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Florida Executes Edward Thomas James for 1993 Murders, Marking Fourth Execution This Week in U.S.

Edward Thomas James, a 63-year-old Florida death row inmate, was executed by lethal injection on Thursday at Florida State Prison in Raiford, becoming the second person put to death in the United States that day and the fourth this week. His execution was for the brutal 1993 murders of 58-year-old Elizabeth "Betty" Dick and her 8-year-old granddaughter, Toni Neuner, a crime that shocked the Orlando community and beyond. The execution took place after a roughly two-hour delay, the reason for which was not immediately disclosed by prison officials.

James’s execution occurred approximately nine hours after Wendell Arden Grissom was executed in Oklahoma for a home-invasion murder. This week also saw the execution of Jessie Hoffman in Louisiana by nitrogen gas on Tuesday and Aaron Gunches in Arizona by lethal injection on Wednesday, highlighting a recent surge in the use of capital punishment across the country. James is the second inmate to be executed in Florida this year and the tenth in the U.S.

The details of the crime are harrowing. On the night of September 20, 1993, Betty Dick was at her home in Casselberry, a suburb of Orlando, with four of her grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 to 10. Edward James, who had been renting a room in Dick’s home for approximately six months and had known the family for years, arrived that night in a state of intoxication, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, crack cocaine, and possibly LSD.

According to court records and archived news reports, James "snapped," grabbing Toni Neuner, who was asleep at the time. He strangled her, then brutally raped her before leaving her lifeless body behind his bed. James later confessed to detectives that he had the disturbing thought, "Eddie, this ain’t no fun … I’ll get me a grown woman.”

He then proceeded to Betty Dick’s bedroom, where he attacked her. James admitted to bludgeoning her, attempting to rape her, and then stabbing her 23 times. After the gruesome act, he fled the state with Dick’s purse, jewelry, and car, triggering a widespread manhunt.

The search for James lasted 17 days, ending with his capture in California after he was recognized by viewers of the television show "America’s Most Wanted." Following his arrest, James confessed to the crimes and has consistently acknowledged his guilt, even stating on multiple occasions that he deserved the death penalty.

"I don’t want to die, but I do believe it’s the proper penalty for what I committed," James said in court in 2003, according to a report in the Orlando Sentinel. "From now until the time they execute me, I’m just going to exist, come as close to peace with what I did … I feel in my heart that I’m doing the right thing."

The murders had a devastating impact on the Dick family. Betty Dick’s children told the Orlando Sentinel that their mother had taken James in out of the kindness of her heart, and that no one in the family could have imagined him capable of such violence. They described Betty Dick as a loving grandmother who was always looking out for others. The family struggled to explain the tragedy to the other grandchildren, particularly the younger ones.

Toni Neuner was described by her aunt as an outgoing girl who was inseparable from her older sister, Wendi, who was also present in the home the night of the murders. Wendi even attempted to intervene before James tied her up. The trauma of witnessing the events left Wendi with deep emotional scars.

“She’s got a lot of anger inside of her,” her aunt, Brenda Teed, told the newspaper. “It’s unbelievable what she watched happen. She thinks if she could have gotten up sooner, she could’ve saved them.”

The family told the younger grandchildren that "Grandma and Toni are in heaven," but they struggled to understand why. "We tell them they can go outside and wave at the stars and they’ll be waving at Grandma," Teed said.

Regarding James, Teed expressed a mix of anger and disbelief. “I’m angry as hell. I’m having a hard time believing in God,” Teed said. “We have to live with the images the rest of our lives of what he did to them."

Despite James’s past statements accepting his fate, his attorneys recently fought to prevent his execution, arguing that he had experienced significant cognitive decline in recent years. They claimed that he suffered from memory impairment, had difficulty remembering simple words, and lost track of conversations.

In a recent court filing, his attorneys argued that James pleaded guilty to the murders "despite a glaring lack of memory of the crimes," adding that he suffered from "a nearly lifelong history of substance abuse, clear signs of mental illness, and memory impairment including indicators of early-onset dementia." They argued that his condition meant that his execution would constitute cruel and unusual punishment, violating his constitutional rights.

They emphasized that James was a native of Pennsylvania who left his stepfather during his teens to live with his mother in Casselberry, near Orlando, where he claimed to have blackouts and got into fights. He dropped out of high school to join the Army but was soon discharged for "failure to conform."

These appeals were ultimately unsuccessful, as all courts rejected the arguments in the weeks and days leading up to the execution. Trial prosecutor Tom Hastings told jurors in 1995, "This defendant deserves no more mercy than that he showed his two victims."

The executions are not stopping here. There are currently four executions scheduled for April: Michael Tanzi in Florida on April 8, Mikal Mahdi in South Carolina on April 11, Moises Sandoval Mendoza in Texas on April 23, and James Osgood in Alabama on April 24. All are to be executed by lethal injection except for Mahdi, who has until next week to choose between lethal injection, the firing squad, or the electric chair.

Another eight executions are scheduled for the remainder of the year, with the potential for that number to increase as states issue more death warrants. The recent flurry of executions has reignited the debate surrounding capital punishment in the United States, with opponents arguing that it is a cruel and unusual punishment, while supporters maintain that it is a just retribution for heinous crimes.

This report was compiled with contributions from C. A. Bridges of the USA TODAY Network.