Gulf war Army vet Jeffrey Hutchinson to be executed for murder of girlfriend, 3 children
Hutchinson's attorneys have blamed his actions on brain damage and cognitive impairment from injuries suffered during the Gulf War, but an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court was unanimously denied on April 21.
Maria DeLiberato, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives for the Death Penalty and liaison for Hutchinson's legal team, told USA TODAY that there are significant questions around Hutchinson's competency to be executed.
"There should be a pause to have a full and fair and complete hearing to determine the significance of his long-standing mental illness and brain damage and how that impacted him back then, at the time of trial, his sentencing, and how it impacts his ability to proceed with this execution," DeLiberato said.
However, when the state Supreme Court upheld an April 4 ruling against Huchinson from Okaloosa County Circuit Judge Lacey Powell Clark, the court said facts "that he was exposed to sarin gas and numerous explosions while serving in the Middle East as well as his various post-war symptoms" were well-known during or before his trial.
If the execution goes as planned, Hutchinson will be the fourth execution in Florida and the 15th in the United States this year. A fifth Florida execution, for convicted murderer and serial killer Glen E. Rogers, is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, 2025.
The previous executions were James Ford on Feb. 13, Edward James on March 20 and Michael Tanzi on April 8. Florida did not execute any inmates in 2020, 2021 and 2022 but put to death six men in 2023 and one man, Loran K. Cole, in 2024.
Here's what to know.
Jeffrey Glenn Hutchinson, now 62, was convicted and sentenced to death for the quadruple murder in 1998 of his girlfriend Renee Flaherty, 32, and her three children, Geoffrey, 9, Amanda, 7, and Logan, 4.
A former mechanic and security guard before joining the Army and becoming a paratrooper and Army Ranger, Hutchinson was raised in Florida but was living with Flaherty in Spokane, Washington, before they moved to the Sunshine State. Flaherty was estranged from her husband, who was stationed in Alaska, and Hutchinson was twice-divorced.
Jeffrey Hutchinson: War 'broke' Army veteran before quadruple murder of mom, 3 kids, defense says
According to court records, Hutchinson and Flaherty had been fighting on Sept. 11, 1998, before he packed some clothes and firearms into his truck and went to a nearby bar. As he drank, he told the bartender (an acquaintance) that he was "pissed off."
Prosecutors said Hutchinson came back to the house with a Mossberg 12-gauge pistol-grip shotgun and shot and killed the occupants within an hour of leaving the bar. He shot each of the victims once in the head, they said, with the oldest child also shot in the chest.
Hutchinson called the police and told a dispatcher, "I just shot my family." Police arrived to find him spattered with blood and lying in a daze on the garage floor, still holding the phone.
During Hutchinson's sentencing, Florida Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron found that the veteran's Gulf War service didn't correlate to the murders, and said that Geoffrey's death was particularly heinous because he was alive and wounded in the chest when he was killed with a head shot, the Associated Press reported at the time.
"The terror suffered in that moment is incomprehensible to this court," Barron said. "The defendant walked over to that 9-year-old boy and without pity, and without conscience, aimed the shotgun one final time."
A broken promise: He promised to care for Washington mom and her 3 kids. Then he killed them all in Florida.
At times, Hutchinson claimed the murders were carried out by two masked men, that he was heavily intoxicated at the time so it couldn't be first-degree murder, and that he had diminished responsibility due to mental disorders from his service.
Hutchinson was diagnosed as suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, but the trial judge ruled him competent to stand trial. He was found guilty and given three death sentences for the children's murders and a life sentence for Flaherty.
Multiple appeals over the years have been rejected or dismissed by the Florida Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Hutchinson's execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at Florida State Prison in Raiford.
From 1924 until May 1964, the state of Florida executed 196 people. There were no executions from May 1964 until May 1976.
In 1972, the United States Supreme Court struck down the death penalty, but it was reinstated in 1976. Florida has carried out 107 executions since then.
Glen Rogers, known as "The Casanova Killer" or "The Cross Country Killer," is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, May 15, 2025.
Rogers was convicted and sentenced to death in 1997 for the stabbing murder of Tina Marie Cribbs near Tampa two years previously.
