JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Florida man sentenced to death for two 1984 murders Thursday said “no” when asked if he had any final words. But, he left behind a cryptic note.
At 7:45 a.m., corrections officers reported receiving a note that read, “I have seen the visions of the crow, my energy and particles will transform ad infinitum [eternally], I will live on. I am Tula. 13.”
The note was posted on The Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty Facebook page. The grassroots organization opposes the death penalty and gathered outside of Florida State Prison when Owen was put to death Thursday night.
Owen was convicted of stabbing 14-year-old Karen Slattery to death in March 1984 while she was babysitting two children, then sexually battering her. Two months later, he beat 38-year-old Georgianna Worden with a hammer then raped her while she died.
Owen was the fourth execution in Florida this year, after a three-year pause was placed on executions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Owen’s attorneys claimed he was mentally incompetent. Gov. DeSantis initially granted a stay of his execution so Owen could undergo psychiatric examination, but later dissolved the stay.
Owen appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court but, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the justice who screens Florida death penalty appeals, rejected hearing the case Wednesday.
Owen was sentenced to death for both of the murders, both by non-unanimous jury verdicts of 10-2. Florida law changed after his 1986 conviction, requiring death verdicts to be unanimous, but in April, DeSantis reversed that standard. Currently, Florida juries can recommend the death penalty on an 8-4 verdict.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, Owen’s last meal consisted of a bacon cheeseburger without a bun, onion rings, strawberries, a vanilla milkshake and cherry ice cream and coffee. He did not receive any visitors before his death.
