DC #078387
DOB: 03/12/64

Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval County, Case #87-6876
Sentencing Judge: The Honorable L. Page Haddock
Trial Attorney: Raymond A. David – Private
Attorney, Direct Appeal: W.C. McLain – Assistant Public Defender
Attorney, Collateral Appeal: Dale Westling, Sr. & Mary Bonner – Registry

Date of Offense: 07/18/87

Date of Sentence: 11/18/88

Circumstances of Offense:

During the early morning hours of 07/18/87, Mark Asay, his brother Robbie, and a friend, Bubba McQuinn headed downtown to look for prostitutes after a night of drinking and shooting pool.  Asay rode with McQuinn while his brother drove alone. 

Once downtown, Asay noticed his brother talking to a black man from the window of his truck.  Asay immediately became confrontational with the man, Robert Lee Booker, despite the fact that his brother told him everything was all right.  Asay verbally attacked Booker, spouting racial slurs and escalating the situation.  Asay pulled a gun from his back pocket and shot Booker once in the stomach.  Booker fled the scene, but was later found dead in an alley with hole in his intestine and a severed artery.

After the shooting, Asay got back into the truck with McQuinn, while his brother drove off.  McQuinn asked Asay why he shot Booker and Asay replied, “because you got to show a nigger who is boss.”  Asay also said that he did not think he killed Booker, only frightened him. 

During the continued search for prostitutes, Asay and McQuinn happened upon an acquaintance named Renee, who they knew would give them oral sex.  Apparently, Asay and McQuinn did not know that “Renee” was actually Robert McDowell dressed up as a woman. 

The men negotiated a deal for oral sex and planned for McQuinn and McDowell to go into the alley while Asay remained on the lookout.  When McDowell refused to get into the truck with McQuinn, Asay grabbed him by the arm and began shooting into his chest.  McDowell was shot six times in all, and investigators reported that three of the shots could have proved fatal. 

As Asay and McQuinn were driving away, Asay said McDowell had cheated him out of ten dollars on a drug deal once, and he always swore that he would get even.  Apparently Asay bragged to a friend that when negotiating the deal for oral sex, Asay planned to abduct, sexually assault, and then kill McDowell.  When McDowell refused to get into the truck, Asay was killed him in the street.

Additional Information:

Asay has many white supremacy tattoos on his body and reports indicated that he made numerous racist comments about the black men that he killed.

The defendant was on parole for burglary when he committed the murders.

Trial Summary:

08/01/87          The defendant was arrested.

08/20/87          The defendant was indicted, Circuit Court Case #87-6876

Count I:           First-Degree Murder

Count II:          First-Degree Murder

09/29/88          The jury found the defendant guilty on both Counts I & II.

10/28/88          Upon advisory sentencing, the trial jury, by a 9 to 3 majority, voted for the death penalty on both counts.

11/18/88          The defendant was sentenced as followed:

Count I:           First-Degree Murder – Death

Count II:          First-Degree Murder - Death

Case Information:

Asay filed his Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 12/15/88.  His appeal argued that the judge erred when he failed to acquit Asay for the First Degree Premeditated Murder of Robert Lee Booker.  Asay also claimed that the court erred in finding that the murder of McDowell was committed in a “cold, calculated, and premeditated manner.” Lastly, Asay argued that the death penalty was not a proportionate sentence for the murders. 

The Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentences of death on 05/16/91.  The mandate was issued on 07/22/91.

On 08/20/91, Asay filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari, which was denied on 10/07/91.

Asay filed a 3.850 Motion in the Circuit Court on 03/15/93, and that motion was denied on 04/23/97.

The defendant filed an appeal of the 3.850 ruling in the Florida Supreme Court on 07/10/97.  The Supreme Court denied the appeal on 06/29/00, and a mandate was issued on 12/01/00.

Asay filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida Supreme Court on 10/25/01, which was denied on 06/13/02.

Asay filed a Pro se Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Florida Supreme Court on 05/27/03, which was subsequently dismissed 01/09/04.

On 10/16/02, Asay filed another 3.850 Motion in the State Circuit Court which was denied on 02/17/04.  Asay filed an appeal of that decision in the Florida Supreme Court, who affirmed the denial on 12/20/04.

Asay filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the U.S. District Court, Middle District, on 02/11/05 that is pending.

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