In 1999, Rogers was tried in California for raping and strangling Sandra Gallagher and was sentenced to death again. The two women were part of the four Rogers was believed to have killed, all red-haired and in their 30s, as he was driving across the country in 1995.
At one point, Rogers claimed he'd killed nearly 70 people, although he later said he was kidding. He also claimed to have been paid by O.J. Simpson to kill Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1994, as explained in the documentary "My Brother the Serial Killer."
James Powel, USA TODAY NETWORK, contributed to this story.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Florida execution today: Jeffrey Hutchinson to die for murders
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Military deserter roommates allegedly confess to killing, dismembering missing Army vet: ‘I don't f–king regret it'
A pair of military deserters allegedly slaughtered and dismembered a member of their Army unit and dispersed parts of his corpse along a highway in New Mexico — and the one that pulled trigger said it was 'not a hard decision for him.' Rainor Joiner, 23, and David Degroat, 22, were both arrested by the Taos County Sheriff Department and allegedly confessed to murdering Matthew McLaughlin, a 25-year-old US Army veteran from West Virginia who was reported missing on July 31. 3 Army veteran Matthew McLaughlin, 25, was reported missing on July 31. The three men were all living together in New Mexico after serving in the same unit at Fort Benning in Georgia. Joiner and Degroat allegedly had active warrants out for their desertion. It's unclear how and when McLaughlin may have been relieved of service. Joiner allegedly told authorities he was fed up with McLaughlin for 'speaking ill of him, bringing random people to the residence, and the use of narcotics at the residence,' according to a criminal complaint obtained by KRQE. 3 Rainor Joiner allegedly told authorities he killed McLaughlin and didn't 'regret it.' Taos County Adult Detention Center The deserter and supposed mastermind behind the violent murder had apparently threatened to kill Degroat too if he didn't help or if he snitched, according to a confession signed by Joiner. Joiner allegedly confessed that he shot McLaughlin with Degroat's help, adding that 'I did it, I f–ked him, and I don't f–king regret it,' according to KOB. He also allegedly said killing his roommate was 'not a hard decision for him,' the documents state. Degroat contended that Joiner forced him to assist with the grisly murder and lure McLaughlin into an ambush while he was walking home with groceries. He allegedly told authorities that Joiner shot McLaughlin three times with an AR-15 style rifle — once in the chest and twice in the head. Afterwards, Joiner allegedly made Degroat hold open a plastic bag to place parts of McLaughlin's dismembered corpse in. From there, they dispersed the severed body parts along Highway 64. Once they were caught at their home, Joiner led authorities to each spot where they uncovered multiple trash bags with body parts inside that were turned over to the medical examiner's office. 3 David Degroat allegedly told authorities that Joiner forced him to help ambush McLaughlin. Taos County Adult Detention Center McLaughlin's grieving family members are struggling to fathom why people he trusted enough to move cross-country with would do such a thing. 'All I want to say is, I found out that they had planned this for weeks. I'll never see my son again,' his mother, Rebecca, told the Santa Fe New Mexican. The Army veteran is survived by his mother and seven siblings, according to a GoFundMe organized by a family friend. Joiner was charged with a laundry list of felonies, including first-degree murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery. Degroat is facing charges of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder and tampering with evidence.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
New evidence shows Travis Decker is the only suspect in his daughters' killings, sheriff's office says
As authorities continue their search for Travis Decker, the Washington state man accused of suffocating his three daughters to death, investigators now believe he is the only suspect in the crime based on evidence found at the gruesome scene. The Chelan County Sheriff's Office revealed in a social media post Tuesday that each victim, 5-year-old Olivia, 8-year-old Evelyn and 9-year-old Paityn, was found with multiple plastic bags over their heads. Two of them had two separate bags over their heads, while the third had three bags over her head, the post said. DNA samples obtained from the bags and cable ties found near their bodies matched the profile for Decker, the sheriff's office said. No other DNA was found on the bags or the cable ties, authorities added. 'The completion of this DNA analysis provides additional evidence that indicates Travis Decker is the only suspect involved in committing these homicides,' the post read. The revelation comes nearly three months after the girls were found dead near a campsite in the Cascades, a remote and picturesque region know for backcountry hiking and camping. The siblings had been reported missing by their mother days earlier when Decker failed to bring them home after what was supposed to be a three-hour visit mandated by a custody agreement. In the weeks since, local, state and federal officials have searched for Decker – an Army veteran skilled in wilderness survival – without knowing whether he is still alive. 