Florida man Duane Owen was executed on Thursday for the brutal murders of a 14-year-old babysitter and a 38-year-old mother of two in separate attacks that occurred months apart in 1984. The attacks took place while children were sleeping in the homes Owen targeted.
Owen, who was one of Florida’s longest-serving death row inmates, was 23 at the time of the attacks and 62 at the time of his execution. He declined to make a final statement and was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. after a lethal injection at Florida State Prison.
The procedure began at 6:01 p.m., with Owen’s arms twitching and his breathing becoming heavier as the sedative took effect. The warden made sure Owen was unconscious before the lethal drugs were administered.
Owen was sentenced to death for the rape and fatal stabbing of Karen Slattery, 14, on March 24, 1984, and for the rape and deadly hammer attack on Georgianna Worden, 38, two months later. Both killings occurred in Palm Beach County. Owen also attacked two other women in Palm Beach County who survived. All four attacks occurred just before and after Owen’s 23rd birthday.
Several family members of the victims witnessed the execution. No one in the witness room spoke, but after the execution, Slattery’s younger sister, Debbi Johnson, who sat in the front row, called Owen a coward.
“He didn’t open his eyes,” Johnson said. “I know because I looked at them.”
Johnson, who works as a deputy in the Florida Keys, was 10 years old when her sister died. She spoke about how her mother always said that whenever they saw a rainbow, it was Karen smiling down on them. Despite the rain on the day of the execution, Johnson remains hopeful that her sister will come through in her own way.
Johnson said closure is a myth, but justice is real. “The state of Florida said he was supposed to die by lethal injection, and that is exactly what happened today,” Johnson said. “He served his sentence. The end.”
Owen’s lawyers had argued that he should not be executed on the grounds of insanity. The state Supreme Court rejected his latest appeal last week, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected it Wednesday. Owen’s lawyers had also argued that he was schizophrenic and suffered from delusions.
Prosecutors had argued that while Owen had mental health issues, nothing would preclude his being executed because he was aware it was punishment for his crimes. Psychiatrists for the state testified that Owen’s schizophrenia was an act that he discussed when being evaluated, but he otherwise showed no signs of the illness.
Despite the arguments put forth by Owen’s lawyers, the courts ultimately decided that he deserved the death penalty for his heinous crimes.
The execution of Duane Owen marks Florida’s fourth execution this year after a hiatus in which there were none since 2019. Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed each of the death warrants in the months before announcing he was running for president.
The murders of Karen Slattery and Georgianna Worden were particularly brutal and shocking, and Owen’s execution brings a sense of closure to the families of the victims. While nothing can undo the harm that Owen caused, justice has been served, and the memory of these two women can finally be honored and respected.
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