The state of Florida executed the man who killed two women in the Florida Panhandle during a nine-day crime spree in 1996.
Michael Duane Zack, III, 54, died by lethal injection at 6:14 p.m. Tuesday at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida, just north of Gainesville. His last words to the execution witnesses were, “I love you all,” according to the AP.
Zack refused a last meal. He also received a visit from his wife and met with a spiritual adviser Tuesday afternoon before his death, said Kayla McLaughlin, spokesperson for the Florida Department of Corrections.
In his final statement, Zack thanked the people in his life and told many of them he loved them, including Gov. Ron DeSantis — the man responsible for approving his death sentence.
Maria DeLiberato, executive director of anti-death penalty group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, read the statement on his behalf.
“I make no excuses,” he wrote in the statement. “I lay no blame, but how I wish that I could have a second chance to live out my days in prison and continue to do all I can to make a difference in this world.”
Outside the prison, death penalty opponents, including DeLiberato, gathered on the trim grass, sitting on lawn chairs and reciting prayers.
Clemente Aguirre, a 43-year-old death row exoneree who attended the vigil, met Zack during their shared time in prison. Aguirre said he remembered Zack as a mellow man who was reformed from his crimes. He had also promised Zack that he’d attend his execution when the time came.
“People need to understand that’s not a place for humans to be,” Aguirre said, referring to death row.
Zack was found guilty of murdering two women in 1996 during a nine-day-long series of crimes, including stealing a car and sexually assaulting the women.
His first victim was Laura Rosillo, whom he met in a bar in Okaloosa County. After driving Rosillo to the beach to use drugs, Zack beat her head against the car tire, sexually assaulted her, strangled her and left her half naked in the sand dunes, according to court records.
He went on to kill a second victim — Ravonne Smith, whom he also met in a bar in Escambia County, near Pensacola. Upon arriving at her house, Zack hit Smith on the head with a beer bottle, sexually assaulted her, beat her and stabbed her four times using an oyster knife.
After the murder, court records report, Zack cleaned the knife and put it back in the kitchen. Zack confessed to murdering Smith at his arrest and was sentenced to death in her case. He received life in prison for Rosillo’s murder.
He appealed his conviction to the Florida Supreme Court on the basis of intellectual disability, asserting he had fetal alcohol syndrome, low intellectual abilities and PTSD. The Supreme Court denied his appeal and agreed with the lower court’s rulings.
DeSantis signed Zack’s death warrant in August.
This is the sixth execution in Florida this year, while none were conducted in the three years prior. Florida has no other executions yet scheduled for 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026.
Zack’s execution follows DeSantis’ April bill that made it easier to sentence criminals to death; only eight out of 12 jurors must support capital punishment as the sentence, rather than the unanimous consensus that was previously required.
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