A man who was found guilty of killing his family with a machete 30 years ago was put to death in Florida on Thursday, July 31. This was the state’s busiest year for executions since the death penalty was reinstated.
Court records show that Edward Zakrzewski, 60, was put to death by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Bradford County.
Zakrzewski and his 34-year-old wife Sylvia were having problems in their marriage. According to court documents, he told a neighbor twice that he would rather kill his family than get a divorce.
A machete was bought by Zakrzewski during his lunch break on June 9, 1994, the morning after he learned that Sylvia wanted a divorce. The court papers say he went about his day normally and then went home to wait for his family.
According to court documents, Zakrzewski first went up to Sylvia when his family got home and strangled her with a rope while she was sitting alone in the living room. He then knocked her out. Then he killed his son Edward, who was seven years old, with the machete.
Then, the court papers say he confronted his 5-year-old daughter Anna and hit her with the machete while she was in the bathroom.
Based on court records, Zakrzewski drove to Orlando and then flew to Hawaii, where he changed his name and stayed with a family that ran a religious commune for four months.
The court papers say that Zakrzewski’s picture was seen by the family while they were watching the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries.” He turned himself in to the police the next day.
Court records show that Zakrzewski’s lawyers made many appeals over the years, but all of them were turned down.
A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections told CBS News that Zakrzewski woke up at 5:15 a.m. on the day of his execution and ate fried pork chops, root beer, and ice cream for his last meal. Walker said that he had one visitor and “remained compliant” while he was waiting to be put to death.
The state Department of Corrections told the outlet that Florida’s lethal injection is a mix of a drug that calms, a drug that paralyzes, and a drug that stops the heart.
Florida has put more people to death this year than any other year since 2014. The Death Penalty Information Center says Zakrzewski was the ninth person to be put to death in the state.
