Hammer

Florida executed Curtis Wilkie Beasley, 77, Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison near Starke, pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. following a three-drug lethal injection, for the 1995 murder of Carolyn Monfort, 62, whom he beat to death with a claw hammer while staying at her Dundee home doing painting work. Investigators found her body in a blood-splattered laundry room after her daughter could not reach her; a bloody hammer was recovered nearby, and Monfort's blood was found on a shirt identified as Beasley's. Prosecutors said Beasley took Monfort's car and fled, eventually to Alabama, where he was arrested working under a fake name for an electrical company. Convicted and sentenced to death in 1998, Beasley apologized for "all the mistakes" he made in a final statement but had long maintained his innocence. The Florida Supreme Court rejected appeals citing his age and cognitive decline, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal without comment.

This was Florida's 16th execution and the 29th nationally this year, and the seventh Florida execution this year of a prisoner over 70, as the state nears last year's record of 19. Two more Florida executions are scheduled for October, though Gov. Ron DeSantis has paused one pending a competency evaluation of William Lee Thompson, 74, amid dementia concerns. William Reaves, 77, is set for execution Oct. 20. Tennessee separately executed Christa Pike this week, its first execution of a woman in 200 years.

Florida executed Curtis Wilkie Beasley, 77, Tuesday for the 1995 murder of Carolyn Monfort, whom he beat to death with a hammer in her Dundee home while working nearby. He fled in her stolen car, was later arrested in Alabama under a false name, and was convicted and sentenced to death in 1998. The Florida Supreme Court rejected appeals arguing his age and cognitive decline made execution cruel and unusual punishment, and a final appeal was pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. He became the seventh Florida prisoner over age 70 executed this year and the nation's 29th overall.

Florida has carried out the majority of U.S. executions in 2025, approaching last year's record of 19. Two more Florida executions remain scheduled: William Lee Thompson, 74, set for October 13, whose case has been paused by Gov. Ron DeSantis pending a competency evaluation over possible dementia; and William Reaves, 77, scheduled for October 20. Separately, Tennessee planned to execute Christa Pike on Wednesday, marking its first execution of a woman in 200 years.