Florida ‘Ninja Killer’ Louis Gaskin is executed for shooting a couple visiting New Jersey in 1989 – as Ron DeSantis quickly signs execution orders for three prisoners within three months
- Louis Bernard Gaskin, 56, was executed at 6 p.m. ET by lethal injection at the Florida State Penitentiary in Stark, 40 miles southeast of Jacksonville.
- Gaskin admitted to killing Robert Stormfiles, 56, and Georgette Stormfiles, 55, on December 20, 1989, at their winter home in Flagler County.
- Gaskin dressed as an all-black ninja when he shot them: then he stole a watch, two flashlights, and a video recorder that were supposed to be Christmas gifts.
Florida has executed a 56-year-old known as the “Ninja Killer,” who fatally shot a New Jersey couple in 1989 and robbed their winter home for Christmas gifts.
Dressed in an all-black ninja outfit, Louis Bernard Gaskin confessed to the crime he committed.
“The guilt was always there,” Gaskin said. Satan had more control than God. I knew I was wrong. I wasn’t crazy.
Juries voted 8 to 4 in 1990 to recommend the death penalty, which the judge approved. Florida law now requires a unanimous jury vote for the death penalty.
Kayla McLaughlin-Smith, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said Gaskin woke up at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday and ate his last meal at 9:45 a.m.
His final meal included roast pork ribs, ham and turkey neck, buffalo wings, shrimp fried rice, french fries, and water.
Louis Gaskin, 56, was executed in a Florida state prison Wednesday night for the 1989 murders of Robert and Georgette Stormvilles.
Gaskin was photographed during his trial. He confessed to the murder and told a psychiatrist that he was not insane
Gaskin was photographed during his trial. A jury sentenced him to death in 1990
Gaskin murdered the Sturmfels in their Flagler County home (pictured) in December 1989
Gaskin’s execution took place at the Florida State Penitentiary in Raiford, 40 miles southeast of Jacksonville.
None of the victims’ relatives attended.
Protesters outside demanded an end to the death penalty, claiming that Gaskin was mentally ill.
“Louis Gaskin, a mentally deranged black man who was sentenced to death by a non-consensual all-white jury, is scheduled to be executed in Florida at 6 p.m.,” the ACLU wrote on Twitter.
No one should be killed by the state. Now is the time to end the unfair and cruel racist death penalty.
The state and US Supreme Court have denied the appeals Gaskin has filed since the death warrant was signed, with the latest denial arriving on Tuesday.
Members of Florida for Alternatives to the Death Penalty sent a petition to Governor Ron DeSantis, signed by 350 religious leaders, asking for clemency and saying the jury was not told about Gaskin’s traumatic childhood—which included being subjected to incest, and being forced to eat food. floor and endure “extreme family dysfunction”.
Anti-death penalty activists are seen Wednesday outside the Florida State Penitentiary
The demonstrators pleaded with Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, to halt the execution, but he refused
But DeSantis has been signing death warrants at a rapid pace this year as he prepares for his widely anticipated presidential campaign.
He has only overseen two executions in his first four years in office, both in 2019.
The execution comes six weeks after the execution of Donald Delbeck, 59, for the murder of Faye Van, 44, in 1990 in Tallahassee.
It’s also three weeks before Darryl B. Barwick is scheduled to be executed for the murder of Rebecca Wendt, 24, in 1986 in Panama City.
If Barwick’s execution goes ahead as expected, it will be the shortest period there have been three executions in Florida since three were carried out in the space of 36 days in 2014.
Gaskin’s death will mark the state’s 100th execution since the death penalty was reintroduced in 1976.
An additional 297 people are on death row in Florida.
