STARKE, Fla. — An Army combat veteran whose Gulf War experience caused severe mental health issues was executed Thursday evening in Florida for the 1998 shotgun murders of his girlfriend and her three young children.
Jeffrey Hutchinson, 62, was pronounced dead at 8:15 p.m. after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. He was the fourth person executed in Florida this year on death warrants signed by Governor Ron DeSantis. A fifth execution is scheduled for May 15.
Hutchinson had no final statement but appeared to be mumbling to himself as the procedure began shortly before 8 p.m. His legs shook sporadically, and he appeared to be in spasms for several minutes before remaining still. The process took slightly more than 15 minutes.
The execution took place shortly after the United States Supreme Court rejected a final appeal without comment.
Hutchinson had long claimed that he was innocent and that the killings were carried out by two unknown assailants as part of a US government conspiracy to silence his activism on issues such as Gulf War illnesses among veterans. Hutchinson spent eight years in the Army, some of it as an elite Ranger.
Court records, however, show that on the night of the killings in Crestview, Florida, Hutchinson argued with his girlfriend, Renee Flaherty, 32, before packing his clothes and guns into a truck.
Hutchinson went to a bar and drank some beer, telling the staff that Flaherty was angry with him before abruptly leaving.
A short time later, a male caller told a 911 operator, “I just shot my family” from the house Hutchinson and Flaherty shared with their three children, Geoffrey (9), Amanda (7), and Logan (4).
Everyone was killed with a 12-gauge shotgun found on a kitchen counter. Police found Hutchinson in the garage with a phone still connected to the 911 center and gunshot residue on his hands.
Hutchinson’s defense in his 2001 trial was based on his claim that two unknown men entered the house and killed Flaherty and the children after a struggle.
A jury found Hutchinson guilty of four counts of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison for Flaherty’s death, as well as three death sentences for the children.
Hutchinson had filed numerous unsuccessful appeals, many of which dealt with mental health issues related to his Army service. In late April, his lawyers attempted to postpone his execution by claiming Hutchinson was insane and thus could not be sentenced to death.
In an order issued on April 27, Bradford County Circuit Judge James Colaw rejected that argument.
“This Court concludes that Mr. Hutchinson’s alleged delusions are demonstrably false. The judge wrote, “Jeffrey Hutchinson does not lack the mental capacity to understand the reason for the pending execution.”
In their court filings, Hutchinson’s lawyers said he suffered from Gulf War Illness, a series of health problems resulting from the 1990-1991 war in Iraq, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia related to his claim that he had been targeted by government surveillance.
According to the Florida Department of Corrections, the lethal injection protocol includes a sedative, a paralytic, and a heart-stopping drug.
So far this year, 15 people have been executed in the United States, including Hutchinson.
