Florida Man Is Executed 1 Day After Stay Issued

A Florida man who killed a bailiff in a courtroom shooting and thought he was Jesus Christ was executed by injection Wednesday, one day after he received a reprieve while strapped to the gurney in the death chamber.

Thomas Provenzano, 51, was put to death about an hour before a Virginia man was granted a stay of execution by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Provenzano’s stay had been granted Tuesday, 11 minutes before the scheduled execution. Intravenous needles had already been inserted in his arms

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which had given no reason for its stay, dissolved the order Wednesday morning and Gov. Jeb Bush rescheduled the execution for the evening.

The execution was delayed again Wednesday while the Florida Supreme Court reviewed a stay request received at 6 p.m.--30 minutes before Provenzano was scheduled to die.

Provenzano’s lawyers said his mental condition had deteriorated and asked for time to have him examined by psychiatrists. The request was denied at 6:44 p.m., and seven minutes later Bush told the prison warden to begin the execution.

Provenzano looked at his lawyer, Michael Reiter, and said, “Thanks for everything, Mike.” He was pronounced dead at 7 p.m.

In Virginia, 32-year-old Russel W. Burket received his stay 75 minutes before he was scheduled to die in the electric chair for murdering a woman and her 5-year-old daughter in 1993. The high court granted the stay based on a petition lawyers filed with the court. It remains in effect until the court considers the petition.

Provenzano was executed for the murder of William “Arnie” Wilkerson, one of three bailiffs shot in 1984 when the unemployed electrician opened fire. The other two bailiffs were paralyzed; one has since died.

A trial judge concluded in December that Provenzano believed he faced execution because he was Jesus. But the judge ruled that was not a strong enough reason to spare him, because Provenzano also knew he had killed Wilkerson.

Under Florida law, condemned killers can be executed even if they are mentally ill--unless they don’t understand they are about to be executed and why.

Florida has executed three inmates this year, all by injection. It switched to lethal injection in January to stave off a U.S. Supreme Court review of whether the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment.