The judges must have heard the old joke about the definition of chutzpah, and weren't amused. (Sad update below)
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say goodnight, Louie
Florida’s high court has rejected an appeal from a death row inmate known as the “ninja killer” ahead of his scheduled execution next week.
Attorneys for Louis Gaskin will not appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Gaskin was convicted of first degree murder for killing Robert and Georgette Sturmfels on Dec. 20, 1989, in their home in Flagler County. He was also convicted of armed robbery, burglary and attempting to murder another couple who resided nearby that same night.
Gaskin was dubbed the "ninja killer" for wearing all-black ninja clothing during his crimes and shot his victims with a .22-caliber rifle.
Items Gaskin stole from the Sturmfels' home — a clock, two lamps and a videocassette recorder — were found at his residence. He intended to give the items to his girlfriend for Christmas.
On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court denied Gaskin's request for a stay of execution, which is planned for April 12.
The court rejected arguments that executing him after 30 years constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
If you’re curious, here’s what he did:
Murders
On the night of December 20, 1989, Gaskin walked up to the home of 56-year-old Robert and 55-year-old Georgette Sturmfels with a .22 Caliber rifle and wearing a complete black ninja outfit to avoid identification. Gaskin circled the home to the back window, where Robert was sitting in a recliner, and Georgette sat on the sofa. Gaskin fired his gun, shooting Robert five times, killing him, and shooting Georgette once. Georgette was still alive on the first shot, so Gaskin reloaded his gun and shot Georgette in the head, killing her.
A few hours later, Gaskin drove up to the home of Joseph and Mary Rector. As the Rector's watched the television, Gaskin unloaded his rifle into the home, hitting Joseph. Joseph was able to run out of the room. Mary and Joseph took cover in a closet until they heard Gaskin smash the back window, so they ran out to the car, where Gaskin started firing at them from inside the house. All of the bullets missed, and the Rectors were able to get in their car and drive away to a nearby hospital. The police were called, and after a search of the home, it was clear the perpetrator had ransacked it.
When the murders became public, Gaskin became a suspect almost immediately after his girlfriend's cousin implicated Gaskin in the killings, saying that Gaskin came home soon after the killings and said he was wrapping some "presents."
Arrest and conviction
Gaskin was arrested on December 30. Initially, he denied any involvement in the murders. However, he later confessed to the murders and said the killings were completely random. He confessed in a taped statement to having urges to kill. He also confessed to killing a coworker back in 1986. After a search of Gaskin's home, the "presents" were determined to be from the Sturmfels' property. After a two-month trial in July 1990, Gaskin was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, and he was given two death sentences. He is currently incarcerated at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida.
On March 13, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis signed Gaskin's death warrant for April 12, 2023.
More details on the crime, less sanitized than the Wikipedia piece, can be found here. The strongest argument for the death penalty, in my opinion, is that, even if it’s rarely administered, and even then only after decades, prisoners on death row are usually locked in solitary confinement 23 hours a day, as Gaskin has been. The last death row prisoner CT executed before abolishing that penalty was serial killer Michael Ross, who found life on death row so awful that he ordered his attorneys to drop all pending appeals, and begged to be killed. The state obliged.
