State Prepares to Execute Inmate Who Killed to Receive Death Penalty

By Ron Word Associated Press Writer
Published: May 25, 2004

Barring a last-minute stay, Blackwelder is scheduled to die at 6 p.m. EDT Tuesday at Florida State Prison for the May 6, 2000, murder of Raymond Wiley, a convict serving a life term for murder. At the time of the slaying, Blackwelder was serving a life term without parole for a series of sex convictions.

In an interview on Tuesday, Blackwelder said he had manipulated the state to guarantee his death.

"I will be glad tomorrow to lay on the gurney and tomorrow you (Gov. Jeb Bush) will get another kill," said Blackwelder, 49, formerly of Fort Pierce.

After a visit from his sister, Jean Gardner of Okechobee, on Tuesday morning, Blackwelder was to be served a final meal of pizza, with cheese, onions, green peppers, ground beef and mushrooms, plus a salad and Coke.

Blackwelder pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Court records show he lured Wigley into his cell with the promise of a sex act, tied Wigley to the bed and strangled him as he begged for mercy.

"I am sorry for killing Wigley, but to get what I wanted, I had to," Blackwelder said. Wigley was convicted of the rape, torture and murder of Adella Maria Simmons, 47, in 1983.

Blackwelder is scheduled to die on the 25th anniversary of the execution of John Spenkelink, the first Florida inmate and the second in the country to be executed after the Supreme Court made states redo their death penalty laws.

Blackwelder said Wigley, 39, of Fort Worth, Texas, is the only person he has killed. He claimed he was innocent of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in St. Lucie County which put him in prison for life.

Blackwelder said he was fearful that his execution would be put off until the fall so it could be used politically by Gov. Bush and President Bush.

The governor did not directly comment on Blackwelder's statements.

"People have to remember what actually happened here," Bush said. "This was a man who was on death row because he murdered somebody."

Psychologists claim Blackwelder is a pedophile who has been diagnosed as having impulse control disorder and anti-social personality disorder.

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Blackwelder's conviction and death sentence in July after an automatic appeal. Blackwelder then filed a motion to waive any more appeals.

Anti-death penalty activist Abe Bonowitz, with Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said Blackwelder's death wish was "suicide by governor."

Six of the last 10 inmates have opted to drop their appeals to speed up their executions.

Blackwelder abruptly ended his interview by saying, "I can't kill myself. I'm not suicidal. I can get the state to do it for me."

AP-ES-05-25-04 0254EDT