[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----FLORIDA, USA

[Rick Halperin]

May 23



FLORIDA----execution

Serial killer who took 10 women’s lives executed in Florida


A serial killer who terrorized Florida with a 1984 spree that claimed the lives 
of 10 women was put to death Thursday, his execution witnessed by the woman who 
survived one of his attacks and aided in his capture.

Inmate Bobby Joe Long was pronounced dead at 6:55 Thursday after a lethal 
injection at Florida State Prison, authorities said. Long had no last words, 
simply closing his eyes as the procedure began, witnesses said.

The killer terrified the Tampa Bay area for 8 months in 1984 as women began 
showing up dead, their bodies often left in gruesome poses. Most of the victims 
were strangled. Some had their throats slit. Others were bludgeoned.

Law enforcement had few clues until the case of Lisa Noland, who survived one 
of Long's attacks. She witnessed Thursday's execution from the front row and 
appeared teary-eyed as she left the death chamber.

Only 17 years old in 1984, Noland was abducted by Long outside a church that 
year. He raped her but ultimately let her go free. She left evidence of his 
crimes on the scene and gave police details that lead to his capture.

Long confessed to the crimes, receiving 28 life sentences and one death 
sentence for the murder of 22-year-old Michelle Simms. Another witness to the 
execution wore a polo shirt with a photo of one victim on the front and the 
words "Gone But Not Forgotten." On the back were photos of all 10 victims and 
the words, "The Ones That Matter."

Noland became the victim Long let go. The day before her abduction, she'd 
written a suicide note, planning to end her life after years of sexual abuse by 
her grandmother's boyfriend.

But she ended up using heroic use of that history.

"At the time he put the gun to my head, it was nothing new to me," she told The 
Associated Press on Wednesday.

She said she knew from her past abuse that if she fought Long, it would further 
enrage him.

"I had to study this guy," she said. "I had to learn who he was, what made him 
tick. If I did the wrong move, could it end my life? So literally, the night 
before I wrote a suicide note out, and now I was in a position where I had to 
save my life."

Investigators were baffled by the trail of bodies Long left in the Tampa Bay 
area. Artiss Ann Wick was the 1st woman killed, in March 1984. 9 victims 
followed.

Law enforcement had few clues until Noland told her story.

Noland said Wednesday that she wanted to hear Long's final words even though 
she wouldn't be able to address him.

But if she could, it would be this, she had said: "I would say 'Thank you for 
choosing me and not another 17-year-old girl.'"

"Another 17-year-old girl probably wouldn't have been able to handle it the way 
that I have," she said.

Long moved from West Virginia to the Miami area as a child and was raised by 
his mother, a cocktail waitress. After high school, he married his childhood 
sweetheart, but the relationship became violent. The ex-wife, Cindy Brown , 
told AP she recalls fearing for her life as the attacks grew worse, including a 
day he choked her and knocked her unconscious.

Investigators gave the serial killer the moniker "The Classified Ad Rapist" 
while trying to solve dozens of rapes. Long would go through classified ads and 
make appointments to see items for sale. If a woman answered the door and was 
alone, he'd rape her.

In the AP interview Wednesday, Noland described her attack in excruciating 
detail: the church where Long abducted her, the gun he pressed to her head, the 
bright light she could see on the car's dashboard beneath the edge of her 
blindfold. It said Magnum, as in Dodge Magnum.

She was menstruating, and she made sure she left blood evidence on the backseat 
of his car. She could tell the direction they were driving and when they were 
on Interstate 275 north of Tampa. When she was brought to the killer's 
apartment, she counted the steps up to the second floor. When he let her use 
the bathroom, she made sure she left fingerprints everywhere.

She knew she couldn't make him angry. She appealed to a glimmer of kindness he 
showed while he washed her hair after raping her repeatedly. She asked what 
made him do what he did. He said he had suffered a bad breakup and hated women. 
She told him he seemed nice and that maybe she could be his girlfriend. She 
wouldn't tell anyone.

Long later got Noland dressed. He let her loose and told her not to take the 
blindfold off for 5 minutes. She got out of the car and tripped on the curb. 
Long caught her before she fell. She waited for what seemed like an eternity 
and pulled off the blindfold. She was in front of a tree in another churchyard.

Today, she claims that tree as hers, and included it in the design of a T-shirt 
she made to mark Long's execution.

And she's joined the ranks of the law enforcement officers who captured Long. 
She's a deputy with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the same 
department she helped lead to Long's arrest.

Long becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Florida 
and the 98th overall since the state resumed capital punishment in
1979.  Only Texas (561), Virginia (113), and Oklahoma (112) have executed more 
inmates since the death penalty was re-legalized in the US on July 2, 1976.

Long becomes the 8th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA 
and the 1,498th overall since the nation resumed executions on January 17, 
1977.

The nation's next scheduled execution is 1 week away, where Christopher Price 
in Alabama is scheduled to die by lethal injection.

(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)



***************************







USA----countdown to nation's 1500th execution

With the executions of Bobby Joe Long in Florida on May 23, the USA has
now executed 1,498 condemned individuals since the death penalty was
re-legalized on July 2, 1976 in the US Supreme Court Gregg v Georgia
decision.

Gary Gilmore was the 1st person executed, in Utah, on January 17, 1977. Below
is a list of scheduled executions as the nation approaches a terrible milestone
of 1500 executions in the modern era.


NOTE: The list is likely to change over the coming months as new execution
dates are added and possible stays of execution occur.



1499-------May 30-------------Christopher Price--------Alabama

1500------July 31-------------Ruben Gutierrez----------Texas

1501------Aug. 15-------------Dexter Johnson-----------Texas

1502-------Aug. 15------------Stephen West-------------Tennessee

1503-------Aug. 21------------Larry Swearingen---------Texas

1504-------Sept. 4------------Billy Crutsinger---------Texas

1505-------Sept. 10-----------Mark Anthony Soliz-------Texas

1506-------Sept. 12-----------Warren Henness-----------Ohio

1507-------Oct. 2-------------Stephen Barbee-----------Texas


Learn more about efforts to #StopThe1500th Execution and how you can be
involved at
http://deathpenaltyaction.org/1500th [deathpenaltyaction.org]

(source: Rick Halperin)