The State of Alabama is just hours away from the planned execution of Alan Miller. He was convicted in the 1999 murders of three co-workers. His planned execution is meant to be the second in the nation by nitrogen hypoxia. Alabama carried out the first back in January. Kenneth Smith reportedly thrashed on the gurney during the in Alabama back in January. Miller’s scheduled execution is one of five in the U.S. set for this week. And, this isn’t the only high profile execution in the U.S. Back in 1989, I was assigned to cover the electrocution of serial killer Ted Bundy. Here’s a look back at that story.
“While it's sort of like the eve of the Superbowl people are just anxious for it to happen in there,” said Mayor Gerald Witt of Lake City, Florida. “There is it says failed to happen so many times. Everyone can't hardly believe that's going to happen.”
It’s January of 1989. I’m twenty eight years old and working for the NPR station in Orlando. I was sent to cover the execution of serial killer Theodore Bundy. He was hours away from death in Florida’s electric chair for the murder of twelve year old Kimberly Leach. She was abducted outside of Lake City Junior High in 1978. Bundy reportedly confessed to killing thirty women. But Leach’s murder put him in old sparky at Florida State Prison the town of Starke.
“They want to seem electrocuted,” said Mayor Witt. “The whole town is just waiting expectantly for the event to occur.”
My assignment was to gather interviews in Lake City, then head to Starke for the execution set for just before daybreak on January twenty fourth.
“For a long time I wouldn’t walk by myself,” said Kathy Harrell of Lake City. “It could have been my sister. My sister went to that school with her.”
Like many of the people I spoke with in 1989, if she didn’t know Kimberly Leach, she knew someone who did.
“My grandmother was friends with her mother but I didn't know her because I was a lot younger than her,” Kathy Harrell added.
After Lake City, my next destination was the crowd outside Florida State Prison. Some wore t-shirts with slogans like Burn Bundy Burn, or signs reading It’s Fri day ted.
“Okay for the folks on radio. What is your son's withdrawal display here?” I asked one onlooker.
“It's a burning barbecue sign... a little gift from FPL to Ted,” he responded. “And I think it just expresses how we feel about Ted and all the well obviously heinous crimes he's committed against so many families around the United States, it's just unbelievable that one person could kill so many people and if they don't if they don't kill him here today, then they'll kill him somewhere else because he admitted to so many crimes.”
As the crowd began to break up, one onlooker comes to mind. He asked to be identified only as Ricky.
“Sales are going really well. It seems like there's a lot of people here in support of the death penalty in the Florida justice system,” he said.
Ricky was selling lapel pins of Florida State Prison’s electric chair known as old sparky. He said the proceeds were to benefit his motorcycle club.
“The pins are incidental to why I'm up here I'm up here in support of criminal justice system and death for this Bundy guy and I'm glad to see that being carried through,” he said.
Again, The State of Alabama is preparing to execute Alan Miller by nitrogen gas for the 1999 murders of three co-workers.
