A Gulf War Army veteran convicted of the shotgun slayings of his girlfriend and her three children has been scheduled for execution in Florida, the fourth death warrant signed this year by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Jeffrey Hutchinson, 59, is set to die by lethal injection May 1 at Florida State Prison near the city of Starke. DeSantis, a Republican, signed the death warrant Monday night.
On the night of Sept. 11, 1998, in the panhandle town of Crestview, Florida, Hutchinson had an argument with his girlfriend, Renee Flaherty, and left to go to a bar, court records show. A bartender recalled that Hutchinson made remarks about their argument, drank some beer and then left abruptly.
About 40 minutes later, investigators said, there was a call to 911 from Hutchinson's home in which someone later identified as him said, "I just shot my family." Police arrived to find Flaherty, 32, and her three young children — Geoffrey, 9; Amanda, 7; and Logan, 4 — dead from shotgun wounds.
Hutchinson was found sitting in the garage with a phone in his hand, still connected to the 911 operator, the court records show. The murder weapon, a 12-gauge Mossberg shotgun, was found on a kitchen counter, and police say Hutchinson had gunshot residue on his hands.
The Florida Supreme Court in 2022 rejected Hutchinson's appeals, which claimed new evidence had surfaced that could exonerate him. After his sentencing, Hutchinson said in court that he didn't kill anyone.
"I did not kill Renee and the kids and I believe I was framed," he said.
The judge's sentencing order noted that Hutchinson served eight years in the Army, including in the Gulf War, and that he had been diagnosed with Gulf War Illness, which produces a range of problems including pain, memory loss and insomnia.
Two other executions have taken place in Florida this year, with a third upcoming next week. All are by lethal injection.
On March 20, 63-year-old Edward James was executed for killing an 8-year-old girl and her grandmother in 1993. James Dennis Ford, 64, was put to death Feb. 13 for the 1997 slayings of a married couple while out on a fishing trip.
A third inmate, 48-year-old Michael Tanzi, is scheduled to die by lethal injection April 8 for the kidnapping and murder of a woman in the Florida Keys in 2000.
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