Veterans on Florida's Death Row, Part II
Welcome to Part II 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.
Welcome to 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 14 veterans who have been executed in the State of Florida. It is available here.
Died on Death Row
In addition to the 14 who have been executed, at least 12 military veterans died while on Florida’s death row under a sentence of death.2
Lloyd Chase Allen (Monroe County)
Lloyd Chase Allen was sentenced to death following the jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 11-1.3 On direct appeal in 1995, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence of death.4 In its opinion, the Court wrote:
As noted in the sentencing order in this case, even though the two nonstatutory mitigating factors of family background and military service were not argued to the court, the court found evidence of these factors contained within the record. Both the presentence investigation report and the psychological evaluations, which are part of the record in this case, contain evidence to support the mitigating circumstances found by the judge.5
Allen died on July 29, 2015, after over 20 years on Florida’s death row. He was 69 years old.
Stephen Booker (Alachua County)
Stephen Booker was sentenced to death following the jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 9-3.6 Booker testified at the penalty phase, in part about his military service. He served in Okinawa and spent time “in various hospitals, including Camp Codie Medical Center on Okinawa and Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C. while he was in the armed services.”7
Booker died on November 3, 2022, after almost 50 years on Florida’s death row. He was 69 years old.
James Card (Bay County)
James Card was sentenced to death in 1982. At sentencing, the trial court considered Card’s “good military record” as mitigation. Specifically, the trial court considered that “Card served in the Army National Guard and received an honorable discharge” and assigned it some weight.8
Card died on April 10, 2021, after almost 40 years on Florida’s death row. He was 74 years old.
Andrew Gosciminski (St. Lucie County)
Andrew Gosciminski was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 2002 following the jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 9-3.9 At sentencing, the trial court considered Gosciminski’s military service as mitigation. Specifically, the trial court considered that “Gosciminski served in the United States Air Force and was honorably discharged,” which the court assigned moderate weight.10
Gosciminski died on November 13, 2020, after 11 years on Florida’s death row. He was 67 years old.
Harold Hooper (Nassau County)
Harold Hooper was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in mid-1982. As mitigation at sentencing, the trial court considered that Hooper “served in the U.S. Army in 1960.”11
DOC’s records do not reflect Hooper’s death. However, a Tampa Bay Times article published April 24, 1992, says Hooper died from cancer while on Florida’s death row after “fighting for nearly a decade to stay out of the electric chair.”12 At the time of his death, he had a claim of innocence pending.13
Thomas Pope
Pope was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder for crimes that occurred in 1981. At trial, against Pope’s wishes, the defense focused on Pope’s military service, presenting a “Vietnam syndrome defense,” as Pope called it on direct appeal.14 The jury recommended two sentences of life and one sentence of death. The jury recommended death by a vote of 9-3.15 At sentencing the trial court considered “Pope's service in Vietnam and honorable discharge from the Marines” as mitigation.16
TFDP Prior Coverage
Eddie Sexton, Sr. (Hillsborough County)
Eddie Sexton, Sr. was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1993 when Sexton was 52. The jury recommended death by a vote of 8-4.17 In the Sentencing Order, the trial court stated that it considered Sexton’s “military service” in mitigation.18 However, Sexton’s trial counsel decided not to present much information about Sexton’s army service because “he id not think that information would have been helpful or mitigating.”19
Sexton died on December 29, 2010, after 12 years on Florida’s death row. He was 68 years old.
Lawrence Singleton (Hillsborough County)
Lawrence Singleton was sentenced to death for crimes that occurred in 1997 following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 10-2.20 At sentencing, the trial court considered that “Singleton had served honorably in the armed forces” as mitigation.21
Singleton died on December 29, 2001, after 3.5 years on Florida’s death row. He was 74 years old.
