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14h ago

Florida Executes David Pittman for 1990 Triple Murder, Setting Record With 12th Execution This Year

A 2020 Florida ruling limiting retroactive mental‑impairment claims left his case barred once the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene.

FILE - Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Curt Anderson, file)
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Overview

  • Pittman, 63, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. ET after a three‑drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison, and officials reported no complications.
  • He was convicted in 1991 of murdering Clarence and Barbara Knowles and their 21-year-old daughter, Bonnie, in Mulberry, with jurors recommending death by a 9–3 vote alongside arson and grand theft convictions.
  • In his final statement, Pittman asserted he was innocent, saying witnesses came to watch an innocent man be murdered by the state.
  • Defense lawyers argued he is intellectually disabled with an IQ in the low 70s, but state and federal courts rejected the late claims following the U.S. Supreme Court’s denial on Tuesday.
  • Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed an unprecedented number of death warrants this year, with two more Florida executions scheduled for Sept. 30 (Victor Tony Jones) and Oct. 14 (Samuel Lee Smithers) as the U.S. records its highest annual execution total in a decade.