On Thursday, the Florida man was executed in connection with killing a 14-year-old babysitter and a 38-year-old mother of two in separate attacks months apart in 1984 while children were sleeping in the house.
The 1984 Murder Suspect, Florida Man Was Executed Via Lethal Injection
Duane Owen was the suspect in the two murders in 1984 and on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office announced his execution via lethal injection at Florida State Prison. Moreover, the Florida man died at 6:14 p.m. at 62 years old. He was one of Florida’s longest-held death row inmates, Owen was 23 at the time of the attacks.
Florida man refused to have his final statement before his execution. The procedure began at 6:01 p.m., with Owen’s arms twitching and his breathing becoming heavier as the sedative took effect. The warden reassured them that he was unconscious when the lethal drugs were injected into his system.
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Owen Was Sentenced To Be Executed On March 24, 1984
The Florida man was supposedly sentenced to death back on March 24, 1984, but his death sentence had acquired six life sentences.
AP News reported that Owen was responsible for raping and repeatedly stabbing Karen Slattery, 14 years old d in a home in Delray Beach while two kids under her care were sleeping during the attack, although the children weren’t harmed at that time.
Moreover, after Owens’s first attack exactly two months later Georgianna Worden, 38 years old was resting in her Boca Raton house in Palm Beach County, when Owen attacked her several times with a hammer and sexually rape her, according to Owens’s court records. One of the victim’s children was the one to discover their mother’s body the next morning while preparing for school.
Owen’s attorneys defended him that he shouldn’t be executed on grounds of insanity. The state Supreme Court denied his latest appeal last week and on Wednesday the U.S. Supreme Court rejected it.
Owen’s lawyers had also argued that their client was schizophrenic and suffered from delusions.
According to Prosecutors when Owen had mental health issues, nothing would stop him from being executed because he was aware that his crimes were punishable. Psychiatrists testified that Owen’s schizophrenia was an act that he discussed when being assessed, but he otherwise displayed no signs of mental illness.
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