Serial Killer Oscar Ray Bolin Jr., Who Married His Defense Attorney, Is Executed in Florida
Oscar Ray Bolin Jr.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement via AP
Oscar Ray Bolin Jr., a serial killer
convicted of murdering three young women in separate incidents in the
Tampa Bay area in 1986, was executed in Florida on Thursday night,
minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his final appeal.
Bolin, 53, was scheduled to die at the state prison in Starke at 6 p.m., but the Supreme Court took until almost 10 p.m. to finally deny a stay of execution, reports the Tampa Bay Times.
Bolin was injected with a lethal combination of chemicals beginning at 10:05 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 10:16 p.m., the paper said.
There were 36 witnesses, the Times said, including family members of Bolin's three victims: Teri Lynn Matthews, 26, Natalie Blanche Holley, 25, Stephanie Collins, 17.
Moments before his execution, a warden asked Bolin if he had any last words. "No, sir," he replied.
Bolin maintained until the end that he was innocent, although 10 different juries found him guilty of murder as his legal journey took him through trials and retrials across decades, WTVT-TV reports.
A key witness against Bolin was his half-brother, Phillip Bolin, who testified in the Matthews case that he had seen his brother beating a woman wrapped in a sheet, the Times reports.
"God bless you, Phillip, for your courage," Reeves said after Bolin's execution, "and for doing the right thing."
Standing outside the Starke prison on Thursday night, Donna Witmer, the mother of Stephanie Collins, spoke about her daughter, the Times reported.
"We all miss Stephanie every day," she said. "I can't have her back, but I'll have sweet memories."
Reeves added of her daughter, Teri Lynn Matthews: "We miss you, Teri. You were the sunshine in our lives. Rest in peace, my darling daughter."
Bolin, 53, was scheduled to die at the state prison in Starke at 6 p.m., but the Supreme Court took until almost 10 p.m. to finally deny a stay of execution, reports the Tampa Bay Times.
Bolin was injected with a lethal combination of chemicals beginning at 10:05 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 10:16 p.m., the paper said.
There were 36 witnesses, the Times said, including family members of Bolin's three victims: Teri Lynn Matthews, 26, Natalie Blanche Holley, 25, Stephanie Collins, 17.
Moments before his execution, a warden asked Bolin if he had any last words. "No, sir," he replied.
Bolin maintained until the end that he was innocent, although 10 different juries found him guilty of murder as his legal journey took him through trials and retrials across decades, WTVT-TV reports.
A key witness against Bolin was his half-brother, Phillip Bolin, who testified in the Matthews case that he had seen his brother beating a woman wrapped in a sheet, the Times reports.
"God bless you, Phillip, for your courage," Reeves said after Bolin's execution, "and for doing the right thing."
Bolin Married His Defense Attorney, Who Divorced Her Husband
Bolin's case received extra publicity in 1996, when one of his defense attorneys, Rosalie Martinez, divorced her husband and married Bolin. Martinez proclaimed Bolin's innocence over the years. (Later, Rosalie Bolin would later work on Casey Anthony's defense team.)Standing outside the Starke prison on Thursday night, Donna Witmer, the mother of Stephanie Collins, spoke about her daughter, the Times reported.
"We all miss Stephanie every day," she said. "I can't have her back, but I'll have sweet memories."
Reeves added of her daughter, Teri Lynn Matthews: "We miss you, Teri. You were the sunshine in our lives. Rest in peace, my darling daughter."
0 comments:
Post a Comment