Florida breaks 50-year execution record with ninth death sentence carried out this year

A Florida man convicted of the 1994 killings of his wife and their two children was put to death on Thursday, marking the ninth execution in the Sunshine State this year and a state record for a single-year total since the death penalty was reinstated in the U.S. nearly 50 years ago.

Edward Zakrzewski, 60, was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke after a three-drug injection, which consists of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.

“I want to thank the good people of the Sunshine State for killing me in the most cold, calculated, clean, humane, efficient way possible. I have no complaint,” Zakrzewski said after the curtain to the death chamber went up shortly after 6 p.m.

Zakrzewski was lying on a gurney covered with a white sheet when the drugs were administered. Before the drugs began flowing, he also quoted from a poem as 14 witnesses, as well as reporters and prison staff, looked on.

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Once the drugs were administered, Zakrzewski began breathing deeply, surrounded by three prison staffers in dark suits. One of them shook Zakrzewski by his shoulders and shouted his name, but there was no reaction and then he became still.

On Thursday morning, Zakrzewski woke at 5:15 a.m. and later in the day had a meal that included fried pork chops, root beer and ice cream, according to state Department of Corrections spokesman Paul Walker, who said Zakrzewski had one visitor and “remained compliant” as his execution time neared.

Zakrzewski was sentenced to death for the June 9, 1994, killings of his wife Sylvia, 34, and their children Edward, 7, and Anna, 5. Trial testimony showed he killed his family at their Okaloosa County home after his wife asked for a divorce. He had told others he would kill his family instead of allowing the divorce to happen.

He first attacked his wife with a crowbar and strangled her with a rope, court testimony showed. The two children were killed with a machete, and Sylvia was also struck with the blade when Zakrzewski believed she had survived the previous attack, according to court records.

Zakrzewski’s lawyers filed several unsuccessful appeals over the years, including a final plea for a stay of execution, which the U.S. Supreme Court denied on Wednesday.

Before he was put to death, opponents of Zakrzewski’s execution pointed to his military service as an Air Force veteran and the fact that a jury narrowly voted 7-5 to recommend his execution. They emphasized that under current state law, he could not have received the death penalty with a split jury vote.

After the Supreme Court restored the U.S. death penalty in 1976, Florida’s previous record for total executions in a year was eight in 2014, which was exceeded on Thursday. A 10th execution is scheduled in the state on Aug. 19 and an 11th on Aug. 28.

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Florida has also carried out more executions this year than any other state, with Texas and South Carolina tied for second with four each.

Across the U.S., 27 men have been put to death so far this year, while nine other people are scheduled for execution in seven states for the rest of the year. Florida was also the last state to execute someone, with Michael Bernard Bell killed on July 15.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.