STARKE, Fla. (AP) -- When the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976, Florida had no executioner, no written procedure on how to conduct an execution and had not used the electric chair in 15 years. Despite those problems, on May 25, 1979, John Spenkelink, a drifter convicted of killing a traveling companion, became the first man put to death in Florida since the court's ruling. Now the state is again facing scrutiny as it plans to execute a man on the 25th anniversary of Spenkelink's death - a twist that state prison officials call a coincidence.
John Blackwelder, a 49-year-old convicted child molester, said he killed a man in prison just so he would be sentenced to die.
"I made it clear, I want off this world. I can't kill myself. I'm not suicidal. But I sure can make it hard for everybody else," Blackwelder told the Florida Supreme Court in 2000. He has dropped all his appeals and is seeking execution.
Abe Bonowitz, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, called Blackwelder's actions "governor-assisted suicide." Unless he receives a last-minute stay, Blackwelder is scheduled to die at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
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