In Tallahassee, Florida, plans are underway for the execution of a man who murdered his family in 1994 following his wife’s decision to seek a divorce. The death warrant was issued on Tuesday by Florida’s Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis.
Edward J. Zakrzewski, II, who confessed to the crime in 1996, is slated for execution on July 31, marking the ninth execution in the state for the year 2023. He was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, receiving separate death sentences for the brutal killings of his wife, Sylvia Zakrzewski, and their two young children, Edward, aged 7, and Anna, aged 5.
The heinous crimes occurred on June 9, 1994, in Okaloosa County. Zakrzewski used a crowbar and a machete to beat and fatally strangle his wife, subsequently murdering his children with a machete. The case gained national attention after being featured on the television program “Unsolved Mysteries,” which eventually led to Zakrzewski surrendering to the authorities.
In related news, another inmate on Florida’s death row, Michael Bernard Bell, aged 54, is scheduled to face execution by lethal injection on July 15. Bell was found guilty of murdering two individuals outside a bar.
Recently, Thomas Lee Gudinas, aged 51, who was convicted for a rape and murder in Florida, was executed at Florida State Prison through lethal injection. Florida has carried out six executions in 2023, contrasted with only one execution the previous year.