Florida set to execute man for killing wife, 2 kids in new state death sentence record for 1 year

STARKE Fla AP A Florida man convicted of killing his wife and two children with a machete in is set for execution Thursday which would be the ninth death sentence carried out in to set a new state record for a single year A th execution is scheduled for Aug and an th on Aug A death warrant signed by Republican Gov Ron DeSantis directs that -year-old Edward Zakrzewski be executed by lethal injection at p m Thursday at Florida State Prison near Starke Zakrzewski s final appeal for a stay was rejected Wednesday by the U S Supreme Court The highest previous annual total of contemporary Florida executions is eight in since the death penalty was restored in by the U S Supreme Court Florida has executed more people than any other state this year while Texas and South Carolina are tied for second place with four each Zakrzewski an Air Force veteran was sentenced to die for the slayings of his -year-old wife Sylvia and their children Edward and -year-old Anna at their home in Okaloosa County in the Panhandle Trial testimony manifested he committed the killings after his wife sought a divorce and he had reported others he would kill his family rather than allow that Sylvia was attacked first with a crowbar and strangled with a rope testimony shows Both children were killed with the machete and Sylvia was also struck with the blade when Zakrzewski thought she had survived the previous assault Opponents of the execution point to Zakrzewski s military function and the fact that a jury voted - to recommend his execution barely a majority of the panel He could not be executed with such a split jury vote under current state law The trial judge imposed three death sentences on Zakrzewski The Action Configuration which organized an anti-execution petition sought people to call DeSantis office and read a prepared script urging a stay of execution for Zakrzewski Florida does not need the death penalty to be safe This execution will not make us safer it will only add another act of violence to an already tragic story Justice does not require death the script reads in part Zakrzewski s lawyers have filed numerous appeals over the years all of which have been rejected Twenty-six men have died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U S and other people are scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of Florida was also the last state to execute someone when Michael Bernard Bell died by lethal injection on July DeSantis also signed a warrant for the th execution this year for Kayle Bates who abducted a woman from an insurance office and killed her more than four decades ago Wednesday night DeSantis issued a death warrant for Curtis Windom convicted of killing three people in the Orlando area in His execution is scheduled for Aug Florida uses a three-drug cocktail for its lethal injection a sedative a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart according to the state Department of Corrections