Latest news with #FloridiansforAlternativesfortheDeathPenalty
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Yahoo
Gulf War vet Jeff Hutchinson executed for family's murder; veterans say combat broke him
Florida has executed Gulf War veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her three children despite a letter from 129 veterans arguing that Hutchinson's mind was a casualty of war. The 62-year-old former U.S. Army Ranger was convicted for the 1998 murder of 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, and her three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. The execution took place shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Florida State Prison in Railford using the state's three-drug protocol involving etomidate, rocuronium bromide and potassium acetate. It marked the fourth execution in Florida this year and the 15th in the nation. While Hutchinson himself has maintained that the murders were committed by home invaders, his defense team pointed to brain damage and trauma suffered by the former U.S. Army Ranger during his service in the Gulf War as reason to stop the execution. Maria DeLiberato, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives for the Death Penalty and liaison for Hutchinson's legal team, previously told USA TODAY that experts called Hutchinson's statements "a delusional belief based on his significant and severe mental illness." Meanwhile 129 veterans representing every branch of the military wrote to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling Hutchinson "one of us" and urging the governor to stop the execution. Here's what you need to know about the execution, including what the veterans had to say. On the night of Sept. 11, 1998, Hutchinson fought with Flaherty, after which he packed some of his clothes and guns into his truck, and went to a bar, according to court records. The bartender testified that Hutchinson told him that Flaherty was angry with him, while other witnesses testified that he drove recklessly when he left, according to court documents. Hutchinson then returned to the Crestview home, "busted down" the front door and shot Flaherty, Amanda and Logan in the head in the master bedroom, a forensic pathologist testified − according to court documents. The pathologist testified that Hutchinson shot Geoffrey last in both the chest and the head while the child "was able to see the bodies of his mother, sister, and brother," according to court records. "The terror suffered in that moment is incomprehensible to this court," Hutchinson's trial judge said, according to the Associated Press. 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, according to court documents. Renee Flaherty did her best to provide for her three children. Even though there wasn't always "much on the shelves," the rural mail carrier and single eastern Washington mom worked hard to put food on the table and loved her children dearly, her brother, Wesley Elmore previously told USA TODAY. "Her kids were a priority. She made sure that her kids were fed and took care of," Elmore said. The last time Elmore saw his sister, just before Thanksgiving in 1997, he felt the family was in "good hands" with Hutchinson as they prepared to move to Florida. "I was giving Renee and the kids a hug and everything, goodbyes," Elmore told USA TODAY. "I remember shaking Jeff's hand and I said, 'Take care of my sister and her kids,' And he says, 'Wes, I promise I will.'" Months later, the 32-year-old Flaherty and her children would be found dead in their home, and Hutchinson was spattered with blood and lying in a daze on the garage floor, according to court documents. In their April 30 letter to DeSantis, the veterans arguing for Hutchinson to be spared said that he "served our nation with honor from 1986 to 1994 as both a Paratrooper and an Army Ranger, roles that demand elite training, unshakable discipline, and extraordinary sacrifice." "He fought in some of the most dangerous missions during the Gulf War, operating behind enemy lines in the volatile Four Corners region where Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq meet," they continued. "He was exposed to repeated concussive blasts and deadly chemicals, including sarin nerve gas released during coalition bombings, leading to permanent brain damage and Gulf War Illness, a condition that was not fully recognized when he returned home." When Hutchinson got back home, "instead of receiving care, Jeff was met with silence." They added: "The science was not there. The VA was not there. His government was not there." They said they weren't asking DeSantis to excuse Hutchinson's crime but to "recognize the undeniable truth: Jeff came home injured by war. His mind was a casualty, just like any limb lost in combat." "To execute him now is not justice," they continued. "It is a failure of responsibility. It is the final abandonment of someone our country broke and then left behind." DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request about the