FLORIDA LAST MEAL
Johnny Robinson
February 4, 2004

..."Later"....

Last Meal: Robinson ate a final meal of fried chicken gizzards and hearts, smoked sausage, french fries, butter pecan ice cream and Dr. Pepper

The skinny: Robinson, 51, was executed for the rape and killing of a woman who had stopped to rest along a busy highway. He dumped her body in a cemetery where she was found the next day with two shots to her head. She had been handcuffed and repeatedly raped.

Robinson, an auto mechanic, was on parole after serving a prison sentence for an earlier rape in Maryland in the 1970s. He and a juvenile accomplice were arrested five days later following another robbery and rape. The accomplice, 16 at the time of the murder, is serving a life sentence.

Robinson was first sentenced to death in 1986 but his sentence was struck down because of racist comments made by the prosecutor in closing arguments. The Florida Supreme Court vacated Robinson's first death sentence, concluding that the prosecutor's questioning of a medical expert put on the witness stand by defense lawyers "was a deliberate attempt to insinuate that appellant had a habit of preying on white women and thus constituted an impermissible appeal to bias and prejudice." The prosecutor had asked if Robinson prefers to rape white women.

He was again condemned to death three years later.

Robinson admitted that he had stopped to help the victim after he saw that her car was disabled on Interstate 95. However, Robinson claimed that he took the woman to the cemetery, where they had consensual sex on the hood of a car. Robinson says he was carrying a gun and placed it on the hood of the car while he had sex with the woman. He claimed the gun "accidentally" fired, with a bullet hitting the woman in the face. Robinson said he shot her again because, "How do you tell someone I accidentally shot a white woman."

At trial, prosecutors indicated that Robinson had at least four previous rape convictions.

Delay: After a 90-minute delay asked by the U.S. Supreme Court, the execution began. He had been scheduled to die by injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison, but just 15 minutes before the process was to begin, the Supreme Court asked the state "to wait for further word" without saying how long that wait might be. Shortly after 7 p.m. the court refused on a 5-4 vote to stop the execution.

Last words and such: After the curtain was opened, Robinson was asked by a prison official if he had any last words."Yep!" he said. Then he said, "Later!" And that was all.

Factoids:
Robinson was the...
10th murderer executed in U.S. in 2004
895th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
1st murderer executed in Florida in 2004
58th murderer executed in Florida since 1976

OHIO LAST MEAL
JOHN GLENN ROE
February 3, 2004

The wrong stuff...

Last "Special" Meal: In Ohio, it is called a "special" meal. Roe's special meal...a medium-well T-bone steak with A-1 steak sauce, onion rings, macaroni and cheese, butter-pecan ice cream and root beer. He later had ham and roast beef sandwiches, strawberry ice cream and root beer. later Monday but refused breakfast Tuesday morning.

The skinny: Glenn was executed for shooting a young mother 20 years ago.

Roe claimed he was innocent of the murder. He said he was robbing a video game store on the other side of town at the time of woman's abduction.

Roe’s .357 Ruger was the murder weapon. Roe wouldn’t comment about how his gun was involved.

The capture: Roe was arrested for breaking and entering at a Radio Shack one month after the slaying. He was on parole and afraid of going back to prison, so he told police where the woman's body could be found, he said. He said he figured he could reach a deal that would keep him out of prison. He said he found the body while looking for cement blocks to put around a fireplace. He said he had kept quiet because he knew he'd draw police attention to his record.

The day: Roe became "cranky" with guards assigned to execute him Tuesday morning and was emotional with family members.

Last words and stuff: Asked if he had any final words, Roe maintained his innocence. He again accused prosecutors of lying and blamed a jailhouse snitch whose testimony helped to convict him. "God is my witness, and you're killing an innocent man today."

“That son of a bitch never quits does he,” said the victim’s father and a witness to the execution

Delay: Guards needed about 20 minutes to insert shunts to carry a deadly mixture of muscle relaxant and a heart-stopping drug into Roe's veins. Despite the delay in inserting the shunts, which is viewed by witnesses, Roe remained calm throughout the execution. Inside the death chamber, Roe glared at the family of his victim.

Roe did not resist during the execution process, partly because he took a sedative. His 5-foot, 6-inch and 235-pound body lay nearly motionless on the preparation table. When he came into the execution room he used a step stool to climb onto the execution table.

Factoids: Roe was the...

9th murderer executed in U.S. in 2004
894th murderer executed in U.S. since 1976
2nd murderer executed in Ohio in 2004
10th murderer executed in Ohio since 1976

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