Florida death row inmate Louis Gaskin executed for 1989 murders

A man on death row in Florida for the 1989 killing of a couple was executed Wednesday evening, the Florida Department of Corrections said in a news release.

Louis Gaskin was sentenced to death in 1990 for the fatal shooting of Robert Sturmfels, 56, and Georgette Sturmfels, 55, on December 20,1989, according to court documents.

Gov. Ron DeSanits signed Gaskin’s death warrant March 13, according to the documents, and the state Supreme Court rejected appeals filed by Gaskin since the warrant was signed. The latest denial for a stay of execution was issued by a judge on Tuesday, court documents show.

Jurors recommended the death sentence in a 8-4 vote, which was accepted by the judge, according to court records. Gaskin was also convicted of armed robbery, burglary and an attempted murder committed the same night, according to court documents.

Gaskin’s execution comes six weeks after Donald Dillbeck, 59, was put to death for the 1990 murder of Faye Vann, 44, in Tallahassee, and three weeks before the scheduled execution of Darryl B. Barwick for slaying Rebecca Wendt, 24, in 1986 in Panama City, according to CNN affiliate WTXL.

Dillbeck, who died via a lethal injection in February, was the 100th person to be executed by the state of Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, according to the department.

Before Gaskin’s execution, there were 298 people on death row in the state, according to the corrections department website.

CNN has reached out to Gaskin’s attorney for comment.

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