A Florida man convicted of killing his estranged wife’s sister and parents and then setting their house on fire is scheduled to be put to death Wednesday evening.
Houston parents raise safety concerns over special needs school bus transportation issues4 hours ago4 hours agoThis photo provided by Florida Corrections Department shows Samuel Lee Smithers . FILE - Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla.
, Aug. 3, 2023. – A Florida man convicted of killing his estranged wife's sister and parents and setting their house on fire is scheduled to put to death Wednesday, which would be a record 12th execution in the state in 2025., 63, is set to receive a lethal injection starting at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke under a death warrant signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican governor has signed more death warrants this year than any of his predecessors.Victor Tony JonesPittman was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 on three counts of first-degree murder, according to court records. Jurors also found him guilty of arson and grand theft. Pittman and his wife, Marie, were going through a contentious divorce in May 1990, when the killings occurred, and investigators say he had threatened to harm her family several times. Trial testimony showed Pittman cut a phone line at the Mulberry, Florida home of his wife's parents, Clarence Knowles, 60, and his wife, 50-year-old Barbara Knowles. Pittman stabbed the couple to death as well as their other daughter, 21-year-old Bonnie Knowles. Pittman then set their house on fire and stole Bonnie Knowles' car, which he also set ablaze. The family was found dead on May 15 of that year. A witness during his 1991 trial identified Pittman as the person running away from the burning car. A jailhouse informant also testified that Pittman had admitted to the killings. Jurors recommended the death penalty on a 9-3 vote. Pittman's most recent appeals focused on recent evidence indicating he suffers from intellectual disabilities, including an IQ in the low 70s, that was apparent at the time of the killings. His lawyers say his execution would violate the Constitution's protection against putting to death a person with severe mental problems. Lawyers for the state disagreed, contending it is now too late for Pittman to claim mental impairment from years earlier. The Florida Supreme Court, reversing a previous decision, ruled in 2020 that such claims cannot apply retroactively. “Pittman’s underlying intellectual disability claim is meritless. He was not intellectually disabled when he murdered the three victims in 1990 or when he went to trial in 1991,” the state attorneys told the U.S. Supreme Court., with Florida leading the way behind the flurry of death warrants signed by DeSantis. The last execution in Florida was the Aug. 28 lethal injection of 59-year-oldFlorida executions are carried out via a three-drug injection — a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Barbara Knowles U.S. News Curtis Windom Clarence Knowles Tony Jones Bonnie Knowles David Pittman Ron Desantis
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