Gov. DeSantis approves execution for man convicted of killing pregnant woman and her husband in Florida Keys
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant Wednesday for Thomas Mitchell Overton, who in 1992 killed a Florida Keys couple whose unborn child did not survive the attack.
With another execution set for Nov. 5, the planned Nov. 19 execution of Overton, 70, would become the 20th conducted by the state this year, the most for a year since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976.
DeSantis signed the warrant a day after the state executed William Reaves for killing Indian River County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Raczkowski four decades ago.
DeSantis' warrant for Overton sets the execution for 6 p.m. Nov. 18 at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Overton was arrested in 1997 for the 1992 rape and murder of Missy MacIvor, 29, and the murder of Michael MacIvor, 30. At the time, Missy MacIvor was eight months pregnant.
According to court records, Overton knew the MacIvors because he worked as a service-station clerk in Tavernier --- part of Key Largo --- before breaking into their home in August 1992.
Michael MacIvor was hit in the back of the head with a blunt object and kicked in the midsection before being strangled. Missy MacIvor was then strangled after being bound and raped.
James Zientek, who was incarcerated with Overton at the Monroe County Detention Center, testified that Overton said he had broken into the MacIvor's residence to rape Susan MacIvor and had killed the couple to muddle the crime scene, according to the sentencing order.
"The evidence found at the crime scene was consistent with the testimony of Mr. Zientek and shows beyond a reasonable doubt that a fundamental part of the Defendant's criminal plot was a carefully conceived plan to avoid detection and arrest," the sentencing order stated.
Despite his efforts to confuse the crime scene, Overton's DNA was found in separate tests conducted in 1996 and 1998, matching a bedding sample from the MacIvors' home.
Overton was sentenced to death in 1999 for the murders and given life sentences for sexual battery on Missy MacIvor and for burglary of a dwelling, and 15 years for the death of an unborn child.
Before Overton's execution, Jesse Guardado, 64, is to be put to death Nov. 5 at Florida State Prison for the murder of Jackie Malone, 75, in 2004. The Walton County woman had helped Guardado find a place to stay and a job after he was released from prison.