Dessert at his last meal?
Posted on 09/18/2025 7:36:50 PM PDT by fluorescence
A Florida man convicted of killing his estranged wife's sister and parents before setting their house on fire was put to death, extending the record number of executions carried out in the Sunshine State this year to 12.
David Pittman, 63, died by lethal injection on Wednesday at 6:12p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. While the drugs were being administered, Pittman took a few deep breaths before ceasing all movement, according to The Associated Press.
"I know you all came to watch an innocent man be murdered by the state of Florida. I am innocent. I didn’t kill anybody. That’s it," Pittman said in his last words, according to a spokesperson for GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed Pittman's death warrant.
Pittman was convicted in 1991 and sentenced to death on three counts of first-degree murder, as well as arson and grand theft, after the killings carried out the year before. Jurors recommended the death penalty with a 9-3 vote.
Pittman and his wife, Marie, were going through a divorce when he went to the home of her parents, Clarence and Barbara Knowles, in May 1990 and fatally stabbed them and their 21-year-old daughter, Bonnie, according to officials.
The Sunshine State has executed more people this year than any other state, with Texas and South Carolina tied for the second-most with four each. Across the U.S., 31 people have been executed so far in 2025.
He then lit the Polk County home on fire and stole Bonnie Knowles' car before also setting the vehicle on fire, investigators said.
Investigators said Pittman had threatened to harm the family several times.
A witness identified Pittman as the man running away from the burning car, and a jailhouse informant testified that Pittman had admitted to the stabbing deaths of his wife's family.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
As usual.
TWELVE in a year...those are rookie numbers.
You really don’t want to commit capitol crimes in Florida.
Let’s see, he murdered in 1990 and now it is 2025. It took over a third of a century for him to meet justice.
The most in the nation. Florida rocks! Some are just miserable about life in general.
And after 35 years all he can come up with for his last words is the totally lame “I didn’t do eet!”
What a loser!
Yeah, going out as a whiner is no way to go. But he fought it for 35 years so I guess it’s not surprising.
“Florida continues to extend record execution year with man put to death for killing wife’s family”
Sounds like justice to me!
~1000 homicides.per year in FL. 12 is about 1%, 1 in 100.
I guess not many of them get the death penalty.
Still, there are 258 sitting on death row, and (according to wikipedia) 115 have exhausted all their appeals and could have their sentence carried out. So 12 is just a small fraction of the backlog.
Dessert at his last meal?
Someone forward this to Utah.
Bear in mind that George Bush, Sr. was still president at that time!
"Justice delayed..."
Regards,
Good. Libs unhappy. Me ecstatic.
Only Texas has more, in TN 30 yrs or more. Our Red gov, in 8 yrs, NONE.
CRIME WAS 35 YEARS AGO !!!!
Rookie numbers. We can do better...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.