Florida has ramped up executions under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, with a man known as the “ninja killer” set to die Wednesday for the 1989 slayings of a couple visiting the state from New Jersey.
Louis Bernard Gaskin, 56, was scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. by lethal injection for the deaths of Robert Sturmfels, 56, and Georgette Sturmfels, 55, on Dec. 20, 1989, in their Flagler County winter home on Florida’s northeast coast.
It will be the state’s 100th execution since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. There are another 297 people on Florida’s death row.
Gaskin, who was dubbed the “ninja killer” because he wore all-black ninja clothing during the crimes, shot his victims with a .22-caliber rifle, investigators said. He was convicted of first-degree murder.
“The guilt was always there. The devil had more of a hold than God did. I knew that I was wrong. I wasn’t insane.”
Gaskin said.
Property that he stole from the Sturmfels’ home — a clock, two lamps and a videocassette recorder — was found at his residence and were intended to be Christmas gifts for his girlfriend, according to investigators.
He was also convicted of armed robbery, burglary and the attempted murder of another couple who lived nearby that same night.
DeSantis has been signing death warrants at a rapid pace this year as he prepares his widely expected presidential campaign. He only oversaw two executions in his first four years in office, both in 2019.
Jurors voted 8-4 in 1990 to recommend the death sentence, which the judge accepted. Florida law now requires a unanimous jury vote for capital punishment, although the Legislature could send DeSantis a bill this week that would allow 8-4 jury recommendations for capital punishment.
The state and U.S. supreme courts have rejected appeals Gaskin filed since his death warrant was signed, with the latest denial coming Tuesday.
