Duane Owen locked up in a death prison for years, will be scheduled for execution on Thursday.
Owen had committed murder many times, and his lawyer argued for not prisoning him to execution because of his sanity. His execution is scheduled on Thursday after a death of a teen babysitter, Karen Slattery, 14, and a 34-year-old single mother, Georgianna Worden, in 1984. Reports say that he brutally stabbed both victims and left a brutal injury in Palm Beach County. The suspect repeatedly stabbed Slattery on March 24 with two children sleeping near her. Worden was raped and struck by a hammer before she died that same date.
According to the reports, one of her children was the one who discovered her body at her home while getting ready for school. In that same area, Owen had attacked another two women, but fortunately, they survived. Lawyers have argued against the Supreme Court that he should not be put to death. His lawyers and the legal team have stated that the suspect has schizophrenia and delusions. In his psychological test, reports say that the suspect believed that he had swallowed the souls of his victims and still resides within him.
Lawyers have follow-up reports saying that Owen also suffers from gender dysphoria and dementia. However, prosecutors have concluded that Owen is suffering from mental issues. Thus, none of it should block his execution. In New York’s Daily News, psychiatrists have testified that Owen is not struggling with mental problems — he does not have schizophrenia and that this is only an act. The “suffering of gender dysphoria” doesn’t appear to be true because he doesn’t consider himself a female, and according to psychiatrists, gender dysphoria does not have to be aggressive. It does not create delusional thoughts in people.
This Thursday will be the schedule of bis lethal injection and execution. If this happens, it will be the fourth time Florida’s executed this year.