TALLAHASSY, Fla. (AP) — A man convicted of raping and murdering a woman near a bar in Central Florida is scheduled to be executed in Florida under a death warrant signed Friday by Governor Ron DeSantis, the seventh Republican of the year.
Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, is due to die June 24th at a Florida prison near Stark City, due to a fatal injection.
Gudinas was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death for the murder of Michelle McGrath.
McGrath was last seen in a bar called when Barbarella was closed in May 1994. Her body was found the following morning in an alley next to a nearby school with evidence of serious trauma and sexual assault.
Gudinas was at the same bar as his friend the night before, but they later testified that he had left without him. School employees who discovered McGrath’s body later identified Gudinas as a man who had fled the area shortly before the body was found. Another woman also identified Gudinas as the person who chased her into her car the night before and threatened to assault her.
Five other executions have been held in Florida this year, scheduled for the sixth June 10th, all due to fatal injections.
