Hey, folks, it is Tuesday, April twenty first, and a Florida man is on standby today hoping to hear from the Supreme Court because at this point they are the only ones who can save his life.
And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Rohobes. Another execution on the books in this country, no surprise, this one's scheduled tonight in where else but the state of Florida.
That's right.
This will be Florida's fifth execution this evening, and they are on pace for a potentially a second record year of executions. Last year that state executed nineteen inmates. This will be their fifth. There's already another one scheduled for the end of this month.
But here's the thing with them about Florida, and this is DeSantis. These are the only ones they have scheduled for the year, like this one and then the next one, and then that would be six for the year, and that would be done. But that's not how DeSantis rolls.
And it would have seven, by the way, but James Duckett's execution was stayed. We're still waiting to see what happens with him with that DNA that was supposed.
To be reanalyzed.
So if you think about it, if they had already had seven by April, they could be if they stayed on this same pace, they could be up to twenty one by the end of the year.
We don't know yet.
To your point, it's where they DeSantis will sign them as they put him in front of him. And just like last year where they had their record number of nineteen, they didn't start the year with we got nineteen scheduled. They just keep popping up. So, yes, we're up to this number for them. It could end up it staying at this number. We don't expect that, but Rogues, we don't know how many of these things he's going to sign.
We just know that he's willing to sign almost all of that.
Any one you put in front of him will put his signature on.
Well.
Tonight, it is fifty eight year old Chadwick Scott Willisey who is facing lethal injection. It is set to happen at six pm Eastern time tonight for a crime he committed nearly thirty six years ago. And that has often been the case in these crimes we're seeing now being finally adjudicated. Three decades, even four decades later, Florida has been piling up murderers who have been sitting on death row now for decades.
Well, in most states don't have the most ords. Half and half have the death penalty. Some states have a moratorium on it. There are some states that go full there, going full steam ahead. And to Santos has taken another stance with Rogue, which Robes is, even if you against the death penalty, you are for punishment being doled out for us seeing through for families getting justice. This was the justice they sought, This was the justice they were told they could get. Why the hell they got away
thirty six years for it. That's one argument on the Santo's side that I could I can see what he's trying to do. Robes. I was in junior high school when this woman was killed by this man. I have lived an entire lifetime and this family has been waiting that entire lifetime for this justice. Broh. There's something about that system that is wrong.
That's right, and the son of the woman who was murdered will get into this brutal crime because it was brutal. But Marlus Maysather's son John has been waiting all this time. He plans to be at the execution, and he has certainly spoken out and spoken loudly about him wanting to see his mother's murderer die. And so, yes, we know that Chadwick Willisey's Supreme Court Florida Supreme Court efforts his appeal was denied last Wednesday. We are still a waiting
for official word from the Supreme Court. But willisy has denied killing. He is denied being guilty of this murder, and he has made claims based on the state's refusal to grant public records requests about executions and specifically lethal injections. That's his argument to the Supreme Court as to why he shouldn't be executed. It has fallen short in the Florida State Supreme Court and likely will in the Supreme Court as well.
He's not arguing about his innocence. No, he can say it all day long, out loud, but he is not in court presenting any evidence about his innocence. And also, roads we should mention, as we do in covering so many of these executions, there are some that have a ground swell of support screaming about re examining evidence. So there's a chance that you were executing an innocent man. This ain't that.
No, And let's get into the crime itself, because this will probably solidify how you feel about this man. So this happened on September fifth, nineteen ninety TJ was in junior high school.
I was in high school.
And yes, we have fifty six year old marlus May Sather. She came home from work, actually early on her lunch break. Her husband had just died six weeks earlier of liver cancer.
She was trying to sell his car, and she planned to meet somebody.
So she walked in on then twenty four year old Chadwick Willisey robbing her home. This is a guy who used to mow her lawn, so she knew him. I can't imagine that moment she walks into the home and she sees him robbing her.
Oh, look, she recognized. She knew who he was. Now at this point, why he made the decisions he made, we don't know. But he was, for whatever reason, set on making sure that she was not going to be able to report him for this crime.
That is absolutely what people believe. He did not want to leave someone behind. But however, he wanted to make sure he got everything he could out of her, because, according to court records, he bludgeoned her, He tied her up, he strangled her with a telephone cord, and eventually she gave him her ATM PIN number. He took her car, he drove to her bank withdrew money for her account, and then he returned to her home disabled. The smoke detectors doused her in gasoline, put a fan at her feet,
and then set her on fire. I cannot think of anything more cruel than that. And it's just a beyond disturbing scene that was discovered by her son in law.
Yeah, so again we're not that this isn't that debate about guilt or innocence, and nobody's presenting to evidence. But the argument there and I don't understand why so many of these and they should get scrutiny robes these cases when you're talking about life or death, they should. But he's been on death row for thirty six years, and at some point doing the math there about a decade after he was convicted and got the death penalty, of jury came back and it was the death penalty was
taken off the table. Then another jury came back and it was put on the table. So there's been plenty of legal back and forth. And in that I think about that family. That family has had to show up to all these court dates and all these proceedings to see what's going to happen to this guy that they were told was going to be executive or something he did to their family member. Why are they still waiting? They've gone through this back and forth, so they are waiting.
