UNITED STATES: Death Row Inmate Spared From Execution 50 Years After Torture Murder
A death row inmate has been spared from execution amid reports he is suffering from dementia, 50 years after he was convicted of a torture murder
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis withdrew William Thompson’s death warrant on Thursday, October 8, just five days before the 74-year-old killer’s scheduled execution.
DeSantis didn’t explain why he withdrew Thompson’s death warrant in a letter he sent to Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk.
But the withdrawal comes as reports say Thompson, who was Miami-Dade’s longest death row inmate, is suffering from dementia.
Thompson was first put on death row in 1976 before his sentence was overturned, reimposed, and he was spared from execution twice in the 1980s. He has been on death row since 1989.
The Eighth Amendment spares death row inmates suffering from mental illnesses if the disease stops them from understanding why they are being put to death.
He was examined by Florida neuropsychologist Robert Ouaou, who said Thompson “meets the criteria for insanity due to his dementia and significant cognitive decline.”
Thompson was first convicted alongside his accomplice, Rocco Surace, for the murder of Sally Ivester, which happened at the Sunny Isles Motel in Miami Beach. The killing was so brutal that local cops described it as “Dade’s meanest murder.”
“Withdrawing the death warrant for William Thompson was the correct decision. Mr. Thompson is gravely ill, not competent, and intellectually disabled,” Grace Hanna, the executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said.
I don’t know who you are, but I have noticed one thing that you continue to do. As I write, don’t get me wrong, or misunderstood the context, but writers that have some kind of hate for a politician, should always remember that readers have respect for objective opinions.
In your writings, you are sending subtle indirect tones of hate towards KK. This was politics in history. Everyone was aiming for one thing: the freedom a nation! Yet you want to make it look like KK did nothing, and did not deserve to be the President of Zambia. You have not written anything positive about our founding father and continue to assassinate his character each time you write.
Yes, go ahead and write about what other freedom fighters did, and you have every right to do so, however, be very cautious and clear, and do not dismiss and ignore what KK contributed to this nation.
What you wish could have been, did not happen so just leave it at that. You can’t change history.
Having said that, I hope that one of these days you will write about KK in a positive way, and the role he played even in helping countries in the region.
Please ignore commentwrong post!