15 June 2023 , 22:25
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One of the longest-held inmates on Florida’s death row, Duane Owen, has been put to death for the horrific murders of a 14-year-old babysitter and a mum-of-two.
Owen drew death sentences for the March 24, 1984, rape and stabbing attack on Karen Slattery, 14, as children in her care were sleeping.
He was also sentenced for the rape and brutal hammer killing of mum-of-two Georgianna Worden, 38, in May of 1984, both in Palm Beach County.
Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant before he announced his presidential campaign.
Owen was put to death by lethal injection at about 6PM EDT (11pm UK time) at Florida State Prison in Starke.
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Prison officials say he received no visitors, and ate a last meal consisting of a bacon cheeseburger with no bun, onion rings and a milkshake.
A family photograph of Karen Slattery, who was murdered by Duane Owen while she was babysitting in 1984 (Family Picture)According to reports, Owen attacked two other women in Palm Beach County who survived. He received six life sentences in addition to his death sentence for his actions.
All four attacks occurred just before and after Owen’s 23rd birthday. He was 62 at the time of his death, and with his age, has become one of the state's longest-held inmates on death row.
Florida currently has 293 inmates on death row.
Karen was a 14-year-old babysitter who was repeatedly stabbed and raped by Owen in a home in Delray Beach while two children in her care were sleeping.
Owen was one of Florida's longest-held death row inmates - pictured is Florida State Prison (Google)Two months later, Georgianna was sleeping in her Boca Raton home when Owen struck her several times with a hammer and raped her. According to court records, one of Georgianna’s children found her body the next morning while getting ready for school.
Owen’s lawyers had argued that he shouldn’t be executed on the grounds of insanity, arguing that he is schizophrenic and suffers from delusions.
The state Supreme Court rejected his latest appeal last week, and the US Supreme Court rejected it Wednesday, saying that even if Owen has mental issues, they do not preclude him from being executed as he is aware of the punishment for his crimes.
Duane Owen was executed on Thursday night (AP)Psychiatrists for the state have conducted interviews with Owen and say that he showed no symptoms of the illness in conversations.
The defense also said that Owen has dementia and gender dysphoria, which court officials also found no symptoms or traces of while examining the case.
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Court records show that Owen's mother died when he was 11 and he suffered extreme physical and sexual abuse as a child.