veterans' comments. At the time of Hutchinson's trial, psychiatrist William Baumzweiger found that Hutchinson's form of mental illness could result in unconscious fits of rage, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Baumzweiger concluded that possible exposure to chemical or biological weapons caused Hutchinson to suffer from a "diminished mental state" at the time of the murders. Hutchinson's trial judge rejected that, instead agreeing with two prosecution psychologists and saying that no correlation between Hutchinson's diagnosis and the murders had been established, reported the Lakeland Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. In sentencing Hutchinson to death, Florida Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron found that 9-year-old 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." In the Florida Supreme Court's decision rejecting Hutchinson's arguments this week, the judges said that "there is no credible evidence that in his current mental state Mr. Hutchinson believes himself unable to die or that he is being executed for any reason other than the murders he was convicted of by a jury of his peers." The lone dissenting justice, Jorge Labarga, wrote that the case had a "procedural path unlike any in recent history" and was in favor of a stay. Contributing: Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Florida executes Gulf War vet Jeffrey Hutchinson for quadruple murders
USA Today
02-05-2025
- Politics
- USA Today
Gulf War vet Jeff Hutchinson executed for family's murder; veterans say combat broke him
Gulf War vet Jeff Hutchinson executed for family's murder; veterans say combat broke him Florida executed Hutchinson for the quadruple murder of his girlfriend and her three children despite a letter from 129 veterans to the governor arguing that Hutchinson's mind was a casualty of war. Show Caption Hide Caption Gulf War veteran to be executed for killing girlfriend, 3 children Jeffrey Hutchinson, a Gulf War veteran, is set to be executed in Florida for the 1998 murders of his girlfriend and her three young children. unbranded - Newsworthy Florida has executed Gulf War veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her three children despite a letter from 129 veterans arguing that Hutchinson's mind was a casualty of war. The 62-year-old former U.S. Army Ranger was convicted for the 1998 murder of 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, and her three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. The execution took place shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Florida State Prison in Railford using the state's three-drug protocol involving etomidate, rocuronium bromide and potassium acetate. It marked the fourth execution in Florida this year and the 15th in the nation. While Hutchinson himself has maintained that the murders were committed by home invaders, his defense team pointed to brain damage and trauma suffered by the former U.S. Army Ranger during his service in the Gulf War as reason to stop the execution. Maria DeLiberato, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives for the Death Penalty and liaison for Hutchinson's legal team, previously told USA TODAY that experts called Hutchinson's statements "a delusional belief based on his significant and severe mental illness." Meanwhile 129 veterans representing every branch of the military wrote to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling Hutchinson "one of us" and urging the governor to stop the execution. Here's what you need to know about the execution, including what the veterans had to say. What was Jeffrey Hutchinson convicted of? On the night of Sept. 11, 1998, Hutchinson fought with Flaherty, after which he packed some of his clothes and guns into his truck, and went to a bar, according to court records. The bartender testified that Hutchinson told him that Flaherty was angry with him, while other witnesses testified that he drove recklessly when he left, according to court documents. Hutchinson then returned to the Crestview home, "busted down" the front door and shot Flaherty, Amanda and Logan in the head in the master bedroom, a forensic pathologist testified − according to court documents. The pathologist testified that Hutchinson shot Geoffrey last in both the chest and the head while the child "was able to see the bodies of his mother, sister, and brother," according to court records. "The terror suffered in that moment is incomprehensible to this court," Hutchinson's trial judge said, according to the Associated Press. 