crimes. Steven Lorenzo who served as his own attorney asked for the death penalty and in the end that is what he received.
Steven Lorenzo More News
A man charged in a 2003 double murder that gripped Tampa’s LGBTQ community has been sentenced to death at his request.
A 64-year-old admitted double murderer who insisted upon receiving the death penalty in Florida bizarrely thanked his trial judge for the capital sentence Friday and asserted this his “soul is fine.”
Steven Lorenzo had already confessed in December to murdering Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz, both 26, in 2003. Prosecutors said that Lorenzo drugged, sexually assaulted, and murdered the victims after encountering them at a gay club on separate nights in West Tampa. Because Lorenzo is already serving a 200-year federal sentence for drugging and raping 9 men, including Galehouse and Wachholtz, and because Lorenzo has already pleaded guilty to murder, there was never any doubt that he would spend the rest of his days in prison.
But Lorenzo, who represented himself in the penalty phase, was adamant that he should be put to death for his crimes. Judge Christopher Sabella ultimately decided Friday that the capital punishment requested by the defendant was what justice demanded, too. Then Lorenzo said, “Thank you.”
“I’m seeking the death penalty. It’s in my best interest, basically, because it’s a comfort,” said the aspiring death row inmate. “I’ll be living a lot more comfortable that I would living in the federal system — living on death row, believe it or not,” Lorenzo said. “At my age, I want to be comfortable. I want my privacy. That’s what I want.”
“So I’m asking you to give me the death sentence,” Lorenzo continued, “because that will be more comfortable for me to live out my lifetime.”
“I know that I can be on death row for about 10 to 15 years, which I think is crazy,” he said. “But as far as I see it, it’s just euthanasia. I already have a death sentence. Everyone in this room has a death sentence.”
Lorenzo explained that he has “better things to do with [his] time.” The sooner he sped up his death, the condemned man said, the sooner he would be able to “get [himself] a new body and come back again.”
“We are eternal beings,” said Lorenzo.
The judge responded by clarifying that he would not take into account what Lorenzo wanted when issuing the sentence.
“I sentence you, Mr. Lorenzo, to death. That is the punishment that you deserve for these horrific crimes,” the judge said.
“Thank you,” Lorenzo could be heard saying.
“May God have mercy on your soul,” the judge said in closing.
“My soul is fine, thank you, sir,” Lorenzo replied.
As Law&Crime noted at the outset of the proceedings, Lorenzo’s co-defendant Scott Schweickert pleaded guilty in 2016 to the 2003 murders and received a 40-year federal sentence in 2007 in connection with Wachholtz’s death. He also implicated Lorenzo in the murders.
More recently, as Judge Sabella noted at sentencing, the mothers of Jason Galehouse and Michael Wachholtz appeared in court and made heart-wrenching victim impact statements.
“An eye for an eye,” said Ruth Wachholtz. “It would be nice if we could have old-time justice. Hanging. Heaven wants the gallows being built. Firing squad. Not blindfolded. Guillotine. Again, not blindfolded. What he did to my son before murdering him should be done to him.”
“You are the scumbag of the earth,” added Pam Williams, Galehouse’s mom.
“I don’t have a grave,” Williams said. “I don’t have a tombstone. All I’ve got is ground-up hamburger meat in the ground because of you, you scumbag.”
Both mothers called for Lorenzo’s death.
Judge Sabella has had no shortage of gruesome cases before him in recent months. Law&Crime Network trial watchers will remember him as the presiding judge in the cases of Matthew Terry and Trevor Summers.
Donald Dillbeck is scheduled to be executed tonight, February 23, 2023, by the State of Florida. According to court documents Donald Dillbeck was serving a life sentence for the murder of a police officer when he escaped and would stab to death a woman during a carjacking. For his second murder Donald Dillbeck would be sentenced to death.
Donald Dillbeck lawyers have been trying to get his death sentence commuted to life in prison due to mental issues stating that he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome. Donald Dilbeck has been on Florida death row since 1990
Donald Dillbeck Execution More News
In a first since 2019, a convicted killer is set to be executed in the Florida State Prison. Donald Dillbeck, who murdered a law enforcement officer and a woman during a carjacking, is scheduled to be put to death after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant.
The death chamber in Florida has been silent for three and a half years, which is the longest time between executions in 40 years. Gary Ray Bowles, who killed half a dozen men in 1994, was the last person to be executed in the state in August 2019.
Dillbeck’s execution has been a subject of debate among anti-death penalty advocates. Maria DiLiberato, the head of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, argued that Dillbeck should have been granted an exemption from execution due to a “mental condition” caused by his alcoholic mother, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
“Killing him will not bring back the people that he killed. If that were true, we’d have a much different argument about the death penalty,” DiLiberato said.