William Turner (Duval County)
William Turner was sentenced to death for killing his estranged wife and her roommate. At trial, his attorney presented evidence of his military service.22 Specifically, there was testimony that Turner “was in the military, had served in Viet Nam, had served in some combat, had at one time achieved the rank of sergeant, had gotten in some difficulty and lost a stripe and had an honorable discharge.”23
Turner died on July 30, 2014, after almost 30 years on Florida’s death row. He was 69 years old.
John Vining (Orange County)
John Vining was sentenced to death following a jury’s recommendation for death by a vote of 11-1.24 At sentencing, the trial court considered Vining’s military service as mitigation but gave it little weight.25 “[T]he court concluded that it was entitled to little weight as it ended over thirty years ago, involved no sacrifice, and amounted to a government job from which Vining received a number of benefits.”26
Vining died on April 8, 2014, after 24 years on Florida’s death row - almost exactly to the day. He was 83 years old.
Fred Way (Hillsborough County)
Fred Way was sentenced to death on two counts of first-degree murder following the jury’s recommendations for death by a vote of 7-5.27 As mitigation at sentencing, the trial court considered Way’s “four years of service in the Air Force and twelve years of service in the air force reserves.”28
Way died on May 15, 2006, after 22 years on Florida’s death row. He was 61 years old.
James Winkles (Pinellas County)
While serving a life sentence for another crime, Winkles confessed to murders that occurred to murders that occurred in 1980 and 1981.29 The confessions came decades after the crimes. Winkles waived his right to penalty phase jury and was sentenced to two sentences of death.30 At sentencing, the trial court considered Winkles’ military service as mitigation but assigned it no weight.31
Winkles died on September 9, 2010, after 7 years on Florida’s death row. He was 69 years old.
The chart below summarizes the amount of time these 12 prisoners spent on Florida’s death row before their death:
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. Thank you to the Death Penalty Information Center for their assistance with research.
Information regarding prisoners’ sentences and deaths can be found on the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) website here. This post was updated after it was originally published to include Thomas Pope.
In addition to those listed in this post, the Death Penalty Information Center reports that William Elledge, who died on Florida’s death row in on April 22, 2008, and Michael Lockhart, who was executed in Texas while under a Florida sentence of death, were veterans. I was not able to independently confirm their military service, so they are not included here.
Allen v. State, 662 So. 2d 323, 327 (Fla. 1995).
Id. at 332.
Id. at 330.
Booker v. Wainwright, 703 F.2d 1251, 1254 n.5 (11th Cir. 1983).
Id. at 1257.
Card v. State, 803 So. 2d 613, 618-19 (Fla. 2001).
Gosciminski v. State, 994 So. 2d 1018, 1022 (Fla. 2008).
Id.
Hooper v. State, 476 So. 2d 1253, 1258 (Fla. 1985).
It’s a long wait to die on state’s death row, Tampa Bay Times (Apr. 24, 1992), https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/04/24/it-s-a-long-wait-to-die-on-state-s-death-row/.
See id.
Pope v. State, 569 So. 2d 1241, 1245 (Fla. 1990).
Pope v. State, 237 So. 3d 926, 926 (Fla. 2018).
Pope v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Coors., 752 F.3d 1254, 1259 (11th Cir. 2014).
Sexton v. State, 997 So. 2d 1073, 1077 (Fla. 2008).
Id. at 1078.
Id. at 1082.
Singleton v. State, 783 So. 2d 970, 972 (Fla. 2001).
Id. at 973.
Turner v. Dugger, 614 So. 2d 1075, 1078 (Fla. 1992).
Turner v. Crosby, 339 F.3d 1247, 1255 (11th Cir. 2003).
Vining v. State, 637 So. 2d 921, 924 (Fla. 1994).
Id.
Id. at 928.
Way v. State, 760 So. 2d 903, 907-08 (Fla. 2000).
Id. at 920.
Winkles v. State, 894 So. 2d 842, 843-44 (Fla. 2005).
Id. at 845.
Id.