florida death row | My Crime Library

Daniel Thomas Florida Execution

Daniel Thomas was executed by the State of Florida for a sexual assault and murder. According to court documents Daniel Thomas would break into a home where he would shoot the male homeowner before sexually assaulting the man’s wife. Daniel Thomas would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Daniel Thomas would be executed by way of the electric chair on April 15 1986

Daniel Thomas More News

Kicking, cursing and fighting with five Death Row guards, ski-mask killer Daniel Thomas was strapped into Florida’s electric chair Tuesday and executed for murdering a man and raping his wife as her husband lay dying.

Veteran observers said the struggle was the first to take place in Florida State Prison’s death room within memory.

Cursing and screaming ″Get off me 3/8 Get off me 3/8″ Thomas, 37, was subdued after a seven-minute struggle during which he kicked one guard in the groin and tried to bite another on the arm.

He was pronounced dead at 12:19 p.m. EST – the 14th man electrocuted in the state since 1979, after the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty.

″It was violent. It was the first time this has happened in my experience, … and I’ve never heard of it before,″ said prison spokesman Vernon Bradford.

Daniel Thomas, a member of the ″ski-mask gang″ that rampaged through rural central Florida for 10 months in 1975 and 1976, was convicted of the New Year’s Day 1976 shooting death of Charles Anderson, 48.

The killer forced Anderson’s wife, Betty, to have sex with him as Anderson bled to death in their Polk County home.

During the death-chamber melee, Thomas, about 6 feet tall and 180 pounds, slid down into the chair, his legs thrashing wildly at the men trying to restrain him.

Guards, assisted by a doctor and a physician’s assistant, managed to stop Thomas’ outburst and pin him to the three-legged, oak electric chair. A strap was placed around his chin.

Prison Superintendent Richard Dugger then approached the condemned man, leaned over and spoke directly into his face, apparently telling him he would not be able to read his last statement unless he settled down.

Panting wildly for about 20 seconds, Thomas quieted and began reading from a yellow legal sheet in a low voice, much of it incomprehensible to 19 witnesses, stunned by the struggle they had observed through large windows.

″We are human tools, political pawns, political human sacrifices for the politicians,″ Thomas mumbled, referring to Florida’s 241 death row prisoners.

The black-hooded executioner threw the switch sending 2,000 volts through the prisoner’s body at 12:14 p.m. Thomas was pronounced dead five minutes later.

Gov. Bob Graham, in a statement in Tallahassee after Thomas’ sentence was carried out, drew a parallel to the U.S. raid on Libya.

″The taking of human life is the most difficult action of government, whether it occurs on foreign soil or within our state,″ Graham said.

″Society must be prepared to defend itself against those who have little regard for human life by invoking this ultimate penalty,″ Graham said.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a final appeal about six minutes before Thomas entered the death chamber. It was Thomas’ second death warrant. He escaped the electric chair in October 1982, receiving a stay from a federal judge just hours before his scheduled date.

It was the first execution in Florida in almost 11 months and came on the ninth anniversary of the imposition of Thomas’ death sentence.

Earlier this week, Mrs. Anderson said Thomas’ execution might help relieve the sleepless nights she had experienced since her husband’s murder.

″Everyone gives more sympathy to the criminals than to the victims,″ Mrs. Anderson said. ″The victims have to live with this. Even after he (Thomas) is dead and gone, they’ll still be living with it.″

https://apnews.com/article/ad166994ad2a60e351bbb6e18177b296

Marvin Francois Florida Execution

Marvin Francois was executed by the State of Florida for the murders of six people. According to court documents Marvin Francois would enter a drug house and open fire killing six people. Marvin Francois would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Marvin Francois would be executed by way of the electric chair on May 29 1985

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Former heroin addict Marvin Francois died in the electric chair today for the 1977 execution-style slayings of an alleged drug dealer and five other people.

Francois, 39, was pronounced dead shortly after 7 a.m. EDT from a 2,000-volt surge of electricity in Florida’s ‘Old Sparky’ wooden electric chair. He spent his final hours alone early today after embracing his mother and children one last time.

