A killer who was on Death Row and was executed used his final words to send a message to his victim's family. Darryl B. Barwick was given the lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Wednesday May 3.
The Death Row inmate confessed to a murder committed on March 31, 1986 when he broke in to 24-year-old Rebecca Wendt's home and stabbed her a total of 37 times as she died. He claims it was a robbery attempt that resulted in a struggle, reports the Daily Star.
Barwick was said to have watched the young woman sunbathing and followed her back to her apartment in Panama City as the US Supreme Court this week denied his final appeal for a stay of execution.
The 56-year-old's execution was not attended by Ms Wendt's family but Barwick said, according to the News Journal, he 'couldn't explain' why he committed the murder.
In his final words, he said: "It’s time to apologise to the victim’s family, to my family. I can’t explain why I did what I did."
He was then given the lethal injection in front of none of his family or friends. His final meal consisted of fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas and cornbread, and a drink of Coca-Cola.
The evidence during the police investigation found someone had unsuccessfully attempted to remove the young woman's swimsuit, officials said. There was, however, no signs of sexual assault but medical examiners reported finding semen on a blanket where her body was found.
Barwick had been released from prison not long before Ms Wendt's death for for raping a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint. He was linked to the murder in 1986 by the semen stain and the account of a witness who saw him heading toward and leaving the woman's apartment. Footprints matching Barwick were also found at the scene.
He was convicted of murder, armed burglary, and attempted sexual battery in November 1986. He was sentenced to death two months later but the Florida Supreme Court threw out that conviction in 1989 because of prosecutorial misconduct. Barwick was convicted again at a retrial in 1992.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed Barwick's death warrant last month. It is the third execution scheduled in the state this year.
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