Florida
Man executed for 1984 killings of teenage babysitter, mother of 2
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man was executed Thursday for killing a 14-year-old babysitter and a 38-year-old mother of two in separate attacks months apart in 1984 while children were sleeping in the homes he targeted.
Duane Owen was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. One of Florida’s longest-held death row inmates, Owen was 23 at the time of the attacks and 62 when he was executed.
Owen declined to make a final statement. The procedure began at 6:01 p.m., with Owen’s arms twitching and his breathing becoming heavier as the sedative took effect. The warden made sure Owen was unconscious before before lethal drugs were administered.
Several family members of the victims witnessed the execution. No one in the witness room spoke.
Owen was sentenced to death for the March 24, 1984, rape and fatal stabbing of Karen Slattery, 14, and for the rape and deadly hammer attack two months later on Georgianna Worden, 38. Both killings occurred in Palm Beach County.
Authorities said Owen attacked two other women in Palm Beach County who survived. All four attacks occurred just before and after Owen’s 23rd birthday. Of the more than 290 people on Florida’s death row, Owen was one of the longest held there.
Besides his death sentences, he also had received six life sentences.
It was Florida’s fourth execution this year after a hiatus in which there were none since 2019. Gov. DeSantis, a Republican, signed each of the death warrants in the months before announcing he was running for president.
Slattery was repeatedly stabbed and raped in a home in Delray Beach while two children in her care were sleeping. The children weren’t harmed during the attack.
Two months later, in May 1984, Worden was sleeping in her Boca Raton home when Owen struck her several times with a hammer and raped her, according to court records. One of Worden’s children found her body the next morning while getting ready for school, according to the record.
Delray Beach and Boca Raton are both about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Miami, in Palm Beach County.
Owen’s lawyers had argued that he shouldn’t be executed on grounds of insanity. The state Supreme Court rejected his latest appeal last week and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected it Wednesday.
Owen’s lawyers had also argued that he was schizophrenic and suffered from delusions.
Prosecutors had argued that while Owen had mental health issues, nothing would preclude his being executed because he was aware it was punishment for his crimes. Psychiatrists for the state testified that Owen’s schizophrenia was an act that he discussed when being evaluated, but he otherwise showed no signs of the illness.
And while the defense had argued Owen had dementia and gender dysphoria, psychiatrists for the state said Owen had a good memory, didn’t appear to present himself as female and that gender dysphoria doesn’t make people more aggressive or cause delusional thinking. They said instead that Owen was sexually sadistic, according to court records.
Washington
Guardsman indicted on charges of disclosing classified national defense information
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Massachusetts Air National Guardsman accused of leaking highly classified military documents has been indicted on federal felony charges, the Justice Department said Thursday.
Jack Teixeira faces six counts in the indictment of willful retention and transmission of national defense information.
He was arrested in April on charges of sharing highly classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other top national security issues in a chat room on Discord, a social media platform that started as a hangout for gamers. The stunning breach exposed to the world unvarnished secret assessments of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the capabilities and geopolitical interests of other nations and other national security issues.
“As laid out in the indictment, Jack Teixeira was entrusted by the United States government with access to classified national defense information — including information that reasonably could be expected to cause exceptionally grave damage to national security if shared,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement announcing the indictment.
Each count in the indictment is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
A judge last month ordered him to remain jailed as he awaits trial, saying that releasing Teixeira would pose a risk that he would attempt to flee the country or obstruct justice.
His family has expressed support for him, and his lawyers had pressed the judge to release him to his father, saying he has no criminal history.
Indiana
Attorneys allege poor treatment against man accused of killing two girls
DELPHI, Ind. (AP) — Attorneys for an Indiana man accused of killing two teenage girls six years ago argued before a judge Thursday that the man has been mistreated at the prison he is housed in, requesting relocation to a different facility.
A prosecutor in the case also said the man confessed multiple times to the murders while incarcerated, something his defense attorneys attributed to his declining mental state.
Richard Matthew Allen was arrested October 2022 on two counts of murder in the killings of Abigail Williams, 13, and Liberty German, 14, whose bodies were found Feb. 15, 2017, outside their hometown of Delphi, Indiana, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis, in Carroll County. A relative had dropped the girls off at a hiking trail near the Monon High Bridge, and their bodies were found the next day, Feb. 14, 2017, in a rugged, heavily wooded area near the trail.
Attorney Brad Rozzi said Thursday that since Allen’s incarceration in Westville Correctional Facility in Westville, Indiana, Allen has been treated more stringently than other inmates, including in surveillance and restraint measures. Allen’s lawyers filed the emergency motion in April, citing in court filings a “dramatic change in Mr. Allen’s condition, including his change in demeanor, change in appearance and change in his overall mental status.” They said his “incriminating” statements were the result of this stressful environment.
Law enforcement officers, as well as the warden of the correctional facility, however, testified Allen’s treatment was no different than other inmates. Allen has been in the Indiana Department of Correction facility since November 2022.
Such decisions about Allen’s living situation were made to protect his safety, officers said, as they believe he could be a target of other inmates because the case involves children. Moving him to a new local facility could endanger him, as well as put additional burdens on staff, said Carroll County Sheriff Tony Liggett.
Attorneys for Allen have suggested Cass County, north of Carroll County by about 22 miles (35 kilometers), which is a shorter drive for them, Rozzi said.
“To the extent that it’s convenient for me, it’s convenient for him,” Rozzi said Thursday.
Allen County Judge Fran Gull, who was assigned to the case after the original judge recused himself, did not immediately decide on the motion.
Max Baker, an intern on the case, testified Thursday that he had met Allen four times in meetings at the correctional facility. In those meetings, Allen was increasingly “anxious” and had difficulty maintaining a “rational exchange,” often repeating himself in their conversations. Though he met Allen once in December 2022 and three times last month, Baker said he had to reintroduce himself to Allen every time.
Carroll County prosecutor Nicholas McLeland doubted whether changing facilities would benefit Allen, questioning whether it would be “any different,” as officials testified such steps could still be taken to ensure Allen’s security.
“This is about convenience for Mr. Rozzi,” he added.
Gull and the attorneys also set tentative trial dates for early January 2024. A jury for that trial will be selected from Allen County and conducted in Carroll County.
Michigan
Detroit-area man gets 14 years in prison for fighting for Islamic State
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit-area man who was captured on a Syrian battlefield in 2018 fighting for Islamic State was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison.
Ibraheem Izzy Musaibli of Dearborn was convicted in January of providing support to a designated terrorist organization.
“For his betrayal of our nation and his fellow citizens, he is deserving of a long sentence,” U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said.
Musaibli, 32, traveled to Yemen in 2015 and continued his research into Islamic State, including downloading propaganda from the group and a book on how to get into Syria, according to trial evidence.
“ISIS assigned him to a military fighting battalion, and Musaibli spent at least nine months fighting on the front lines,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Moon said in a court filing.
Musaibli’s sentence is far short of the 35-year term requested by prosecutors. Defense attorneys sought a 10-year prison term. Musaibli will get credit for five years spent in custody since being charged.
His lawyers said Musaibli was a troubled man who was “manipulated by propaganda” and turned out to be an ineffective Islamic State supporter.
“Mr. Musaibli saw himself as a failure. ... Like many young men looking for redemption, he thought heroic glory on the battlefield would earn him the respect of his family and others,” James Gerometta said in a court filing.