He ate a hearty last meal of shrimp, lobster tail, barbecued spare ribs, chicken breast, watermelon, strawberries, sliced tomatoes and french fries in his Florida State Prison cell at 4:30 a.m.

The convicted killer, who refused the services of a clergyman, became the 12th person executed in the United States this year, the 44th since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976.

About 25 anti-death penalty protesters and two people favoring executions marched outside the prison in rural northern Florida.

Prison spokesman Vernon Bradford said Francois was allowed visitors from 8 p.m. until midnight through a glass partition. At midnight his mother, girlfriend and twin teenage children were allowed a ‘contact’ visit.

The condemned man’s mother, Muriel Hollingsworth, and girlfriend, Juanita Pace, of Miami, accompanied his son Aleasian and daughter Alexis to the prison.

Francois did not receive a last-minute visit from his 37-year-old brother Kerry, of Miami. The brother was paroled from the Florida State Prison in 1980 after serving 16 years of a life sentence for murder.

Francois had been scheduled to die Tuesday morning but won a temporary stay from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. Tuesday night, however, the Supreme Court turned down his final request for a stay.

He was sentenced to die for the July 27, 1977, murder of six people and the wounding of two others at a northwest Miami house believed the headquarters of a drug ring.

At a 1982 clemency board hearing, Francois’ attorney said he had become helpless because of heroin addiction and was framed by ‘scanty and unreliable’ evidence.

Prosecutors contended Francois was hired by a drug dealer to kill a competitor and the other victims were shot because his face mask slipped and he feared they could identify him.

Police said the victims were forced to lie face down and then shot in the head. Francois was identified as the gunman by a survivor, an accomplice and by his common-law wife.

But assistant public defender Rory Stein said Francois was a victim of a cruel childhood. He said as a boy Francois was forced to live on the streets of New Orleans because his father was a drug addict, his mother a prostitute.

‘Mr. Francois has had a difficult and hard life,’ Stein said. ‘He is a weak man.’

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/29/Former-heroin-addict-Marvin-Francois-died-in-the-electric/6564486187200/

Johnny Witt Florida Execution

Johnny Witt was executed by the State of Florida for the sexual assault and murder of an eleven year old boy. According to court documents Johnny Witt and Gary Tillman would kidnap eleven year old Jonathan Kushner. The boy would be sexually assaulted and murdered. Johnny Witt would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Johnny Witt would be executed by way of the electric chair on March 6, 1985. Gary Tillman was sentenced to life in prison.

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Johnny Paul Witt, once told by his father that he would ″never amount to anything,″ was put to death Wednesday in Florida’s electric chair for killing, sexually abusing and mutilating an 11-year-old boy.

Witt, 42, convicted for the fatal assault on the son of a University of South Florida professor, died at 7:10 a.m., despite clemency pleas by his mother who said it was unfair to execute him since a co-defendant received a life term.

When asked if he had any last words, Witt mumbled, ″No, I don’t have any″ as he chewed on his lip.

A dark mask was lowered over his shaved head and a hooded executioner, who was paid $150, pulled the switch that sent 2,000 volts through Witt’s body. The inmate jerked upward and the color faded slowly from his balled hands after the surge hit.

Witt was condemned for the murder of Jonathan Mark Kushner, who was riding his bicycle to a convenience store to buy candy when he was attacked Oct. 28, 1973.

Witt was the second killer executed in the state this year and the 12th man put to death in Florida’s electric chair since 1979. Witt became the 39th inmate executed in the nation since capital punishment was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976.

″The crime for which Mr. Witt was convicted a decade ago was a particularly brutal murder of a young child,″ said Gov. Bob Graham. ″Mr. Witt has paid with his own life for the innocent life he took so viciously.″

Witt’s mother, Dorothy Witt of Knoxville, Tenn., spent four hours with her son Tuesday night and left the Florida State Prison near Starke just hours before the execution.

She repeatedly had written to the governor and other officials seeking a reprieve for her son, saying he shouldn’t die when co-defendant Gary Tillman was given a life sentence for pleading guilty and testifying against Witt.

