STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A man who killed a bailiff in a courtroom shooting and thought he was Jesus Christ was executed by injection Wednesday, one day after he received a reprieve while strapped to the gurney in the death chamber.
Thomas Provenzano had been granted the stay Tuesday, 11 minutes before the scheduled execution. Intravenous needles had already been inserted in his arms.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta, which had given no reason for its stay, dissolved the order Wednesday morning and Gov. Jeb Bush rescheduled the execution for the evening.
The execution was delayed again Wednesday while the Florida Supreme Court reviewed a stay request received at 6 p.m. — a half-hour before Provenzano was scheduled to die.
Provenzano's lawyers said his mental condition had deteriorated and asked for time to have him examined by psychiatrists. The request was denied at 6:44 p.m. and seven minutes later Bush told the prison warden to begin the execution.