Florida executes man for 1990 murder while on the run

STARK, Fla. (AP) — Florida executed a man Thursday for killing a woman in 1990 after he escaped prison by stabbing her in a mall parking lot while attempting to steal a car.

Donald Dilbeck, 59, died at 6:13 p.m. after being lethally injected at a Florida state prison, the governor’s office said. He was convicted of killing 44-year-old Faye Vann in Tallahassee near the Capitol.

The execution was the first in Florida in nearly four years and the third under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. By comparison, his immediate predecessor, current Republican U.S. Senator Rick Scott, oversaw 28 executions.

The Vann children, Tony and Laura, released a statement after the execution: “11,932 days ago, Donald Dilbeck brutally murdered our Mother. Years of memories were stolen from her and me, and it has been very painful ever since.”

They thanked DeSantis for the execution, saying it “brought us some closure.”

The curtain between the death chamber and the observation room opened at 6:00 pm Thursday. When asked if he had any last words, Dilbeck said: “I know I hurt people when I was young. I’m really confused.” He also criticized DeSantis.

The execution began at 6:02 pm and Dilbek closed his eyes soon after. For several minutes he breathed deeply while his body trembled. By 6:07 pm, his mouth was open and he seemed to have stopped breathing.

Dilbeck was 15 when he stabbed a man in Indiana while trying to steal a CB radio, court records show. He fled to Florida, where County Assemblyman Lee Dwight Lynn Hall found him in a Fort Myers Beach parking lot. While Hall was searching him, Dilbeck kicked the deputy in the groin and ran. Hall grabbed him, and as they struggled, Dilbeck took Hall’s gun and shot him twice.

According to court records, Dilbeck was sentenced to 11 years to life for the murder of an MP when he walked out of a job severing a meal for an event for the elderly. Then he bought a paring knife and went to Tallahassee.

Vann was waiting for her family when Dilbeck approached her car with a knife and demanded a ride, saying he forgot how to drive, court records show.

Vann honked, tried to leave and fought back that Sunday afternoon, but Dilbeck stabbed her more than 20 times and slit her throat, court records show. He crashed his car shortly after and was captured after running away from the scene.

Despite a previous escape attempt and an attack on another prisoner, Dilbek was placed in a minimum security facility. Furious Republican Gov. Bob Martinez fired three correctional officers and tried to implement rules to ensure that life-sentenced inmates would be held in safer conditions.

The Florida Supreme Court earlier this month dismissed appeals alleging that he should not be executed because he suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and it was cruel and unusual to keep him on death row for more than 30 years before his death warrant was signed. The US Supreme Court rejected his appeals on Wednesday.

DeSantis, re-elected last November and considered a potential presidential candidate in 2024, was silent on the death penalty during his first term. His office refused to respond to repeated phone calls and emails about the lack of warrants signed since 2019. DeSantis also interrupted an Associated Press reporter who asked about the long pause in executions and did not answer the question.

But DeSantis criticized the Broward County jury’s refusal to sentence Nicholas Cruz to death for the murder of 17 students and teachers at Parkland High School, and has since said he wants to change a 2017 state law that requires a jury’s unanimous recommendation for a death sentence. so that one or two jurors cannot influence the verdict.

Since the US Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, Florida has been one of the most active execution states.

Democratic Governor Bob Graham oversaw 16 executions between 1979 and 1987. Martinez oversaw nine executions in his single tenure, Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles oversaw 18 executions, and 21 prisoners were executed under Republican Gov. Jeb Bush. Governor Charlie Crist oversaw five executions in his only tenure.

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texasstandard.news contributed to this report.

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