A man put to death for the brutal murders of a teenage babysitter and mum gorged on a simple burger meal before he was executed.
Duane Owen was put to death by lethal injection at about 6PM EDT (11pm UK time) at Florida State Prison in Starke.
He had been handed death sentences for the March 24, 1984, rape and stabbing attack on Karen Slattery, 14, as children in her care were sleeping.
He was also sentenced for the rape and brutal hammer killing of mum-of-two Georgianna Worden, 38, in May of 1984, both in Palm Beach County.
According to prison officials he received no visitors before his execution, and he ate a last meal that consisted of a bacon cheeseburger with no bun, onion rings and a milkshake.
Owen declined to make a final statement.
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 made sure Owen was unconscious before lethal drugs were administered.
Several family members of the victims witnessed the execution. No one in the witness room spoke.
Besides his death sentences, he also had received six life sentences.
It was Florida's fourth execution this year after a hiatus in which there were none since 2019. Gov. DeSantis, a Republican, signed each of the death warrants in the months before announcing he was running for president.
Slattery was repeatedly stabbed and raped in a home in Delray Beach while two children in her care were sleeping. The children weren't harmed during the attack.
Two months later, in May 1984, Worden was sleeping in her Boca Raton home when Owen struck her several times with a hammer and raped her, according to court records. One of Worden's children found her body the next morning while getting ready for school, according to the record.
Delray Beach and Boca Raton are both about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Miami, in Palm Beach County.
Owen's lawyers had argued that he shouldn't be executed on grounds of insanity. The state Supreme Court rejected his latest appeal last week and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected it Wednesday.
Owen's lawyers had also argued that he was schizophrenic and suffered from delusions.
Prosecutors had argued that while Owen had mental health issues, nothing would preclude his being executed because he was aware it was punishment for his crimes. Psychiatrists for the state testified that Owen's schizophrenia was an act that he discussed when being evaluated, but he otherwise showed no signs of the illness.
