{"id":19406,"date":"2026-04-22T13:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/man-who-set-neighbour-on-fire-after-she-found-him-burglarising-her-home-is-executed-in-florida\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T13:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:13:17","slug":"man-who-set-neighbour-on-fire-after-she-found-him-burglarising-her-home-is-executed-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/man-who-set-neighbour-on-fire-after-she-found-him-burglarising-her-home-is-executed-in-florida\/","title":{"rendered":"Man who set neighbour on fire after she found him burglarising her home is executed in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
<\/div>\n

STARKE, Florida — A Florida man who set his neighbour on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarising her home was executed Tuesday (April 21) evening.<\/p>\n

Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6.15pm ET (Wednesday, 6.15 am SGT) at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. <\/p>\n

It was Florida’s fifth execution this year.<\/p>\n

The curtain to the death chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6pm ET execution time, and the lethal injection began two minutes later after Willacy made a brief statement.<\/p>\n

He apologised to his family and friends and urged his “brothers on the row” to stay strong. <\/p>\n

He maintained his innocence, saying he would never kill his friend.<\/p>\n

News :<\/span><div>12 weeks' jail for school IT support technician who took upskirt videos of teachers<\/div><\/span><\/a><\/div>

“To the victim’s family, I hope this brings you peace. If it does, that’s good, ” Willacy said. “But this is not right.”<\/p>\n

Shortly after the lethal injection got underway, a warden shook Willacy and shouted his name, but there was no response. <\/p>\n

His skin began to turn grey, and a medic eventually entered the chamber to examine Willacy, declaring him dead.<\/p>\n

Court records indicate Sather, 56, had returned to her Palm Bay home on a lunch break from work on Sept 5, 1990, and discovered Willacy burglarising her home. <\/p>\n

He struck her in the head with a blunt object, fracturing her skull, and then bound her hands and ankles with wire and tape, according to investigators.<\/p>\n

Willacy attempted to strangle Sather with a phone cord, and when that didn’t work, he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire, the records show. <\/p>\n

News :<\/span>Migrant acquitted in first trial over US border military zones<\/span><\/a><\/div>

An autopsy determined that Sather had died from smoke inhalation, indicating she was still alive when she was set on fire.<\/p>\n

Willacy also stole Sather’s car and other items from her home, and used the woman’s ATM card to steal cash, authorities said. <\/p>\n

When Sather failed to return from her break, her employer caller her family. Her son-in-law went to check on her and found her body.<\/p>\n

Willacy was sentenced to death a year later upon a 9-3 jury recommendation after being convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and arson.<\/p>\n

Then in 1994 the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing because the trial judge failed to allow defence attorneys a chance to rehabilitate a potential juror who indicated she could not recommend the death penalty. <\/p>\n

Willacy again drew the death penalty in 1995, following the 11-1 recommendation of a new jury.<\/p>\n

Florida’s fifth execution of 2026 followed a record 19 executions in the state last year. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. <\/p>\n

The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Willacy woke up at 5am ET and remained compliant as the execution hour approached, Department of Corrections spokesman Jordan Kirkland said earlier. <\/p>\n

The inmate received visits during the day from his mother, two sisters and a cousin, but did not meet with a spiritual adviser.<\/p>\n

The US Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon denied Willacy’s final appeal without comment. <\/p>\n

Last week the Florida Supreme Court also denied his appeals. He had made claims based on the state’s refusal to grant public records requests about executions and lethal injection.<\/p>\n

None of Sather’s relatives spoke at a news briefing after the execution, but the family released a statement thanking DeSantis and others.<\/p>\n

“We have waited 36.5 years for justice for our mom. Our mother, Marlys Mae Sather should be remembered as a beautiful and loving daughter, wife, mother of 3, grandmother of 5, great grandmother of 5, aunt, cousin and friend,” it said in part. <\/p>\n

It noted the victim had lost her husband to cancer in July 1990, “just weeks before she was murdered”.<\/p>\n

“She was a new widow trying to take one day at a time,” it said. “We miss her so much every day.”<\/p>\n

A total of 47 people were executed in the US in 2025. <\/p>\n

Florida led the way with a long line of death warrants signed by DeSantis. Alabama, South Carolina and Texas tied for second with five executions each.<\/p>\n

Another execution is planned in Florida on April 30. James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, is scheduled to received a lethal injection for his conviction in the fatal beating and choking of his 13-year-old niece.<\/p>\n

All Florida executions are carried out by injecting a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections.<\/p>\n

[[nid:733767]]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Man who set neighbour on fire after she found him burglarising her home is executed in Florida<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STARKE, Florida — A Florida man who set his neighbour on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarising her home was executed Tuesday (April 21) evening. Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6.15pm ET (Wednesday, 6.15 am SGT) at Florida State Prison near Starke for…<\/p>\n

Read More “Man who set neighbour on fire after she found him burglarising her home is executed in Florida”<\/span> »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19407,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}