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Florida execution to be nation’s 2nd today, 4th this week. What to know about the case.

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Florida execution to be nation’s 2nd today, 4th this week. What to know about the case.



Edward Thomas James is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday for the brutal rapes and murders of a woman and her granddaughter. It’ll follow a morning execution in Oklahoma.

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A Florida death row inmate is set to become the fourth man executed in the U.S. this week and the 10th so far this year.

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Edward Thomas James, 63, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday for the brutal 1993 murders of 58-year-old Elizabeth “Betty” Dick and her 8-year-old granddaughter, Toni Neuner, who was raped.

James’ execution is expected to come about seven hours after the scheduled execution of Wendell Arden Grissom in Oklahoma for a home-invasion murder. It also comes two days after Louisiana executed Jessie Hoffman by nitrogen gas on Tuesday and a day after Arizona put Aaron Gunches to death by lethal injection on Wednesday.

If his execution moves forward, James will be the second inmate to be executed in Florida this year and the 10th in the U.S.

“This defendant deserves no more mercy than that he showed his two victims,” trial prosecutor Tom Hastings told jurors in 1995, according to an archived Associated Press story.

Although James has previously said he deserves to be executed, his attorneys have recently been fighting to save his life.

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Here’s what you need to know about James’ execution, including why his attorneys say he deserves to be spared.

What did Edward Thomas James do?

On the night of Sept. 20, 1993, Betty Dick was at home in the metro Orlando city of Casselberry with four of her grandchildren, who were between the ages of 2 and 10, when James arrived. He had been renting a room in Dick’s home for about six months and had known the family for years, according to archived news stories.

Drunk and high on crack and possibly LSD, James apparently snapped, grabbing a sleeping 8-year-old Toni Neuner, strangling and brutally raping her before he threw her lifeless body behind his bed. He told detectives that he remembered thinking, “Eddie, this ain’t no fun … I’ll get me a grown woman.”

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He then went to Dick’s bedroom, where he admitted to bludgeoning her, attempting to rape her and then stabbing her 23 times before fleeing the state with her purse, jewelry and car − setting off a frantic manhunt.

James confessed to the crimes after he was recognized on the “America’s Most Wanted” television show and captured in California following a 17-day manhunt. He has always acknowledged his guilt and has even said he deserves the death penalty.

“I don’t want to die but I do believe it’s the proper penalty for what I committed,” he said in court in 2003, according to an archived story in the Orlando Sentinel newspaper. “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.”

Who were Betty Dick and Toni Neuner?

Betty Dick’s children told the Orlando Sentinel that their mother took James in out of the goodness of her heart and that no one in the family would have ever suspected him capable of murder.

That was just who Dick was: a loving grandmother always looking out for others, they said, adding that it was a struggle for her other grandchildren to understand what happened to her and Toni, described by her aunt as an outgoing girl who was inseparable from her older sister Wendi, who was in the home the night of the murders and tried to intervene before James tied her up.

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“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.”

She said that the family told Dick’s other grandchildren that “Grandma and Toni are in heaven, but they don’t understand why.”

“We tell them they can go outside and wave at the stars and they’ll be waving at Grandma,” she told the Sentinel.

As for James, she told the newspaper that they just wanted to understand why he did what he did.

“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.”

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When and where will James be executed?

James is set to be executed just after 6 p.m. ET at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, about 40 miles west of Jacksonville.

What are James’ attorneys arguing?

James’ attorneys have been arguing that he isn’t fit for execution because he has experienced significant cognitive decline in recent years, to the point that he can’t remember simple words and loses track of conversations.

“He does not remember the homicides or his behavior leading up to them. However, he desired to be punished and even executed throughout the years,” psychologist Yenys Castillo wrote after evaluating James. “It is unclear whether Mr. James truly appreciated the seriousness and finality of being sentenced to die during his initial penalty phase and postconviction proceedings, and these competency concerns persist into the present day.”