This was the This is just the back and forth is just a lot, and the crime was just as horrific as it gets. So they're obviously the Santas is not going to step in. Don't have any anticipation that the Supreme Court will. But the argument they're making robes in the court is not one that any court has bought so far. So far, and look, there are some arguments we hear and we go hmm. This is one that really seems like throwing something against the wall and
hoping something sticks. But they're out of options now. He's just trying to say, hey, we open up the process. We want to know more about the lethal injection process. And because you don't tell us more about the whole process, then you might be violating his rights. Huh, is the argument, and some judges have said.
Huh exactly, and so they And obviously that's the way our system is set up, where a death row inmate gets to exhaust all options before his.
Irrevocable sentence is imposed.
But when you think about you mentioned the family having to sit through these trials, and when you look at the evidence at trial, despite the fact that he has maintained his innocence, Look, the evidence was overwhelming at trial. His fingerprints were on that fan that he put in front of her before he lit her on fire. His own girlfriend found her Sather's checkbook in his trash can, clothes in his home had blood consistent with her blood on it, and there were a number of items that
were in his home that were Sather's items. So there were many smoking guns on this case, and it was clear that he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and certainly that jury found it. The only back and forth was over the death penalty himself. But the son I wanted to say a little bit about what John Sather has done, said, because we talk about this often, the family that's just waiting for justice, he said, I want to make sure that I see the warden say he's deceased.
I want to make sure mom gets justice for someone coming in and stealing her life in a couple of heartbeats. And that is certainly powerful. And we often, I mean, we've said this, we it just the family's wishes have to be considered or should be considered in this case. And to know that the sun is waiting for this day and has been waiting for this day speaks volumes.
When we come back, we're going to tell you what the final exchange John Sather said he had with his own mother, and we'll talk about Florida's plans for more executions along with the state of Texas for this month. And welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ.
We are talking about.
Florida's fifth execution set for six pm Eastern time tonight. Fifth for the year. This is the eighth in the country. Florida once again leading the way in executions already. We're at April of this year and they are on track for another record setting year. Fifty eight year old Chadwick Scott Willisey will die by lethal injection tonight for the brutal murder of Marlus May Sather. He literally set his
neighbor on fire while robbing her. Now he has maintained his innocence, but the evidence that trial has been overwhelming, and it looks like the Supreme Court will not step in to stop That was his last option. Obviously, the governor is always the final last option. But we know that Governor DeSantis isn't typically known for doing so. No.
He oh, he signs a lot of papers. They're not clemency papers.
They're death warrants.
Yes, And we've talked a little bit about this son, her son, John Sather, who has waited for justice for thirty six years. He talked about the last time he saw his mom ten days before her death at his thirty second birthday party, and he talked about how this was a subdued birthday party. His father had just passed from liver cancer. And this is one of those moments where you always remember the last words.
And I think about this just.
In daily exchanges with you, babe, with my kids, with people who you love, just to think you don't know, you don't know what's ahead. And he said, the one bit of peace he has is that the final exchange was he said, I love you, mom, and she said I love you too, John, And that's meaningful.
You remember those moments.
I think about that often when we cover cases like this, just about how we all live our lives and we don't know if evil's lurking around the corner, and certainly we cover it a lot here, So it's on my mind often.
Oh know, too often we hear these stories and people will recite what they wish they'd said, or the opportunity they missed at the end. It's not often that a guy says, you know what I have at this moment, and as horrible as that thing that happened to her was, at least this gives me peace. So that is something as significant. And yeah, everybody has that experience, do they not. You get to a certain age rope, everybody has it. You find out somebody died unexpectedly, go wow, I meant
to send them a message last week. I meant to respond, I meant to reach out, I meant to have lunch. This was nice to hear. At least we always find some love, some humanity, and some decency in these stories.
Yeah, I felt like that was important to add because that I don't know. You read about these brutal crimes and these these unimaginable events that you have to live through and live beyond and live with in your heart. But to know that he had that final exchange actually brought me some peace reading about this. I love you, Mom, I love you too, John. I'm going to call my
mom today for sure. But look, Florida is already said to execute another inmate at the end of this month, James Ernest Hitchcock, and Texas is going to execute a man named James Bordenag. These are both set to happen on April thirtieth. And look, as you pointed out, Babe, this just they keep they keep adding new dates, new inmates. And look, this country is and certainly certain states more
than others. But Florida has been leading the way and making sure that it finds justice for families and families. It is remarkable to see just how long folks have had to wait to finally say I don't have to think about that person anymore. I don't have to wait
for the next hearing, the next court date. And this is at least giving, at least we know from hearing directly from the victims family in this case, that this is a day they have been waiting for, they have been longing for, and will certainly give them closure and peace tonight. So we will of course follow any developments that may happen. But again, six pm tonight, Eastern time, fifty year eight year old Chadwick Scott Willisey will die by lethal injection in the state of Florida. We always
appreciate you listening to us. Everyone on behalf of my of T J.
Holmes. I made me roebock. We'll see you soon. M hmm.