She said Witt was unhappy for much of his life and had been told by his father that ″he was no good and would never amount to anything.″

As a boy, Witt sang solos in church, she said.

Witt requested no final meal but was given an omelet, which he ″kind of nibbled at,″ before being taken from his holding cell to the nearby oak electric chair, said Department of Corrections spokesman Vernon Bradford.

Late Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-3 to reject an emergency appeal aimed at temporarily sparing Witt’s life.

As Witt was led into the death chamber at 6:58 a.m., he looked through a window scanning the faces of the witnesses on the other side of a wall. He sighed heavily when strapped into the chair.

Among the witnesses were Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Detectives Gary Gainey and Rocky Rodriguez, who investigated the crime.

The young victim was pedaling to a convenience store near the family home when he was knocked from his bike, bound and gagged and driven to an orange grove. He was gagged so tightly that he smothered. According to court records, when the men opened the trunk and found the boy dead, the killers sexually abused and mutilated his body.

Witt’s wife, Donna, reported to police that her husband had confessed to killing the boy.

Another murderer, William Middleton Jr., also had been scheduled to die Wednesday morning but received a federal court stay Tuesday. Two other death row inmates are scheduled to die March 19

https://apnews.com/article/a07d388ae0a71c4c177afd47fddd5088

James Raulerson Florida Execution

James Raulerson was executed by the State of Florida for the murder of a police officer. According to court documents James Raulerson was in the middle of a robbery when police officers arrived. A gun fight ensued and in the process James Raulerson would strike an officer causing his death. James Raulerson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. James Raulerson would be executed by way of the electric chair on January 30 1985

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Police killer James David Raulerson was electrocuted Wednesday as his victim’s father looked on to fulfill a graveside vow and 50 officers, including the slain policeman’s partner, stood vigil outside.

James David Raulerson, 33, was pronounced dead at 7:11 a.m., becoming the 11th Florida inmate and the 37th nationwide to die since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. His was the fifth execution in the country this year.

″I made a promise at my son’s graveside that I would watch his killer die,″ said Jack Stewart, whose 23-year-old son, Michael, was killed during a Jacksonville restaurant robbery in April 1975.

″It wasn’t a pleasant thing,″ Stewart said. ″I didn’t come here out of hatred. This will put some of it to rest, but it won’t bring my son back.″

About 50 police officers from Jacksonville, some wearing T-shirts saying ″Raulerson Make My Day″ and ″Crank Up Old Sparky,″ stood in a pasture across from Florida State Prison. Some cheered when they learned Raulerson was dead, and applause erupted when the hearse rolled by.

Stewart’s partner, James English, hung his head as the signal was given that Raulerson was dead. Tears filled in his eyes.

″This is a great day,″ said English, now an active officer in the sheriff’s department. ″I feel relieved. It’s been a long time coming.″

About two dozen death penalty opponents held lighted candles and sang softly nearby.

Stewart died when he and English entered a restaurant after a robbery was reported. English was wounded, and Raulerson’s cousin, Jerry Tant, was killed in the gunfire.

In a final statement he read from a white piece of paper, Raulerson blamed English for Stewart’s death.

″I am sorry you are made a murderer through the state, Mr. Dugger,″ Raulerson said, referring to prison Superintendent Richard Dugger. ″James English killed Michael Stewart and used Stewart’s gun to murder my cousin. I am sorry for you for taking life. My family knows I love them and I love you.″

Ballistics tests showed that bullets from Raulerson’s pistol killed Stewart.

After declining a steak-and-eggs breakfast, Raulerson was steered into the death chamber at 6:58 a.m. He winked to his attorney, Stephen Bright, but turned his eyes away from Stewart after a brief glance.

A mask was lowered over Raulerson’s clean-shaven head and a hooded executioner, paid $150 for the job, delivered 2,000 volts. The prisoner jerked upward in the chair, his hands clenching into fists and turning purple.

Gov. Bob Graham signed a third death warrant for Raulerson Jan. 3, and late Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Raulerson’s appeals.

Raulerson, who learned through television news reports that he’d lost his last appeal, spent his final evening visiting his mother and stepfather, other family members, a minister and his attorney.