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, according to court documents. Who were Renee Flaherty and her children? Renee Flaherty did her best to provide for her three children. Even though there wasn't always "much on the shelves," the rural mail carrier and single eastern Washington mom worked hard to put food on the table and loved her children dearly, her brother, Wesley Elmore previously told USA TODAY. "Her kids were a priority. She made sure that her kids were fed and took care of," Elmore said. The last time Elmore saw his sister, just before Thanksgiving in 1997, he felt the family was in "good hands" with Hutchinson as they prepared to move to Florida. "I was giving Renee and the kids a hug and everything, goodbyes," Elmore told USA TODAY. "I remember shaking Jeff's hand and I said, 'Take care of my sister and her kids,' And he says, 'Wes, I promise I will.'" Months later, the 32-year-old Flaherty and her children would be found dead in their home, and Hutchinson was spattered with blood and lying in a daze on the garage floor, according to court documents. Veterans argue for Hutchinson to be spared In their April 30 letter to DeSantis, the veterans arguing for Hutchinson to be spared said that he "served our nation with honor from 1986 to 1994 as both a Paratrooper and an Army Ranger, roles that demand elite training, unshakable discipline, and extraordinary sacrifice." "He fought in some of the most dangerous missions during the Gulf War, operating behind enemy lines in the volatile Four Corners region where Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq meet," they continued. "He was exposed to repeated concussive blasts and deadly chemicals, including sarin nerve gas released during coalition bombings, leading to permanent brain damage and Gulf War Illness, a condition that was not fully recognized when he returned home." When Hutchinson got back home, "instead of receiving care, Jeff was met with silence." They added: "The science was not there. The VA was not there. His government was not there." They said they weren't asking DeSantis to excuse Hutchinson's crime but to "recognize the undeniable truth: Jeff came home injured by war. His mind was a casualty, just like any limb lost in combat." "To execute him now is not justice," they continued. "It is a failure of responsibility. It is the final abandonment of someone our country broke and then left behind." DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request about the veterans' comments. Trial judge rejected arguments about war service At the time of Hutchinson's trial, psychiatrist William Baumzweiger found that Hutchinson's form of mental illness could result in unconscious fits of rage, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Baumzweiger concluded that possible exposure to chemical or biological weapons caused Hutchinson to suffer from a "diminished mental state" at the time of the murders. Hutchinson's trial judge rejected that, instead agreeing with two prosecution psychologists and saying that no correlation between Hutchinson's diagnosis and the murders had been established, reported the Lakeland Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. In sentencing Hutchinson to death, Florida Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron found that 9-year-old 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." In the Florida Supreme Court's decision rejecting Hutchinson's arguments this week, the judges said that "there is no credible evidence that in his current mental state Mr. Hutchinson believes himself unable to die or that he is being executed for any reason other than the murders he was convicted of by a jury of his peers." The lone dissenting justice, Jorge Labarga, wrote that the case had a "procedural path unlike any in recent history" and was in favor of a stay. Contributing: Amanda Lee Myers, USA TODAY
Indianapolis Star
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Indianapolis Star
Gulf War vet Jeff Hutchinson executed for family's murder; veterans say combat broke him
Florida executed Hutchinson for the quadruple murder of his girlfriend and her three children despite a letter from 129 veterans to the governor arguing that Hutchinson's mind was a casualty of war. Florida has executed Gulf War veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend and her three children despite a letter from 129 veterans arguing that Hutchinson's mind was a casualty of war. The 62-year-old former U.S. Army Ranger was convicted for the 1998 murder of 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, and her three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. The execution took place shortly after 8 p.m. ET on Thursday at the Florida State Prison in Railford using the state's three-drug protocol involving etomidate, rocuronium bromide and potassium acetate. It marked the fourth execution in Florida this year and the 15th in the nation. While Hutchinson himself has maintained that the murders were committed by home invaders, his defense team pointed to brain damage and trauma suffered by the former U.S. Army Ranger during his service in the Gulf War as reason to stop the execution. Maria DeLiberato, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives for the Death Penalty and liaison for Hutchinson's legal team, previously told USA TODAY that experts called Hutchinson's statements "a delusional belief based on his significant and severe mental illness." Meanwhile 129 veterans representing