In a recent court filing, his attorneys said that James pleaded guilty to the murders “despite a glaring lack of memory of the crimes,” adding that he suffers from “a nearly lifelong history of substance abuse, clear signs of mental illness, and memory impairment including indicators of early-onset dementia.”

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His condition makes executing him cruel and unusual punishment, which is a violation of his constitutional rights, his attorneys have argued.

So far, all courts have rejected those arguments and little is standing in the way of James’ execution.



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Tiger Woods breaks silence on Memorial Day following DUI arrest in Florida

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Tiger Woods breaks silence on Memorial Day following DUI arrest in Florida


Famous golfer Tiger Woods broke his silence on Memorial Day following his DUI arrest in Jupiter.

On X, Woods — whose full name is Eldrick Tont Woods — shared a Memorial Day tribute to his father, writing, “My father was a Special Forces operator with two tours in Vietnam and 20 years of service. To all those like my father, we all say thank you for your sacrifices. Without them we wouldn’t have the greatest country on Earth.”

In March, Woods was arrested on suspicion of DUI following a two-vehicle rollover crash involving a pickup truck and his Land Rover.

See also: Midnight shooting outside Boca Raton restaurant leaves 2 hospitalized, suspect on the run

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Following his arrest, Woods, 50, waived his arraignment and pleaded not guilty in the Martin County case. The plea came after a probable cause affidavit revealed deputies found two white pills in Woods’ pocket, identified by their imprint as hydrocodone during the DUI arrest. The case also includes a refusal to submit to a urine test under a recently strengthened Florida law.

The arrest led Martin County prosecutors to subpoena Woods’ prescription records and order him to appear in court in May. However, Woods did not appear at the Stuart courthouse, and his attorney, Doug Duncan, appeared on his behalf.

Duncan said during the court hearing, the defense is no longer opposing the subpoena, and both the state and defense agreed the records should only be made available to attorneys and law enforcement. As a result, the prescription records will not become public record and will not be available to the media.

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The case against Woods remains ongoing.



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SpaceX launches rocket from Cape Canaveral on Memorial Day morning. See photos.

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SpaceX launches rocket from Cape Canaveral on Memorial Day morning. See photos.


A SpaceX rocket soared into the Monday morning sky, starting off Memorial Day on Florida’s Space Coast with a rumble.

Liftoff occurred on time at 7:48 a.m. May 25 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The mission, known as Starlink 10-47, featured a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the latest batch of Starlink internet satellites to orbit.  

The rocket rumbled on a northeast trajectory, across the clearing morning sky. Showers had moved through the area overnight, but cleared in time for the liftoff, which marked the 35th of the year for Florida.

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No Brevard County sonic booms were heard, as the Falcon 9’s first stage booster landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

When is the next Florida rocket launch?

Early risers are in for a treat, as the next liftoff is also set to occur in the morning hours.

The next launch from Florida is set for no earlier than 7:52 a.m. Friday, May 29 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Expect to see a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lift off on another Starlink mission.

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If needed, the May 29 launch window extends until 11:52 a.m.  

Be sure to follow the FLORIDA TODAY Space Team at FloridaToday.com/Space for the latest updates from Cape Canaveral.

Brooke Edwards is a Space Reporter for Florida Today. Contact her at bedwards@floridatoday.com or on X: @brookeofstars.





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South Florida set for a hot, humid Sunday as Memorial Day weekend continues

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South Florida set for a hot, humid Sunday as Memorial Day weekend continues



The NEXT Weather Team is tracking another hot and humid day across South Florida on this Sunday Funday. The high humidity and extensive sunshine will make it feel like it is in the mid- to upper-90s across the metroplex and the lower Keys.

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As South Floridians head to the beach and out on the water for this Memorial Day weekend, we have several alerts.  On the beach, the rip current risk is high, which means beachgoers should stay on the sand and out of the water.  On the water, we have small craft cautions in both the Atlantic and Keys waters.

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The heat and humidity stretches through Memorial Day on Monday and into Tuesday.  The rainy and stormy season returns to South Florida on Wednesday.  We will see increased storm chances starting then and running through next weekend. 

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