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Larry Mann executed for Palm Harbor girl's 1980 killing
Tampa Bay Times ^ | 4/10/13

Posted on 04/10/2013 11:16:31 PM PDT by Impala64ssa

STARKE — Larry Eugene Mann, who crushed a little girl's skull 32 years ago, died Wednesday night as chemicals coursed through his veins.

Mann was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison for the murder of 10-year-old Elisa Vera Nelson, whom he abducted one morning in 1980 as she rode her bicycle to school in Palm Harbor.

He was pronounced dead at 7:19 p.m. He was 59.

Afterward, Jeff Nelson, Elisa's brother, stood in the light of a setting sun outside the prison, joining a crowd of about 50 people who turned out to offer support. Nelson, who was 12 when his sister was killed, thanked authorities for the capture and prosecution of Mann. He also thanked Gov. Rick Scott, who signed Mann's death warrant.

For three decades, he said, lawyers have talked about how Mann has changed in prison, how he studied the Bible and prayed and expressed remorse.

But no one ever talked about Elisa, he said.

She had a cheeky grin and bested a little league team full of boys. She was a cheerleader and dancer who loved to play teacher and tutored neighborhood kids.

She was a fun-loving fifth-grader with big blue eyes and shades of gold running through long, blond hair. She loved reading and learning and meeting new people. She tumbled through gymnastic lessons. At home, she hung posters of John Travolta on her bedroom wall. She had a cat named Smokey and a dog named Stupid.

Her parents, David and Wendy Nelson, moved to Florida from Michigan in the early 1970s and started a successful construction business.

(Excerpt) Read more at tampabay.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: deathpenalty; lethalinjection
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To: Impala64ssa

Hey Texas like you, if you kill someone we Kill you Back in Florida also. Took to long though should have happened a week after the killing.


21 posted on 04/11/2013 4:38:23 AM PDT by bikerman ("A gun is like a parachute. If you need one and don't have it you wont need one again.)
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To: Impala64ssa
Mann had a last meal of fried shrimp, fish and scallops, stuffed crabs, hot butter rolls, cole slaw, pistachio ice cream and Pepsi.

Isn't that special.

22 posted on 04/11/2013 4:39:18 AM PDT by Graybeard58 (_.. ._. .. _. _._ __ ___ ._. . ___ ..._ ._ ._.. _ .. _. .)
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To: Impala64ssa

32 years is too long. Should be about 32 hours.


23 posted on 04/11/2013 4:40:16 AM PDT by I want the USA back (Pi$$ed off yet?)
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To: Impala64ssa

Thirty years is a travesty. He should have been dead at least 25 years by now.


24 posted on 04/11/2013 4:43:27 AM PDT by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....History is a process, not an event)
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To: Impala64ssa

Better late than never; good riddance and rot in hell.


25 posted on 04/11/2013 5:05:54 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (The most insidious power the news media has, is the power to ignore.)
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To: Impala64ssa

That took more than 30 years longer than it should, but I’m glad to hear the good news.


26 posted on 04/11/2013 5:11:36 AM PDT by Pollster1 (A war can only be just if it is fought with a reasonable chance of success.)
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To: Impala64ssa
My only problem with this is that it didn't happen 33 years ago.
27 posted on 04/11/2013 5:11:41 AM PDT by liberalh8ter (The only difference between flash mob 'urban yutes' and U.S. politicians is the hoodies.)
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