Posted on 05/16/2003 7:17:54 AM PDT by klpt
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters) - Florida on Friday executed a man who murdered a Tampa family and cut an unborn baby from the dying mother's womb, killings he said he did not remember because someone spiked his beer with cocaine.
Newton Carlton Slawson, 48, was executed by chemical injection at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. He was pronounced dead at 7:10 a.m., said Alia Faraj, spokeswoman for Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.
Originally scheduled for Thursday, the execution was postponed so a psychiatrist could test Slawson's sanity. Gov. Bush lifted the stay shortly before 1:30 a.m. Friday.
On April 11, 1989, Slawson went to the apartment of his friend Gerald Wood with a revolver and a knife. He shot and killed Wood, 23, and Wood's two children, Jennifer, 4, and Glendon, 3.
He shot and stabbed his friend's wife, 21-year-old Peggy Wood, who was eight months pregnant, then cut the fetus from her. She survived long enough to crawl next door to her mother's home and tell her, "Newt did it."
The unborn baby died of gunshot wounds and cuts.
Slawson was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to die. He was convicted of manslaughter for the death of the unborn child.
Prosecutors said Slawson had fantasies about dismembering women. They showed jurors a Penthouse magazine found in Slawson's car, with images of slashed bellies and dangling entrails sketched over the photos.
Slawson testified that Gerald Wood had given him beer laced with cocaine, making him drunk and numb. He said he did not remember the killings but that he cut the baby from Peggy Woods' body to try to save it.
Defense attorneys said Slawson suffered brain damage from oxygen deprivation during birth and was abused as a child. His mother testified that she frequently whipped him, tied him up and locked him in a closet when he was a boy.
After eight years on death row, Slawson asked to end his legal appeals, telling a judge, "There simply comes a time when death is a release, not a punishment."
Slawson was the 56th person executed in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
What on earth are you talking about? Was this man a physician?
-ccm
What on earth are you talking about? Was this man a physician?
I am not sure, but maybe he refers to abortion doctors.
Also.. anyone who has done cocaine knows that it won't make you psychotic. Even drug warriors won't buy that one.
Does anyone doubt that evil exists?
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.