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Linroy BOTTOSON
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Robbery
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: October 26,
1979
Date of arrest:
3 days after
Date of birth:
February 28,
1939
Victim profile: Catherine Alexander,
74 (the postmistress of Eatonville)
Method of murder:
Crushed by a car
Location: Orange County, Florida, USA
Status: Executed
by lethal injection in Florida on December 9,
2002
Florida Supreme Court Briefs and Opinion
Docket #81411 - Linroy Bottoson,
Appellant, vs. State of Florida, Appellee.
674 So. 2d 621; January 18, 1996.
Docket #SC02-128 - Linroy
Bottoson, Appellant, vs. State of Florida, Appellee.
813 So. 2d 31; January 31, 2002.
Docket #SC02-58 - Linroy Bottoson,
Petitioner, vs. Michael Moore, Secretary Florida Department of
Corrections, Respondent. 813 So. 2d 31; January 31, 2002. (Consolidated
Case).
On Friday October 26, 1979, the Eatonville, Florida, post office was
robbed, and over $14,000 worth of money orders were taken along with
about $150 in cash.
Catherine Alexander, the postmistress of Eatonville, was last seen
leaving the post office on that day at around noon led by a tall
African-American man. As she left, she whispered to bystanders to
call the police and to tell them that the man was stealing.
Bottoson confessed to a jailhouse informant, and later to his
minister, that he committed the murder, stating that "the best
witness is a dead witness." Bottoson wrote that "demon spirits" had
"got on me."
Alexander was locked in a car trunk for three days, stabbed 16 times
and then run over repeatedly with Bottoson's car.
Bottoson was arrested after his wife tried to cash one of the money
orders. Alexander's shoes and the knife apparently used to stab her
were found in Bottoson's house. Other forensic evidence also tied
Bottoson to the murder.
Citations:
Bottoson v. State, 443 So. 2d 962, 963 (Fla. 1983) (Direct
Appeal). Bottoson v. Florida, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct. 223, 83 L.Ed.2d
153 (1984). (Cert. Denied). Bottoson v. State, 674 So. 2d 621 (Fla. 1996) (PCR). Bottoson v. Florida, 519 U.S. 967, 117 S.Ct. 393, 136 L.Ed.2d
309 (1996). (Cert. Denied). Bottoson v. Singletary, 685 So.2d 1302 (Fla.1997). Bottoson v. Moore, 234 F.3d 526 (11th Cir. 2000) (Habeas).
Bottoson v. Florida, 122 S.Ct. 357, 151 L.Ed.2d 270 (2001). (Cert.
Denied). Bottoson v. Moore, 251 F.3d 165 (11th Cir.2001). (Habeas).
Bottoson v. State, 813 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 2002). (Stay)
Final Meal:
Bottoson had already been served his last meal Friday: barbecued
ribs, French fries and onion rings, along with cole slaw, apple pie
and milk. On the day of his execution, Bottoson ate a regular prison
meal that included beef patties, cheese and bread.
Final Words:
Bottoson did not make any statements before his execution.
ClarkProsecutor.org
Florida Department of
Corrections
DC Number: 078079
Name: BOTTOSON, LINROY
Race: BLACK
Sex: MALE
Hair Color: GRAY OR PARTIALLY GRAY
Eye Color: BROWN
Height: 6'00'' Weight: 195
Birth Date: 02/28/1939
Detainer: 08/24/1984 US DEPT JUSTICE ATLANTA
Inmate Executed for Killing 23 Years Ago
United Press International
December 10, 2002
STARKE, Florida -- Linroy Bottoson was executed
by lethal injection Monday at the Florida State Prison in Starke for
the torture and slaying of the 74-year-old postmistress of
Eatonville, Fla., 23 years ago. He was pronounced dead at 5:12 p.m.,
10 minutes after he was injected.
Bottoson had no visitors other
than the prison chaplain who looked in on him less than two hours
before his death. Bottoson had no last words. His body was not
claimed by family members and will be cremated and the remains
buried at the state prison cemetery located outside the prison walls.
Bottoson Executed for 1979 Murder of Eatonville
Postmistress
By Ron Word - Miami Herald
AP December 10, 2002
STARKE, Fla. - Hubert Alexander said a prayer and
watched intently Monday as the man who killed his mother 23 years
ago was executed by injection.
Following a last-day flurry of failed
legal appeals, Linroy Bottoson, who believed he was locked in a
battle between Satan and Jesus Christ, died at 5:12 p.m. Bottoson
was condemned for the Oct. 26, 1979, murder of Catherine Alexander,
who was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed 16 times and then
fatally crushed by a car.
