STARKE — Duane Owen was executed Thursday for killing a 14-year-old babysitter and a 38-year-old mom of two in separate assaults months aside in 1984 whereas kids had been sleeping within the houses he focused in Palm Beach County.
Owen was pronounced useless at 6:14 p.m. after a deadly injection at Florida State Prison, in accordance with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ workplace. One of Florida’s longest-held demise row inmates, Owen was 23 on the time of the assaults and 62 when he was executed.
He was sentenced to demise for the March 24, 1984, rape and stabbing assault on Karen Slattery, 14, in Delray Beach and for the rape and killing of Georgianna Worden, 38, in May 1984, in Boca Raton.
Owen attacked two different girls in Palm Beach County who survived. All 4 assaults occurred simply earlier than and after Owen’s twenty third birthday. Of the greater than 290 individuals on Florida’s demise row, Owen was one of many longest held there.
Besides his demise sentences, he additionally obtained six life sentences.
Owen awoke at 7 a.m. Thursday and obtained no guests, jail officers mentioned. His closing meal included a bacon cheeseburger with no bun, onion rings and a milkshake. Asked if he wished to make a closing assertion, he mentioned “No.”
It was the state’s Florida’s fourth execution this yr after none since 2019. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed every of the demise warrants within the months earlier than asserting he’s operating for president.
There had been 20 witnesses and eight media representatives in a small, silent, windowless commentary room at Florida State Prison.
Slattery was repeatedly stabbed and raped in a house in Delray whereas two kids in her care had been sleeping.
Two months later, Worden was sleeping in her Boca dwelling when Owen struck her a number of instances with a hammer and raped her. One of Worden’s kids discovered her physique the subsequent morning whereas preparing for varsity, in accordance with court docket information.
Slattery‘s younger sister, Debbi Johnson, watched Owen die. The Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy mentioned the execution brings closure to her household, but it surely took a lot too lengthy.
“Thirty-nine years is too long. Way too long,” mentioned Johnson, 49, of Islamorada. “We know who did it. There was no reason that it needed to take this long.”
Owen’s legal professionals argued that he shouldn’t be executed on grounds of madness. The state Supreme Court rejected his newest attraction final week and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected it Wednesday.
A protection psychologist testified earlier this month that Owen believes he absorbed the souls of his victims and that they nonetheless exist inside him. Owen’s legal professionals had argued that he’s schizophrenic and suffers from delusions.
Prosecutors argued that whereas Owen has psychological well being points, nothing would preclude him from being executed as a result of he’s conscious it’s a punishment for his crimes. Psychiatrists for the state testified that Owen’s schizophrenia is an act that he discusses when being evaluated, however he in any other case exhibits no indicators of the sickness.
And whereas the protection argued Owen has dementia and gender dysphoria, psychiatrists for the state mentioned Owen has an excellent reminiscence, doesn’t seem to current himself as feminine and that gender dysphoria doesn’t make individuals extra aggressive or trigger delusional considering. They mentioned as an alternative, Owen is sexually sadistic, in accordance with court docket information.
Owen’s mom died when he was 11 and his father took his personal life when he was 13, court docket information point out. They add that he was the sufferer of bodily and sexual abuse as a baby.
At the execution, a gradual rain fell exterior and a loud thunderclap was heard simply earlier than a darkish curtain was lifted. Owen was lined in a heavy white sheet, however his face was seen.
“He died with dignity,” Johnson mentioned of her sister’s killer. “Unfortunately, his victims did not.”
Sun Sentinel Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet witnessed the execution and contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”