Fla. Executes Killer of Wildlife Officer

Florida has executed 45-year-old Martin Edward Grossman, who was convicted of killing a state wildlife officer during the 1980s.

Governor Charlie Crist's office said Grossman died at 6:17 p.m. on Tuesday at Florida State Prison.

He was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Margaret "Peggy" Park, a Florida wildlife officer who was shot with her own gun in 1984.

Grossman was the 69th person executed in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated here in 1979. He was the 25th by lethal injection, the fifth executed under Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and the first in 2010.

Park's family traveled from Ohio to witness the execution.

As the execution date grew closer, Jewish leaders called for a delay in the execution, reports CBS station WFOR in Miami.

Some called for another clemency hearing for Grossman, whom they said didn't deserve the death penalty for the crime.

"Martin has shown deep and profound remorse over the years, and is no longer the same wild reckless person he was 26 years ago," Rabbi Menachem Katz, of the Florida-based Aleph Institute, said in a statement.

An online petition, set up by the Aleph Institute, received more than 29,000 signatures. Holocaust survivor and human rights activist Elie Wiesel even sent a letter to Gov. Crist asking him to spare Grossman's life.