For the second time in less than three months, Florida is poised to execute two men on the same day.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant Thursday for James Robertson, who murdered a fellow prisoner in 2008 in Charlotte County. He is set to die at noon Oct. 13. Six hours later, the state is scheduled to execute William Thompson, who was condemned for a 1976 Miami murder.
The double execution date comes just over two months after Florida carried out the same-day executions of James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone. Their executions were an unprecedented event in the modern history of capital punishment in Florida.
All of it has happened amid a continuing surge by DeSantis to enact the sentences of the close to 250 men on the state’s death row, most of whom have been there for decades.
DeSantis previously went long periods without signing death warrants before the upswing in executions began in February 2025. Since then, he has signed warrants for 38 men — more than any other Florida governor.
With the state averaging two executions a month, DeSantis is on track to have authorized the death penalty for more than 50 men by the time he leaves office early next year.
In previous public comments, the governor has decried the lengthy capital appeals process and said his renewed push for executions is rooted in a desire to achieve justice for crime victims.
“We do owe it to them to do it,” the governor said in July at a Florida Sheriff’s Association conference in Miami. “The process is way too long. You shouldn’t be going for 20 years. You should be able to try and maybe appeal, but then at some point we’ve got to get cracking here. … That makes a big difference for a lot of people out there who suffered really serious tragedies.”
The state’s pursuit of capital punishment has spurred vigorous opposition from those morally and ethically opposed to the death penalty.
The organization Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty has campaigned to spare the condemned and staged consistent protests outside the state prison during each execution.
“This continues Florida’s unprecedented expansion and use of the death penalty over the past several years,” Grace Hanna, the group’s executive director, told the Tampa Bay Times. “Mr. Robertson and Mr. Thompson’s executions on Oct. 13 are another example of how our state’s leaders are attempting to carry out as many executions as possible despite increasing evidence that everyday Floridians are rejecting the death penalty.”
Thompson, 74, was condemned almost 50 years ago for the killing of 23-year-old Sally Ivester, who was raped, beaten and tortured in a North Miami Beach motel room. Another man involved in the crime, Rocco Surace, died in prison in 1993.
Only three men have been on Florida’s death row longer than Thompson. The longevity of his case stems partly from legal errors that required him to be resentenced twice. At his last resentencing, in 1989, the jury favored death by a bare majority of 7-5, according to court records. Such a vote today would result in a life sentence.
In arguing to spare his life, Thompson’s attorneys have said that he has dementia and lacks a rational understanding of his legal situation. He does not know who the current president of the United States is. When asked, court records state, he said it was “Bush.”
The lawyers also cited his severe physical health problems, which include sepsis, chronic kidney disease, fatty liver disease and heart disease. He requires assistance bathing, eating and using the toilet.
Shortly before his execution was set, Thompson was hospitalized after being found unresponsive in his prison cell. He was later moved to a hospice wing at Union Correctional Institution in northeast Florida, according to court records. He was subsequently moved to a death watch cell adjacent to the execution chamber at Florida State Prison.
Although Thompson received a temporary stay of execution to allow doctors to examine him, he remains scheduled to be put to death Oct. 13. A report on his mental competence is due by the end of this week. His case remains pending before the Florida Supreme Court.
On Wednesday, a group of more than 100 doctors, nurses and other medical professionals signed a letter to DeSantis, urging him to forgo Thompson’s execution.
While the group varies in their opinions on the death penalty, they are “united by a foundational principle of medicine,” the letter stated. “Every human being, regardless of circumstance, is entitled to humane treatment, appropriate medical care and dignity at the end of life.”
Robertson, 63, was condemned for the 2008 murder of Frank Hart, with whom he shared a cell at Charlotte Correctional Institution. Hart was strangled to death with a set of prison socks. Robertson, according to court records, told investigators there was no provocation and that he simply wanted to move to death row.
Before the murder, Robertson had been in and out of jail and prison for most of his life, drawing convictions for aggravated assault, burglary and other crimes. He pleaded guilty to Hart’s murder and waived his right to a jury trial in 2012. Thereafter, Robertson declined to have his conviction and sentence appealed.
His story was featured in an episode of the Netflix series “I am a Killer,” which detailed how his troubled adolescence led to his life of crime.
