Typically, when a veteran dies, they are thanked for their service to our country and honored with flags, salutes, and accolades. Instead, tonight, we, the people of the State of Florida, murdered one.
Sergeant Jeffrey “Ranger” Hutchinson was an Army Airborne Ranger and a decorated Gulf War veteran. He bravely served for over a decade in some of the most dangerous combat zones in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. He risked his life for our country.
When Jeff returned home, his family watched helplessly as he struggled with memory problems, terrifying hallucinations, vomiting blood, paranoid delusions, and severe mood swings—all indicators of Gulf War Illness (“GWI”). He became consumed by the belief that he was being surveilled because of “military secrets,” including the devastating effects of his service. His symptoms were minimized, his suffering was ignored, and he was turned away from treatment by the institutions designed to protect him.
Jeff’s post-combat delusional belief system persisted. From the moment law enforcement arrived at the homicide scene until his dying breath tonight, Jeff truly believed he was not responsible for the tragic murders of his girlfriend, Renee Flaherty, and her three children: Logan, Amanda, and Geoffrey. He insisted that the government framed him for the murders to suppress his advocacy for veterans suffering from GWI. He refused to allow his lawyers to present an insanity defense at trial and waived his right to have a jury decide his sentence.
Since arriving on death row 24 years ago, Jeff steadfastly maintained that his execution was not for his crime of committing the murders, but instead to silence his exposure of government secrets, including the identity of the actual perpetrators in his case. Instead of following the proper legal process and allowing sufficient time to determine whether Jeff was competent to be executed, the State conducted a sham proceeding that was nothing more than a rushed, shallow, and politically compromised rubber stamp on the Governor’s handpicked “Commission.” In fact, no Florida Governor’s “Commission” has ever found a person incompetent for execution.
Executing a man who was physically and psychologically shattered by war—a man who never got the treatment or understanding he needed and deserved—is not justice.
The devastating murders for which Jeff was convicted do not erase the sacrifices he made for our nation. The blood of those children and their mother is on our hands too. We failed them all. And that failure did not have to end in more death, and more victims.
Sergeant Hutchinson, thank you for your service.
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