A man who killed his wife and two children became the ninth person to be executed in Florida this year after officials administered lethal drugs on Thursday.
Sixty-year-old Edward Zakrzewski was sentenced to death for the brutal murders of his family on June 9, 1994, at their home in Okaloosa County, the Associated Press (AP) reported Thursday.
Zakrewski, who was a U.S. Air Force veteran, killed his family in response to his wife seeking a divorce.
He attacked his wife with a crowbar, strangled her with a rope, then killed his children, whose ages were seven and five, with a machete. He then hit his wife with the machete when he thought she had survived his initial attack.
In an update on Thursday, the Florida Department of Corrections said, “The sentence of the State of Florida v. Inmate Edward Zakrzewski was carried out at 6:12 PM EST.”
Per the AP, Zakrzewski’s death marks “a state record for a single-year execution total since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty decades ago.”
He was executed at the Florida State Prison near Starke. Moments before he expired, Zakrzewski said, “I want to thank the good people of the Sunshine State for killing me in the most cold, calculated, clean, humane, efficient way possible. I have no complaints whatsoever.”
During a recent interview with WMBB News 13, retired assistant state attorney Bobby Elmore shared more details of the case. He said once Zakrzewski killed his family, he fled to Hawaii and joined a small church community on one of the islands, living under an alias.
A few weeks later, community members were watching television and recognized Zakrzewski’s picture on the show “Unsolved Mysteries.” Zakrzewski then turned himself in to local law enforcement:
In regard to the death penalty, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has said he wants to bring closure to the families of victims who were murdered, USA Today reported on Wednesday.
He stated, “There are so — some crimes that are just so horrific, the only appropriate punishment is the death penalty.”
In 2023, a convicted murderer on death row in Florida cursed DeSantis with his final words, according to Breitbart News:
Donald Dillbeck, 59, faced the death penalty after being convicted of murdering Faye Lamb Vann in 1990, committing the crime after escaping from a work release catering job, as he was already serving a life sentence for stabbing a man and murdering Lee County Deputy Dwight Lynn Hall over a decade prior, in 1979.
According to reports, Dillbeck admitted that he “really messed up” and “hurt people” when he was young but then contended that “Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse.”
“He’s taken from a lot of people,” the convicted murderer stated prior to his death. “I speak for all men, women and children… Ron DeSantis and other people like him can suck our dicks,” he said.
The next inmate scheduled to be executed in Florida is Kayle Bates, who abducted and killed a woman in 1982. His execution is scheduled for August 19.
“DeSantis also has signed a death warrant setting an Aug. 28 execution date for Curtis Windom, who was convicted of killing three people in the Orlando area in 1992,” the AP article stated.