Another inmate scheduled to be executed Wednesday was granted an indefinite stay Tuesday by a federal appeals court. Two other convicted killers are scheduled to die next week in Florida.

https://apnews.com/article/28345cb945ad17ce58c8b3a8274fd217

Anthony Antone Florida Execution

Anthony Antone was executed by the State of Florida for a murder for hire. According to court documents Anthony Antone and another man were paid by Mob boss Victor Acosta to murder a private detective . Anthony Antone would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Victor Acosta and the man who allegedly pulled the trigger would both commit suicide after being arrested. Anthony Antone would be executed by way of the electric chair on January 26, 1984

Anthony Antone More News

Anthony Antone, Florida’s oldest condemned prisoner, prepared calmly for death as his attorneys awaited word Monday on two-last minute appeals that could halt the execution scheduled for 7 a.m. EST Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge George Carr rejected a stay of execution in Tampa earlier Monday, and Antone’s attorneys immediately took their case to the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which still had not ruled late Monday night

The execution was expected to take place at 7 a.m. EST Tuesday unless a stay was issued by the Atlanta court or by the Supreme Court, at which the attorneys readied a plea. There was no indication when the two courts would rule.

Antone, 66, was convicted of being the go-between in the hired murder of former Tampa vice squad Sgt. Richard Cloud in 1975.

If executed, he would be the 12th man put to death since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976, and the third in Florida. The last man to die in Florida’s electric chair was Robert Sullivan, executed Nov. 30, 1983.

Antone was scheduled to die in the electric chair Feb. 2 1982, but was granted a stay by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta the day before.

Carr had ruled three days earlier he found no merit to Antone’s appeal, but then granted a temporary stay as a precautionary measure.

Carr ruled Monday the four points cited by defense attorney Tom McCoun were invalid because McCoun had raised the same arguments two years before, and Carr had rejected them.

Antone said at at jailhouse news conference Monday he was prepared to die.

‘I don’t fear death. As far as I’m concerned, death is merely discarding the vehicle and life goes on,’ Antone told reporters at Florida State Prison.

Wearing a blue prison uniforms and faded yellow T-shirt, the self-proclaimed metaphysicist also insisted he was innocentof the gangland-style slaying.

‘I didn’t kill anyone. Everyone knows that. There are people here who raped and killed and the government saw fit to give them life (terms),’ he said. ‘They know who (the real killer) is — law enforcement and the prosecutor — They know who it is but I don’t want to say.’

‘Being a Sicilian, They put a stigma on me of being associated with the Mafia. I have nothing to do with the Mafia,’ he said. ‘I was just a guy knocking a living, working with air conditioners.’

Antone was convicted of being the middle man between mobster Victor Acosta, hit-man Benjamin Gilford and getaway car driver Ellis Haskew. Gilford admitted shooting Cloud and committed suicide in jail the day before he was to be sentenced.

Acosta committed suicide in jail before he could be brought to trial. Haskew negotiated a plea agreement in which he testified against Gilford and Antone in return for a 35-year prison sentence.

Asked how he wanted to be remembered, Antone said, ‘My relatives will know how to remember me — as a loving person. I never hurt anybody. I’ll sleep fine tonight. I feel good about my life.’

Antone has spent his time on death row reading books on metaphysics and the occult, and said ‘I have no fear of death. I want to get it over with and go on to the next’ life.

But he said he was concerned the 2,300-volt jolt from the electric chair will expel his ‘astral counterpart’ abruptly from his body, rather than gradually as he believes necessary.

At the Tampa hearing, McCoun contended he had additional new evidence which would warrant an evidentiary hearing and said he had been ineffective in his legal assistance when he took over the appeal of Antone’s conviction

‘I was a volunteer counsel and I didn’t have sufficient time to go out an find witnesses who might come in and testify,’ McCoun said of the sentencing phase do the trial.

‘I had never had any contact with Mr. Antone until I went into that hearing. I was ineffective in a legal sense because of the inablility to find witnesses. I failed Mr. Antone

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/01/23/Anthony-Antone-Floridas-oldest-condemned-prisoner-prepared-calmly-for/9433443682000/