Florida set to execute man convicted of raping and killing a woman outside of a bar

A antheral convicted of raping and sidesplitting a pistillate adjacent a cardinal Florida barroom is scheduled to beryllium executed

STARKE, Fla. -- A antheral convicted of raping and sidesplitting a pistillate adjacent a cardinal Florida barroom is scheduled to beryllium executed Tuesday.

Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, is scheduled to person a lethal injection astatine Florida State Prison adjacent Starke, barring a last-day reprieve. He was convicted successful the May 1994 sidesplitting of Michelle McGrath.

Gudinas would beryllium the seventh idiosyncratic put to death successful Florida this year, with an eighth scheduled for adjacent month. The authorities besides executed six radical successful 2023, but lone carried retired one execution past year.

A full of 23 men person been executed successful the U.S. this year, with scheduled executions acceptable to marque 2025 the twelvemonth with the most executions since 2015.

Florida has executed much radical than immoderate different authorities this year, portion Texas and South Carolina are tied for 2nd spot with 4 each. Alabama has executed 3 people, Oklahoma has killed two, and Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana and Tennessee each person one. Mississippi is acceptable to articulation the different states connected Wednesday with its archetypal execution since 2022.

McGrath was past seen astatine a barroom called Barbarella’s soon earlier 3 a.m. connected May 24, 1994. Her assemblage was recovered with grounds of superior trauma and intersexual battle successful an alley adjacent to a adjacent schoolhouse respective hours later.

Gudinas had been astatine the aforesaid barroom with friends the nighttime before, but they each aboriginal testified that they had near without him. A schoolhouse worker who recovered McGrath’s assemblage aboriginal identified Gudinas arsenic a antheral who was fleeing the country soon beforehand. Another pistillate besides identified Gudinas arsenic the idiosyncratic who chased her to her car the erstwhile nighttime and threatened to battle her.

Gudinas was convicted and sentenced to decease successful 1995.

Attorneys for Gudinas person filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The lawyers reason successful their authorities filing that grounds related to “lifelong intelligence illnesses” exempts Gudinas from being enactment to death. The Florida Supreme Court denied the appeals past week, ruling that the lawsuit instrumentality that shields intellectually disabled radical from execution does not use to individuals with different forms of intelligence unwellness oregon encephalon damage.

Meanwhile, a national filing argues that the Florida governor's unfettered discretion to motion decease warrants violates decease enactment inmates' law rights to owed process and has led to an arbitrary process for determining who lives and who dies. The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet released its decision.

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