Florida Executes Ringleader Of 1993 Panhandle Rape, Murder
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STARKE (CBSMiami/AP) — The ringleader of a 1993 home-invasion robbery that ended with the murder of a Pensacola banker and the rape of the banker's wife, was executed by the state on Thursday.
Johnny Shane Kormondy, 42, was pronounced dead at 8:16 p.m. at Florida State Prison, about 11 minutes after the lethal injection was administered. Kormondy was the 21st inmate executed under Gov. Rick Scott, the same number that occurred under former Gov. Jeb Bush. The executions under Bush occurred over his full two terms, while Scott has just begun his second term. The death penalty was reinstated in Florida in 1979.
The execution was delayed by two hours after Kormondy's lawyers filed a last-minute appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court over the type of lethal drugs used. The appeal was denied.
Kormondy was convicted of the July 1993 murder of Gary McAdams and the rape of McAdams' wife, Cecilia, who had just returned home from her high school reunion late in the evening. The couple was confronted just outside their home by Kormondy and two others, who forced their way inside. Kormondy and his accomplices repeatedly raped Cecilia McAdams, and shot Gary in the back of the head.
The Associated Press doesn't usually identify the victims of sexual assault but Cecilia McAdams has spoken publicly about her rape and her husband's murder. She witnessed Kormondy's execution Thursday night.
"My family and I have waited 21 long years for this day to happen. I have peace, I feel peace. Justice has been served," she said. "His life can't replace what we've lost, but it was the right thing. He needed to die."
Gary McAdams' sister, Terri McAdams, echoed those feelings of relief.
"I am so glad this journey has come to an end with this monster and I won't have to be tormented by his face in the newspaper or his face on TV anymore," she said.
Prosecutors said Kormondy had recruited the two others after watching the McAdams' house in preparation for a burglary, and that he also threatened to kill witnesses who testified at his trial. The two other men were convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
Department of Corrections spokesman McKinley Lewis said Kormondy met with a spiritual adviser and family members on Thursday. For his last meal, Kormondy had fried alligator tail, fried okra, fried shrimp, fried eggs, hash browns, vanilla ice cream and cream soda.
In a final statement, he thanked family members and invoked his Christian faith.
"I pray to Jesus Christ, son of God, I'm coming home," Kormondy said. The actual execution was uneventful, and shorter than most in Florida.
Florida employs a three-drug mixture to execute prisoners: midazolam hydrochloride, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. The drugs are given intravenously, and are designed to first induce unconsciousness, then paralysis and finally cardiac arrest.
Midazolam, a sedative used commonly in surgeries, has been part of the three-drug mixture since 2013. Sodium thiopental was used before that, but its U.S. manufacturer stopped making it and Europe banned its manufacturers from exporting it for executions.
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