…Researched and contributed by Solomon Thomas.
US murderer Louis Gaskin was executed in Florida on 12 April after his appeals were denied by the state and federal supreme courts.
Gaskin, known as the ‘Ninja Killer’, was convicted of killing a couple and wounding two others on the night of 20 December 1989. Shortly before his death, Gaskin mumbled a statement that was difficult to understand, which included the phrase, “Justice is not about the crime … It’s not about the criminal.
It’s about the law.” Gaskin’s sister had visited him but he declined the offer of a visit from a priest.
Gaskin’s legal team argued that his trial jury had not been given evidence of his mental illness before his sentencing, but these claims were rejected.
Several organisations opposed to the death penalty, including Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, protested against the execution, claiming that Gaskin was mentally ill and his execution was shameful.
There are currently 297 inmates on Florida’s death row, with the next execution due in three weeks.
However, some survivors of Gaskin’s crimes, such as Noreen Rector, opposed the execution, accusing Florida state Governor Ron DeSantis of seeking to bolster his image ahead of a presidential run next year.
Rector, one of four people shot by Gaskin on the night of the murders, survived the attack and said that DeSantis was not supporting gun control, was attacking the LGBT community, and rewriting history to suit his own followers.