John Marek (murderer)

John Richard Marek (September 17, 1961 – August 19, 2009) was an American death row inmate at Florida State Prison for the rape and murder of a woman in 1983.[1] Marek was executed on August 19, 2009.[2]

John Marek
Born
John Richard Marek

(1961-09-17)September 17, 1961
United States
DiedAugust 19, 2009(2009-08-19) (aged 47)
Florida State Prison, Raiford, Florida, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)First degree murder
Kidnapping
Attempted burglary
Criminal penaltyDeath sentence

Kidnapping and murder

On June 16, 1983, Adella Marie Simmons, a 45-year-old mother of two, and her Barry University co-worker Jean Trach were returning home from a holiday trip,[3] when their car broke down on Florida's Turnpike in Broward County. John Marek and his accomplice Raymond Dewayne Wigley stopped and convinced Adella Marie Simmons to ride with them to a service station. They instead took her to a beach about 60 miles away, where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted, and then strangled with a bandana and burned.

Marek's accomplice Raymond Wigley was killed by fellow inmate John Richard Blackwelder while serving life imprisonment in 2000.[4][5] At trial, Blackwelder said he killed Wigley because he (Blackwelder) wanted to die. He was sentenced to death for killing Wigley and gave up all his appeals. Blackwelder was executed on May 26, 2004.[6]

Execution

Marek was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on May 13, 2009, inside the Florida State Prison near Starke, Florida, after Governor Charlie Crist signed a death warrant.[7][8] However, at the last moment the execution did not go through. On July 16, the Florida Supreme Court lifted the stay of execution with Charlie Crist shortly afterwards setting the date of execution to August 19, 2009, at 6 p.m. inside Florida State Prison.[9][10] Marek's attorney filed a motion claiming there was a new witness attesting that Marek did not kill Simmons. The motion was denied on August 17, 2009, by the judge in the case.[11]

Marek was executed on Wednesday, August 19, 2009 at 6:20 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time, EDT, -0400 UTC), at Florida State Prison, Starke, Bradford County, Florida. The method of execution was lethal injection. The execution itself took 13 minutes and Marek was declared dead at 6:33 p.m. Marek had declined sedatives and his final words were "Jesus, remember us sinners", followed by the Lord's Prayer. Marek became the 68th death row inmate to be executed in Florida since the death sentence was reinstated there in 1979.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Inmate Release Information Detail". dc.state.fl.us. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  2. "John Marek executed for murdering woman". WFTS-TV. August 20, 2009. Archived from the original on August 21, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  3. Word, Ron (August 20, 2009). "State executes man for '83 murder". The Bradenton Herald. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  4. "Fla. Gov. Crist Signs 2 Death Warrants". Spectrum News 13. April 20, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  5. "Fla. Gov. Crist signs 2 death warrants". WFTX-TV. April 20, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
  6. Word, Ron (May 27, 2004). "Florida Inmate Is Executed by Injection". Associated Press. Retrieved October 17, 2021.
  7. "Crist Signs Death Warrant In 1983 Slaying". WFTV. April 20, 2009. Archived from the original on April 22, 2009. Retrieved April 20, 2009.
  8. "Memorandum: Death Warrant in the case of John Richard Marek". Flgov.com. April 20, 2009. Archived from the original on April 23, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  9. "Memorandum: Letter to Warden Steven Singer regarding the case of John Richard Marek". Flgov.com. July 17, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  10. "Governor sets execution date for Marek". ChipleyPaper.com. July 17, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2012.
  11. "Judge Won't Stop Execution". WPLG. August 17, 2009. Archived from the original on August 19, 2009. Retrieved August 20, 2009.
  12. "Marek Execution Set For Wednesday". WFOR-TV. August 18, 2009. Archived from the original on August 28, 2009. Retrieved August 18, 2009.
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