Stories
Florida to Execute 77-Year-Old Man for 1995 Murder, 16th Execution This Year
- •Curtis Wilkie Beasley, 77, is scheduled to be executed for the 1995 murder of Carolyn Monfort, making him the 16th person executed in America's busiest death chamber this year.
- •The Florida Supreme Court rejected appeals arguing that executing an elderly man with cognitive decline would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
- •Beasley was convicted of first-degree murder, robbery, and grand theft auto after beating Monfort to death with a hammer in her Dundee home.
- •Authorities tracked Beasley to Alabama, where he was arrested working under a fake name after fleeing in Monfort's car.
- •Florida has conducted more than half of the nation's 29 executions this year, with two more scheduled, though one is temporarily paused for competency evaluation.
Key Questions Answered
Curtis Wilkie Beasley is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection for the 1995 first-degree murder, robbery, and grand theft auto of Carolyn Monfort. According to investigators, Beasley beat Monfort to death with a hammer at her Florida home in August 1995 before fleeing the state.
Beasley's defense appealed to the Florida Supreme Court arguing that executing a 77-year-old man suffering from cognitive decline would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. However, the state supreme court rejected these appeals, leaving only a final appeal pending before the US Supreme Court.
Florida is set to carry out its 16th execution of the year, bringing the state closer to its record of 19 executions set the previous year since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The state has accounted for more than half of the nation's total executions this year.
