After an agonizing wait of almost four decades, it seems that justice will finally be served for the grieving families of Duane Owen’s victims, Your Content has learned.
The US Supreme Court has dismissed a plea made by Owen’s attorney to halt the execution scheduled for Thursday night.
Without providing an explanation, the highest court in the nation cleared the path for the state of Florida to carry out the execution of the death row inmate who was convicted of brutally murdering a teenage girl and a mother of two in separate attacks in Palm Beach County in 1984.
Lisa M. Fusaro, a lawyer representing the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, had requested a stay on Monday, arguing that Owen “lacks a rational understanding of the connection between his crime and impending execution due to his fixed psychotic delusions and dementia.”
However, the state’s attorneys contended that further delaying punishment for Owen’s heinous crimes is not in the best interest of the public.
Both the circuit courts and the Florida Supreme Court have already denied previous requests for a stay.
Last month, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant for the 62-year-old Owen.
His conviction stems from the horrific murders and rapes of Karen Slattery and Georgianna Worden.
Slattery was tragically stabbed to death while babysitting inside a Delray Beach home in March 1984, while Worden was brutally bludgeoned with a hammer while asleep in her Boca Raton residence two months later.
Owen is scheduled to face lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Thursday at 6 p.m, according WPTV.