2023-10-03 23:07:00
(CNN) — Michael Duane Zack III, convicted in 1997 of the 1996 murders of two women he met in bars along the Florida panhandle, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday at the state prison, according to the Florida Department of Corrections.
Zack, who met with his wife and spiritual advisor hours earlier, refused his last meal, according to the department.
The execution took place at 6:14 p.m. Miami time.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a request to stop Zack’s execution following his lawyers filed a request last week, court records show.
In the filing, Zack’s attorneys argued that a lower court erred by “denying that he has an intellectual disability.”
“At trial, Zack’s defense attorney argued that Zack suffers from fetal alcohol syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, which are classified as brain dysfunction and mental impairment respectively,” he says. a summary of the case.
On Thursday, attorneys for the state of Florida filed a response opposing the stay of execution, court records show.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal Monday followingnoon without comment, court records show.
In 1997, Zack was convicted and sentenced to death for the June 1996 murder of Ravonne Smith following meeting at a bar near Pensacola, according to a summary of the case. Zack received a life sentence for the murder of Laura Rosillo on a beach in Okaloosa County, Florida, whom he also met at a bar, according to the case summary.
“After his arrest, Zack confessed to the murder of Ravonne Smith,” the document said.
Zack’s execution was the eighth under Gov. Ron DeSantis and the sixth in the state this year, according to state death row data.
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