every branch of the military wrote to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, calling Hutchinson "one of us" and urging the governor to stop the execution. Here's what you need to know about the execution, including what the veterans had to say. What was Jeffrey Hutchinson convicted of? On the night of Sept. 11, 1998, Hutchinson fought with Flaherty, after which he packed some of his clothes and guns into his truck, and went to a bar, according to court records. The bartender testified that Hutchinson told him that Flaherty was angry with him, while other witnesses testified that he drove recklessly when he left, according to court documents. Hutchinson then returned to the Crestview home, "busted down" the front door and shot Flaherty, Amanda and Logan in the head in the master bedroom, a forensic pathologist testified − according to court documents. The pathologist testified that Hutchinson shot Geoffrey last in both the chest and the head while the child "was able to see the bodies of his mother, sister, and brother," according to court records. "The terror suffered in that moment is incomprehensible to this court," Hutchinson's trial judge said, according to the Associated Press. 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, according to court documents. Who were Renee Flaherty and her children? Renee Flaherty did her best to provide for her three children. Even though there wasn't always "much on the shelves," the rural mail carrier and single eastern Washington mom worked hard to put food on the table and loved her children dearly, her brother, Wesley Elmore previously told USA TODAY. "Her kids were a priority. She made sure that her kids were fed and took care of," Elmore said. The last time Elmore saw his sister, just before Thanksgiving in 1997, he felt the family was in "good hands" with Hutchinson as they prepared to move to Florida. "I was giving Renee and the kids a hug and everything, goodbyes," Elmore told USA TODAY. "I remember shaking Jeff's hand and I said, 'Take care of my sister and her kids,' And he says, 'Wes, I promise I will.'" Months later, the 32-year-old Flaherty and her children would be found dead in their home, and Hutchinson was spattered with blood and lying in a daze on the garage floor, according to court documents. Veterans argue for Hutchinson to be spared In their April 30 letter to DeSantis, the veterans arguing for Hutchinson to be spared said that he "served our nation with honor from 1986 to 1994 as both a Paratrooper and an Army Ranger, roles that demand elite training, unshakable discipline, and extraordinary sacrifice." "He fought in some of the most dangerous missions during the Gulf War, operating behind enemy lines in the volatile Four Corners region where Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq meet," they continued. "He was exposed to repeated concussive blasts and deadly chemicals, including sarin nerve gas released during coalition bombings, leading to permanent brain damage and Gulf War Illness, a condition that was not fully recognized when he returned home." When Hutchinson got back home, "instead of receiving care, Jeff was met with silence." They added: "The science was not there. The VA was not there. His government was not there." They said they weren't asking DeSantis to excuse Hutchinson's crime but to "recognize the undeniable truth: Jeff came home injured by war. His mind was a casualty, just like any limb lost in combat." "To execute him now is not justice," they continued. "It is a failure of responsibility. It is the final abandonment of someone our country broke and then left behind." DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request about the veterans' comments. Trial judge rejected arguments about war service At the time of Hutchinson's trial, psychiatrist William Baumzweiger found that Hutchinson's form of mental illness could result in unconscious fits of rage, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Baumzweiger concluded that possible exposure to chemical or biological weapons caused Hutchinson to suffer from a "diminished mental state" at the time of the murders. Hutchinson's trial judge rejected that, instead agreeing with two prosecution psychologists and saying that no correlation between Hutchinson's diagnosis and the murders had been established, reported the Lakeland Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. In sentencing Hutchinson to death, Florida Circuit Judge G. Robert Barron found that 9-year-old 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." In the Florida Supreme Court's decision rejecting Hutchinson's arguments this week, the judges said that "there is no credible evidence that in his current mental state Mr. Hutchinson believes himself unable to die or that he is being executed for any reason other than the murders he was convicted of by a jury of his peers." The lone dissenting justice, Jorge Labarga, wrote that the case had a "procedural path unlike any in recent history" and was in favor of a stay.
