Florida executes man for the murder and rape of a neighbor in 1998

Florida executed Norman Mearle Grim Jr., 65, convicted of the 1998 rape and murder of his neighbor, Cynthia Campbell, by lethal injection on Tuesday. According to the Department of Corrections, the execution was consummated at 18:14 local time (22:14 GMT) at the Florida State Prison near Starke. Grim had waived further appeals in early October, and his death sentence - imposed in 2000 - became final.

According to court records cited by AP, Campbell, 41, an attorney, was reported missing in 1998 and a fisherman near the Pensacola Bay Bridge found her body. The prosecution detailed that the victim presented multiple blows to the face and head -compatible with a hammer- and 11 stab wounds to the chest, seven of them with cardiac penetration. DNA evidence and other physical evidence linked Grim to the crime, for which he was convicted of sexual assault and first-degree murder.

Grim's execution is the 15th carried out by Florida in 2025, extending the state's annual record. Nationally, there are 41 executions so far this year, the most since 2012 (when there were 43). Florida uses a three-drug protocol - sedative, paralytic and a heart-stopping agent - to apply capital punishment.