Gov. Ron DeSantis approves the execution for man convicted of killing, setting on fire his Palm Bay neighbor
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed the death warrant for a man convicted in the 1990 murder of his Palm Bay neighbor who found him burglarizing her home.
Chadwick Willacy, 58, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on April 21, the sixth warrant DeSantis has signed this year.
What court documents say happened during the murder
According to court documents, Marlys Mae Sather, 56, found her next-door neighbor Willacy, burglarizing her home when she returned home unexpectedly from work around lunchtime on Sept. 5, 1990. Willacy reportedly struck Sather in the head several times with a blunt object, then bound her hands and ankles before attempting to strangle her with a telephone cord. Willacy later doused Sather in gasoline, disabled the smoke detectors in the home, and placed a fan at her feet to provide oxygen to the ensuing fire.
Sather's body was discovered by her son-in-law after receiving a call from her employer that she hadn't returned from her lunch break.
The cause of death was recorded as smoke inhalation, indicating Sather was alive when she was set on fire.
Sather's checkbook was found at Willacy's house. Her late husband's car and an ATM card were stolen. Photos taken by an ATM showed Willacy attempting to make withdrawals with the stolen car in the background.
Willacy was found guilty of first-degree murder, first-degree premeditated murder, burglary with an assault, robbery with a firearm, and first-degree arson in December 1991. The jury, in a 9-3 majority, recommended the death sentence.
In 1994, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions but reversed his death sentence and remanded to the trial court for a new penalty phase.
One year later, a jury recommended the death penalty with an 11-1 majority.
During his sentencing, Willacy asked the court to consider that he had no "significant" history of prior criminal activity, and his age, 22 at the time.
DeSantis's order noted that in 2007, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court order denying Willacy's motion for postconviction relief and his petition for writ of habeas corpus, challenging the government's authority for his imprisonment.
The order also noted that Willacy's federal petition for writ of habeas corpus was denied by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in 2014 and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in 2017.
Other executions are planned for this month
The warrant comes with Michael King, 54, scheduled to be executed on Tuesday for the 2008 abduction, rape, and murder of Denise Amber Lee, 21, in North Port.
James Aren Duckett, 68, a former Mascotte police officer convicted of the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl in 1987, is to be executed on March 31.
The state has conducted three executions this year: Ronald Heath on February 10 for the 1989 murder of Michael Sheridan, who was shot, stabbed and robbed in a wooded area south of Gainesville; Melvin Trotter on February 24 for the 1986 murder of Virgie Langford, a Manatee County grocery-store owner; and Billy Leon Kearse on March 3 for the 1991 killing of Fort Pierce Police Officer Danny Parrish.
Florida carried out 19 executions in 2025, a modern-era record.