Deputy Lynn Hall was fatally shot by Dillbeck in 1979 at the Lee County park that now bears his name. Dillbeck was sentenced to life but escaped in 1990 in a minimum-security work detail. Days later, he fatally stabbed Faye Vann in a Tallahassee mall parking lot and was sentenced to death.
Michael Sheedy, the executive director for the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressed his deep sadness for the victims and their families. He joins other anti-death penalty groups in urging the governor to spare Dillbeck’s life.
“If we’re going to say killing is ‘wrong,’ but we kill in return, we’re not making sense,” Sheedy said.
Barring a stay, Dillbeck will die by lethal injection and become the 100th person executed since the death penalty was reinstated in Florida in the 1970s.
For the first time in nearly four years, Florida executed a man Thursday for a carjacking that led to the brutal murder of a woman more than three decades ago.
Donald Dillbeck, 59, was pronounced dead at Florida State Prison at 6:13 p.m. ET, the governor’s office said. Dillbeck, who died by lethal injection, was condemned in the fatal stabbing ofFaye Lamb Vann, 44, in a Tallahassee mall parking lot.
The death marked Florida’s 100th execution since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976 and executions resumed in the state in 1979.
At the time of the murder, Dillbeck was a fugitive after escaping a work-release catering job in Gadsden County, where he was serving a life sentence for killing Lee County Deputy Dwight Lynn Hall, 31, in 1979. Dillbeck was 15 at the time
Prior to that, he stabbed a man in Indiana while trying to steal a CB radio, court records show. Dillbeck fled to Florida, where the deputy found him in a Fort Myers Beach parking lot. While Hall was searching him, Dillbeck hit the deputy in the groin and ran. Hall tackled him and Dillbeck took Hall’s gun and shot him twice.
He then walked to the shopping mall, where Vann was waiting for her family, approached her car with the knife and demanded a ride, court records show.
Vann tried to drive off and fought back, but Dillbeck stabbed her more than 20 times and slit her throat, court records show. He crashed the car a short time later and was captured running from the scene.
On the day of his execution, Donald Dillbeck went through his normal routine, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady said Thursday.
He visited with his spiritual adviser, she said.
At 9:45 a.m., he had his last meal: fried shrimp, mushrooms, onion rings, butter pecan ice cream, pecan pie and a chocolate bar, the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network reported.
The curtain between the death chamber and the viewing room opened at 6 p.m. Thursday.
His last words: “I know I hurt people when I was young. I really messed up.” He also criticized Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, saying “he has done a lot worse. He’s taken a lot from a lot of people. I speak for all men, women and children. He’s put his foot on our necks.”
The execution began at 6:02 p.m., and Dillbeck closed his eyes shortly thereafter. He was declared dead roughly 10 minutes later.
Steven Wolf was convicted of a sexual assault and murder in Florida and the jury has recommended that he receive the death penalty. According to court documents Steven Wolf would sexually assault Michelle Osborne in 2018 with a blunt object before strangling her to death. Michelle Osborne’s body would eventually be found by fisherman in a remote location. Steven Wolf would be arrested and convicted . Besides the brutal nature of this particular murder Steven Wolf had also been previously been convicted of manslaughter
Steven Wolf More News
Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution today secured a guilty conviction and unanimous vote recommending the death penalty against a Florida Keys man who brutally murdered 51-year-old Michelle Osborne in 2018.
Steven Wolf performed a gruesome sexual battery using a large object that resulted in blunt force trauma and killed Osborne.
Due to several aggravating factors, including the heinous nature of the crime and a previous violent felony conviction of manslaughter 40 years prior, Wolf now faces the death penalty.
“We secured a unanimous death-penalty recommendation for a depraved killer, who gruesomely murdered a Florida woman,” said Attorney General Ashley Moody.
“This case is so disturbing, and my heart breaks for the victim’s family. I am so thankful to the jury for sitting through this difficult trial, weighing the evidence presented by my Statewide Prosecutors and taking on the heavy responsibility of a case such as this.”
According to the investigation, conducted by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, local fishermen found a woman’s body in a remote area.
Investigators soon found car parts around the body that belonged to Wolf’s van. Authorities located the van abandoned in a Kmart parking lot.
The investigation uncovered that Wolf used a large object to penetrate the victim’s genitals, causing blunt force trauma, and strangled the woman before dumping the body.
Attorney General Moody’s Statewide Prosecutors secured a conviction against Steven Wolf for first-degree murder and sexual battery. Wolf faces the death penalty, with a unanimous vote of the jury for recommendation.
Assistant Statewide Prosecutors Cass and Christina Castillo prosecuted the case through an agreement with the State Attorney for the 16th Judicial Circuit. The final decision whether to follow the unanimous recommendation of the jury will be made by the 16th Judicial Circuit Judge Mark H. Jones, who presided over the case.
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