'At this time, we do not have any evidence to suggest Travis Decker is either alive or deceased,' the sheriff's office reiterated Tuesday. An ongoing manhunt Decker was charged with murdering the three girls not long after he picked them up from their mother for the custody visit on May 30. Drones, a swift water team, cadaver dogs and even GoPros have been used as several agencies work to find him. The search has been complicated by treacherous terrain, and the fact that Decker had a three-day head start. Decker's truck was found abandoned in the area of Rock Island Campground on June 2. His daughters' bodies were nearly 100 yards away down a small embankment, along with zip ties and plastic bags found strewn throughout the area, according to a police affidavit. Authorities also found a bloody fingerprint on the truck's tailgate, as well as Decker's dog. Decker leaving behind his truck likely means he is on foot, which slows down his mobility, Chelan County Sheriff Mike Morrison told CNN last month. He also left equipment behind, meaning he is unprepared unless he stashed supplies out in the woods. The sheriff hoped more people flocking to the area surrounding where the girls were found for the busy summer season might help in the search. 'It may work in our favor now that we have that many people out there just saturating that part of the county with camping, hiking and other recreating,' Morrison said last month. The US Marshals Service is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to Decker's arrest. CNN's Alaa Elassar, Danya Gainor and Andy Rose contributed to this report. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Florida man executed for 1982 abduction, murder of Panhandle woman
STARKE — A man convicted of abducting a woman from a Florida Panhandle insurance office and killing her received a lethal injection Tuesday evening in the state's 10th execution this year. Kayle Bates, 67, was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. The execution extended Florida's record for total executions in a single year, and two more are planned within the next month. Bates was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery and attempted sexual battery in the June 14, 1982, killing of Janet White in Bay County. The woman's husband, Randy White, was one of the witnesses to Tuesday's execution. At the scheduled 6 p.m. execution time, the curtain to the death chamber promptly went up. Bates was already strapped to a gurney with his left arm extended and the IV line for the drugs already in place. When asked if he wished to make a last statement, Bates replied, 'No.' The execution began at 6:01 pm. Bates began breathing more rapidly about a minute after the drugs began flowing, and then he stopped after about another minute. At 6:05 p.m., the warden touched Bates' face, shook his shoulders and shouted his name with no response. Several minutes later, he was declared dead. Since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the highest previous annual total of Florida executions was eight in 2014. Florida has executed more people than any other state this year, while Texas and South Carolina are tied for second place with four each. With Tuesday's execution, a total of 29 men had died by court-ordered execution so far this year in the U.S., and at least nine other people were scheduled to be put to death in seven states during the remainder of 2025. According to court documents, Bates abducted White from the insurance office where she worked, took her into some woods behind the building, attempted to rape her, fatally stabbed her and tore a diamond ring from one of her fingers. Attorneys for Bates had filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as a federal lawsuit claiming DeSantis' process for signing death warrants was discriminatory. The lawsuit was recently dismissed by a judge, who found problems with the lawsuit's statistical analysis. The Florida Supreme Court recently denied Bates' pending claims, including arguments that evidence of organic brain damage had been inadequately considered during his second penalty phase. The court ruled Bates has had three decades to raise these claims. And the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Bates' last appeal Tuesday. The Department of Corrections said Bates awoke at 5:15 a.m. Tuesday and had three visitors: his daughter, his sister and his brother-in-law. He declined a last meal and did not meet with a spiritual adviser, department spokesperson Ted Veerman said. Two more executions are planned in Florida in coming weeks. Curtis Windom, 59, is set to become the 11th person executed in Florida on Aug. 28. He was convicted of killing three people in the Orlando area in 1992. David Pittman, 63, would be the 12th person executed in Florida if his death sentence is carried out as scheduled Sept. 17. He was found guilty of fatally stabbing his estranged wife's sister and parents at their Polk County home before setting it on fire in 1990. Florida executions are carried out using a three-drug lethal injection: a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections. By DAVID FISCHER, Associated Press
