USA - Jeffrey Hutchinson (FL)

USA - Florida. Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, White, was executed on May 1

May 1, 2025:

May 1, 2025 - Florida. Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, White, was executed on May 1

for murders of his girlfriend and her 3 young children

Jeffrey Hutchinson was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke.

Hutchinson had no last statement but appeared to be mumbling to himself as the procedure started just before 8 p.m. His legs shook sporadically and he seemed to have body spasms for several minutes, then was still. The process took a little more than 15 minutes.

His execution came shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a last appeal without comment.

Hutchinson had long claimed he was innocent and that two unknown assailants perpetrated the killings under a U.S. government conspiracy aimed at silencing his activism on claims of Gulf War illnesses and other issues. Hutchinson served eight years in the Army, part of it as an elite Ranger.

Court records, however, showed that on the night of the killings, Hutchinson argued with his girlfriend, 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, then packed his clothes and guns into a truck. Hutchinson went to a bar and drank beer, telling staff there that Flaherty was angry with him before leaving abruptly.

A short time later, a male caller told a 911 operator, “I just shot my family” from the house Hutchinson and Flaherty shared with the three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda and 4-year-old Logan. All were killed with a 12-gauge shotgun that was found on a kitchen counter. Hutchinson was located by police in the garage with a phone still connected to the 911 center and gunshot residue on his hands.

At his 2001 trial, Hutchinson’s defense was based on his claim that two unknown men came to the house, killing Flaherty and the children after he struggled with them. A jury found Hutchinson guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison for Flaherty’s killing and received three death sentences for the children.

Hutchinson had filed numerous unsuccessful appeals, many focused on mental health problems linked to his Army service. In late April, his lawyers sought to delay his execution by claiming Hutchinson was insane and therefore could not be put to death.

Bradford County Circuit Judge James Colaw rejected that argument in an April 27 order.

Hutchinson becomes the 4^th prisoner executed this year in Florida, the 110th since Florida resumed capital punishment in 1979, the 15th inmate put to death this year in the USA, and the n° 1,622 overall since the nation resumed executions in 1977.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida/2025/05/01/jeffrey-hutchinson-execution-gulf-war-illness-desantis/