Florida is scheduled to execute Jeffrey Hutchinson, a 62-year-old Army veteran, on Thursday for the 1998 shotgun murders of his girlfriend and her three young children.
The execution, set for 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke, will mark the state’s fourth this year.
Hutchinson, who served eight years in the Army including time as a Ranger, has maintained his innocence, claiming the killings were carried out by unidentified men as part of a government conspiracy to silence him due to his advocacy on Gulf War illnesses and veterans’ issues.
Hutchinson’s legal team has argued he suffers from Gulf War Illness (GWI), post-traumatic stress disorder, and paranoia, asserting he was a target of government surveillance.
GWI, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, affects hundreds of thousands of Gulf War veterans with chronic, unexplained symptoms.
The murders took place in Crestview, Florida, following a dispute between Hutchinson and 32-year-old Renee Flaherty.
Later that night, a 911 call came from their home, with a male voice stating, “I just shot my family.” Flaherty and her children—Geoffrey, 9; Amanda, 7; and Logan, 4—were found dead from shotgun wounds. Police discovered Hutchinson in the garage with gunshot residue on his hands and the phone line still open to 911.
At his 2001 trial, Hutchinson claimed two intruders had attacked the family, but the jury found him guilty of all four murders. He received a life sentence for Flaherty’s death and death sentences for the children’s.
A recent appeal arguing Hutchinson is mentally unfit for execution was denied, with a judge concluding he shows no signs of mental illness. His execution will be the 14th in the U.S. this year, with another Florida execution scheduled for later this month.
