Louis Gaskin's Final Words Before Florida Execution

"Ninja Killer" Louis Gaskin, a 56-year-old Florida man who was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of a Palm Beach couple, died by lethal injection Wednesday. His last words were difficult to understand, but he appeared to reflect on his case.

Gaskin was convicted in 1990 of first-degree murder for killing Robert and Georgette Sturmfels in their Flagler County home. He was also convicted of armed robbery, burglary and the attempted murder of another couple that same night. Dubbed the "Ninja Killer" because he wore all-black ninja-style clothing during the crimes, Gaskin stalked and terrorized his victims before that night of violence in 1989.

One of his surviving victims, Noreen Rector, opposed his death sentence and hoped the killer's execution does not aid Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' potential presidential bid. DeSantis signed Gaskin's death warrant last month.

Gaskin died at the Florida State Prison in Raiford at 6:15 p.m. local time Wednesday, according to the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC). His execution came after the Florida Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court denied numerous appeals.

According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, Gaskin referenced his case in his last words, saying: "Justice is not about the crime ... It's not about the criminal. It's about the law." Parts of his statement were difficult to understand, the News-Journal stated.

His last meal at 9:45 a.m. consisted of barbecue pork ribs, buffalo wings, pork and turkey neck, shrimp fried rice, french fries with honey barbecue sauce and a water, the DOC told Newsweek. Gaskin was visited by his sister prior to his death and did not request religious counsel.

This month, Gaskin's attorneys filed a motion for a stay of the execution and challenged his death sentence, arguing that a jury was not given evidence of Gaskin's mental illness before sentencing.

Several organizations, including Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP), opposed his death sentence. Those protesting his death highlighted that Gaskin was condemned by an all-white, non-unanimous jury.

"Executing the mentally ill doesn't make us safer," FADP Director Maria DeLiberato told Newsweek. "It doesn't help any sort of healing. It takes away any of the purported purposes of the death penalty and it's really just shameful. He was sentenced by a non-unanimous jury. In no other state in the country, would his execution be legal."

Gaskin was the second death-row inmate executed in Florida this year.

Murderer Donald Dillbeck used his last words in February to blast DeSantis, saying: "I really messed up. But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse."

Gaskin provided chilling details of his crimes in a statement to investigators, documents filed in Flagler County Circuit Court showed.

"It was like his wife got a little burst of energy from somewhere; proceeded to crawl out and shot her again," Gaskin said while recounting Georgette Sturmfels' death. "She still proceeded. She got into the hallway out of sight, so I went around to the other doors that faced the hallway. She was sitting there holding her head looking at the blood. I shot her again. She fell over."

Rector said she has had to cope with the lasting trauma from the night Gaskin shot her ex-husband.

"I don't believe the death penalty serves any purpose," she told the News-Journal. "What will really bother me is if this might, in some way, advance ... DeSantis in his presidential quest. I find him and his views highly offensive and divisive."

Another execution is scheduled for next month in Florida, and nearly 300 inmates are on death row in the state.