Death row inmate's chilling final words before execution for killing wife's family

A 63 year old murderer, who has been ondeath rowsince 1991, was executed on Wednesday, marking Florida's 12th execution this year under Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a record tally.

David Joseph Pittman faced the lethal injection just after 6 p. m. ET on Wednesday at the Florida State Prison near Starke, following a death warrant signed by DeSantis. The Republican governor has outpaced all his predecessors in signing death warrants this year.

Before his execution, Pittman asserted his innocence, insisting he was not to blame for the triple murder for which he was about to be executed.

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"I know you all came to watch an innocent man be murdered by the state of Florida. I am innocent. I didn't kill anybody. That's it," read a statement from DeSantis' office, reports the Mirror US.

Pittman, found guilty in 1990 for the murders of three individuals in Mulberry, east of Tampa, and for arson of their home, sought intervention from the Supreme Court last week, requesting a stay of execution and a hearing to challenge the legality of his sentence due to his intellectual disability.

DeSantis' spokesperson, Alex Lanfranconi, confirmed that the execution proceeded without any issues. As the lethal drugs were administered, Pittman drew several deep breaths before falling silent.

The advocacy group Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has called on DeSantis to halt the execution, arguing that the state is responding to violence with more violence. "The death penalty is punishment-as-spectacle, rooted in retribution and hatred. It does not make us safer. It does not deliver justice. It does not prevent future harm. Instead, it normalizes violence, fuels cycles of hate, and deepens our collective wounds," the group expressed in an email last week.

On May 15, 1990, a Mulberry couple and their 21 year old daughter were discovered brutally stabbed to death and then set alight in their home. Witnesses reported flames reaching up to 25 feet high, and investigators deemed the fire "highly suspicious," as it had ravaged the interior of the house, creating an inferno.

During a fraught divorce in May 1990, Pittman was accused of repeatedly threatening to harm his wife Marie's family. The trial revealed that Pittman severed a phone line at the Mulberry, Florida residence of his in-laws, Clarence Knowles, aged 60, and Barbara Knowles, aged 50.

He then murdered the couple and their 21 year old daughter Bonnie Knowles by stabbing them, before setting their house ablaze and fleeing in Bonnie's car, which he also torched. The family's remains were found on the same day of the tragic incident.

He was handed a death sentence the following year on three counts of first-degree murder, as well as grand theft and arson.

Pittman's final appeal was dismissed on Tuesday by the U.S. Supreme Court. On Wednesday, he woke up at 5:45 a.m. and later in the day enjoyed a meal of steak, chicken and biscuits, according to corrections officials.

There was no information available regarding whether he had any visitors as the time for his execution drew near.

As it stands, two more executions are slated for this autumn in Florida. Victor Tony Jones is due to be executed on 30 September for the 1990 murders of two individuals during a robbery, while Samuel Lee Smithers is scheduled for execution on 14 October for the killings of two women in 1996.