Veterans on Florida's Death Row, Part IV

This is Part IV of the latest series from Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty: Veterans on Florida’s Death Row, exploring information about veterans who are or have been on Florida's death row.

Jan 26, 2025

This is Part II of the latest series from Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty: Veterans on Florida’s Death Row.1 In case you missed it, Part I addressed the veterans who have been executed in the State of Florida; it is available here. Part II addressed the veterans who died while on Florida’s death row; it is available here. Part III addressed the 2 veterans who have been exonerated from Florida’s death row as well as the first part of the veterans currently on Florida’s death row; it is available here.

Currently on Death Row

Several prisoners currently on Florida’s death row are U.S. military veterans. The list is in alphabetical order by last name and will be split into parts, as it is too long to be included in just one post. Part III covered A-J. This post covers K-P. The entire list of Florida’s death row prisoners can be found on the Department of Corrections website here.

Anton J. Krawczuk (Lee County)

Anton Krawczuk was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred on September 12, 1990, following a jury’s unanimous recommendation for death.2 The record states that Krawczuk served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

While serving in the Marines, Krawczuk was (1) disciplined for fighting and misusing military equipment, (2) was court martialed for being away without leave, and (3) served six months in military confinement. Krawczuk eventually received an administrative separation from his military service.3

Krawczuk is 65 years old.

Patrick McDowell (Nassau County)

Patrick McDowell was sentenced to death in July 2024 following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 11-1. (Read more here.) McDowell’s military service was a focus of the mitigation the trial court considered at sentencing:

Moderate weight: While he was in high school, McDowell applied for, and was accepted into the U.S. Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program at a time when the United States was heavily engage din a ground war with Iraq and Marines were being killed.
Great weight: McDowell enlisted in the Marines in Florida in 2005 at a time when he knew the United States was still engaged in a ground war in Iraq. During his four-plus years in the Marines, McDowell worked hard and served his country and his unit with distinction, in the United States and abroad. He was promoted in rank to Sergeant, was selected as the Battalion Commander’s radio operator and Personal Security Detail in Jump Platoon and received outstanding performance evaluations and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals. He was respected as a mentor and teacher of junior Marines. He was honorably discharged.
Great weight: McDowell extended his enlistment in the Marines to deploy to a war zone in Iraq.
Great weight: While he was in Iraq, he was singularly responsible for communications between the Battalion Commander and the Battalion and all air support.
Moderate weight: McDowell returned from deployment in Iraq with symptoms of PTSD apparent to his family.¹
Little weight: McDowell formed friendships with Michael Patrick Fowler and others on the Airsoft Team and was a good teammate, giving some members of that team advice about how to enter the military service. He also attended Florida State College in Jacksonville for two semesters to prepare for a job as a firefighter.
Moderate weight: McDowell returned to Iraq as one of the youngest employees of Triple Canopy, a private military contractor, at a time when terrorists and insurgents were still trying to kill Americans. At Forward Operating Base Delta, he worked in the Tactical Operations Center and also assisted at the Entry Point where he observed military casualties and children intentionally burned by their parents. He was present when the base received indirect fire.
Moderate weight: McDowell still suffers from PTSD as a result of his service to his country in the Iraq War - either during his service with the U.S. Marines or his service with Triple Canopy, or both. PTSD is a mental condition that requires treatment to reduce its impact on everyday life.²

McDowell is 38 years old.

TFDP Prior Coverage

David Miller, Jr. (Duval County)

David Miller, Jr. was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1997 following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 7-5.4 The record indicates that Miller served in the U.S. Navy.

Miller is 65 years old.

Everett Miller (Osceola County)

Everett Miller was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 2017 following the jury’s unanimous recommendation for death. On direct appeal, in February 2024, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Miller’s convictions and sentences of death.5 The Court’s opinion indicates that Miller served as a Marine and later as a military contractor. According to witnesses at trial:

Miller was a very good Marine and person, was an imaging analyst before later becoming a targeteer, was involved in targeting strikes into Afghanistan where innocent people were occasionally killed, and had been deployed a few times, including to Afghanistan in 2013. One witness testified Miller had problems sleeping while in Afghanistan and, upon returning, occasionally had nightmares. Another witness acknowledged Miller's military records included a court martial from 1992 in which one of the charges was assault by waving a dangerous weapon. And one witness testified that Miller's decision to leave military contracting was primarily a financial one.6

According to his family members, Miller’s “demeanor changed after leaving the military.”7 He “became depressed and remorseful, was in a downward spiral, tried to get help from Veterans Affairs (VA), and was committed under the Baker Act due to an incident in which he was running around town in his underwear.”8

Miller is 53 years old.

Daniel Peterka (Okaloosa County)

Peterka was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1989 following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 8-4. The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his convictions and sentence of death on direct appeal.

Peterka was discharged from the National Guard due to “illegal conduct.” On postconviction, Peterka argued that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to present his military service as mitigation. His attorney explained it was a tactical decision because he was concerned those on the jury would view his conduct as “besmirching the name of the military.” In determining that Peterka failed to establish prejudice, the Florida Supreme Court wrote:

Military service is not strong mitigation, especially when weighed against the CCP, avoid arrest, and under sentence of imprisonment aggravators.

Peterka is 57 years old.

Leroy Pooler (Palm Beach County)

Leroy Pooler was sentenced to death following a jury recommendation for death by a vote of 9-3. As nonstatutory mitigation at sentencing, the trial court found Pooler’s “honorable service in the military,” which the Court gave considerable weight. On direct appeal in 1997, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed Pooler’s conviction and sentence.

The Florida Supreme Court’s 2008 decision on postconviction further stated that “Pooler's military records revealed that he was charged with at least nineteen different offenses on fifteen different occasions between October 1969 and February 1971 and that he was court-martialed for several of these offenses.”

Pooler is 76 years old.

Carl Puiatti (Pasco County)

Carl Puiatti was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1983. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in his case:

Puiatti quit school when he was 16. When his mother tried to get him to go back, Puiatti told her the family needed him to get a job more. Puiatti later joined the Army to better himself. Puiatti had trouble keeping up in the coursework he had in the Army, and he continued to use drugs. Puiatti requested and received an honorable discharge from the Army. He returned home and found a job, where he met his future wife.9

Puiatti is 62 years old.

Due to the age of some records and the unavailability of some information, it is possible that the lists in this series are incomplete. If you know of a veteran who is not included on the lists in this series, please let me know. Also, for purposes of thoroughness, this series includes those who were discharged from the military.

Krawczuk v. State, 634 So. 2d 1070, 1072 (Fla. 1994).

Krawczuk v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corrs., 873 F.3d 1273, 1279-80 (11th Cir. 2017).

Miller v. State, 926 So. 2d 1243, 1247 (Fla. 2006).

Miller v. State, 379 So. 3d 1109 (Fla. 2024).

Id. at 1117.

Id.

Puiatti v. McNeil, 626 F.3d 1283, 1294 (11th Cir. 2010).

Tracking Florida's Death Penalty

Discussion about this post