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Yahoo
Gulf war Army vet Jeffrey Hutchinson to be executed for murder of girlfriend, 3 children
Gulf war veteran Jeffrey G. Hutchinson is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Florida on May 1 for the 1998 murders of his girlfriend and her three young children in Crestview. 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
USA Today
30-04-2025
- USA Today
Gulf War vet Jeffrey Hutchinson to be executed for 'incomprehensible' quadruple murder
Gulf War vet Jeffrey Hutchinson to be executed for 'incomprehensible' quadruple murder Attorneys for a U.S. Army veteran set to be executed in Florida for the 1998 killing of his girlfriend and her three children are blaming his actions on brain damage during the Gulf War. Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, was convicted of the murders of his girlfriend, 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, and her three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. Hutchinson is set to be executed by lethal injection just after 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, May 1, which will make him the 15th person executed in the U.S. this year and the fourth in Florida. 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. 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." Jeffrey Hutchinson convicted of killing 4 On the night of Sept. 11, 1998, Hutchinson fought with his girlfriend, Renee Flaherty, after which he packed some of his clothes and guns into his truck, and went to a bar, according to court records. The bartender testified that Hutchinson told him that Flaherty was angry with him, while other witnesses testified that he drove recklessly when he left, according to court documents. Hutchinson then returned to the home, "busted down" the front door and shot Flaherty, Amanda and Logan in the head in the master bedroom, a forensic pathologist testified − according to court documents. The pathologist testified that Hutchinson shot Geoffrey last in both the chest and the head while the child "was able to see the bodies of his mother, sister, and brother," according to court records. 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, according to court documents. Hutchinson was convicted of all four murders and sentenced to death. More: He promised to care for Washington mom and her 3 kids. Then he killed them all in Florida. Jeffrey Hutchinson diagnosed with Gulf War Syndrome Hutchinson was formerly a mechanic and security guard before joining the Army and becoming a paratrooper and Army Ranger. He was raised in Florida but was living with Flaherty in Spokane, Washington, before they moved back to the state. Flaherty was estranged from her husband, who was stationed in Alaska, and Hutchinson was twice-divorced. Hutchinson was diagnosed as suffering from Gulf War Syndrome, but the trial judge ruled him competent to stand trial. Psychiatrist William Baumzweiger found that Hutchinson's form of mental illness could result in unconscious fits of rage, the Tampa Bay Times reported at the time of the trial. Baumzweiger concluded that possible exposure to chemical or biological weapons caused Hutchinson to suffer from a "diminished mental state" at the time of the murders. The judge rejected that, instead agreeing with two prosecution psychologists and giving minimal weight to the Gulf War illness diagnosis because no correlation between that and the murders had been established, reported the Lakeland Ledger, part of the USA TODAY Network. Hutchinson has always denied guilt Hutchinson has maintained that the murders were committed during a struggle with two home invaders. "I did not kill Renee and the kids and I believe I was framed," Hutchinson said during sentencing, according to the Ledger. DeLiberato, who did not challenge Hutchinson's guilt, said that his belief in his innocence points towards his incompetence to be executed. "The experts have called that a delusional belief based on his significant and severe mental illness and brain damage," DeLiberato said. Hutchinson's legal team appealed for a stay of the execution, arguing that "newly discovered evidence related to his brain damage and mental health ... would have resulted in an acquittal of first-degree murder and/or a life sentence." On April 21, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a county circuit court ruling against Hutchinson. The court found that his exposure 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." The defense also pointed to the unusual move from Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of signing a death warrant while an inmate's appeal was still pending. "The rush to execution when there are significant and long-standing mental health concerns from a person who honorably served our country was broken in the war and not given the treatment that he needed when he came back ... is not justice," DeLiberato said. USA TODAY reached out to Desantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier for comment and have not received a response. So far, Hutchinson's appeals have been unsuccessful, and only the U.S. Supreme Court or DeSantis could stop it. The News Service of Florida contributed to this story
