Convicted double murderer Wade Wilson will soon head to Florida’s death row.
But a new state law, likely to be challenged in appeals, could extend Wilson’s stay by years, possibly decades.
“The defendant on this case will now sit on Florida’s death row as he awaits the death penalty. He will pay the highest price we have in Florida,” State Attorney Amira Fox said at a press conference soon after Wilson was sentenced to death.
Wilson’s attorneys have signaled they’re likely to appeal the judge’s death penalty decision.
Previously, his lawyers asked for a new trial after a non-unanimous death penalty recommendation from the jury.
When Wilson was first arrested in 2019, Florida’s death penalty law called for a unanimous decision by the jury.
But in 2023, that threshold was lowered to 8 out of 12 jurors, after a new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“This is going to be litigated for decades. When he was arrested unanimity was the law. And then they changed the rules in the middle of his prosecution,” Maria DeLiberato, Executive Director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty previously told Fox 4.
Florida has also been slow in recent years putting inmates to death.
From 2020 to 2022, no inmates were executed.
Gov. DeSantis signed death warrants for six inmates in 2023.
However, so far in 2024, no one has been put to death.
That is likely to change, barring a last-minute stay, as the state is scheduled to execute convicted murderer Loran Cole on Thursday.