Alexander and his sister, Eunice Smith, were less
than two yards away from Bottoson, who was strapped to a gurney on
the other side of a window. "Nothing is going to bring my mother
back," Alexander, 78, said after the execution. "The person that did
this awful thing to her is gone."
The two decades of delays and
court hearings were tough on the family, said Alexander, the oldest
of Catherine Alexander's six remaining children. "They made me mad,"
he said. "It made me wonder how long the state of Florida is going
to put up with these things like this.
On a row behind the Alexanders sat Peter Cannon,
who fought a losing battle to save Bottoson in state and federal
courts, trying to prove that his client was insane and mentally
retarded.
He also challenged the constitutionality of Florida's
death penalty statute. Cannon appeared shaken by the execution and
left the prison without commenting.
The execution came two hours
after Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson of Orlando ruled Bottoson
competent. The Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal of Johnson's
ruling. The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected a separate appeal
Monday that argued Bottoson was mentally retarded. Bottoson did not
make any statements before his execution. When asked if he had any
last words, he said, "No sir, no." Bottoson accepted a Valium before
he was killed.
As chilly rain fell, eight persons opposed to the
death penalty protested in a pasture across the highway. In the
ruling that denied Bottoson another delay, Johnson agreed with state
psychiatrists who found that Bottoson understood that he was about
to die and the reasons for his execution, two requirements under
Florida law.
Dr. Wade Myers, a state psychologist, testified Monday
in Orlando that while Bottoson sometimes heard God and believed if
he were to stand at Alexander's grave God would resurrect her, that
did not mean Bottoson was mentally ill. "There are evangelists every
Sunday who have large viewerships who say they're also receiving the
same messages from God," Myers said. But a clinical psychologist
hired by Bottoson's lawyers issued a report saying the convict was
insane and believed he was locked in a battle between Jesus and
Satan.
Bottoson kidnapped Alexander, robbing her post
office of $144 and 37 money orders worth $400 each. The 74-year-old
woman was held captive for three days - some of that time in a car
trunk - before Bottoson killed her. Bottoson was arrested after his
wife tried to cash one of the money orders. Alexander's shoes and
the knife apparently used to stab her were found in Bottoson's house.
No one claimed Bottoson's body, so it will be cremated and buried in
a prison cemetery, said Sterling Ivey, a prison spokesman.
Execution Ends 21 Years on Death Row
By Sherri
Owens and Anthony Colarossi - Orlando Sentinel
December 10, 2002
STARKE -- Saying little and showing no expression,
Linroy Bottoson was executed Monday after spending 21 years on death
row for the murder of Catherine Alexander, an Eatonville postmaster.
After taking a Valium, Bottoson, 63, entered the death chamber. His
fingers were wrapped together, and his wrists and chest were
strapped to a gurney where he lay. The intravenous tubing that
carried the lethal injection was already in his right arm when the
brown curtains opened for about 30 witnesses in the viewing room at
Florida State Prison.
When asked by a prison official whether he wanted
to make a final statement, Bottoson murmured, "No, sir." A
microphone above his head was then turned off. Several seconds later,
he opened his mouth and took in a deep breath. Soon his throat
fluttered, and all movement stopped. A doctor pronounced Bottoson
dead at 5:12 p.m.
Among the witnesses was Alexander's 78-year-old
son, Hubert, who had traveled from Williamsburg, Va. "I promised my
mother I would be here on this day, and the day finally came," he
said. "I guess I'm feeling relieved." Only hours earlier, defense
lawyers failed in their attempts to block the execution, arguing
that Bottoson was mentally incompetent.
They said he didn't realize
he was about to be executed. Bottoson, they said, heard voices from
God and believed he possessed "supernatural" powers to foresee
future events such as terrorist acts. "It's a somber moment for us,"
said Eric Pinkard, Bottoson's defense attorney with the Capital
Collateral Regional Counsel. "I'm hoping he was at peace at the end.
But I don't think he had a full understanding of it [his execution]."
None of Bottoson's family visited or called Monday.
Bottoson's body was removed in a white hearse and
taken to the Alachua Medical Examiner's Office for cremation.
Because no one has claimed his body, Bottoson's ashes will be buried
in a nearby prison cemetery. Monday was the fourth scheduled date
this year for his execution. His execution had been scheduled for
Friday, when he had eaten a specially prepared meal. But Monday he
ate what other inmates ate: a beef patty with cheese, potatoes,
baked beans, two slices of bread, white cake, tea and a salad with
cucumbers.
Bottoson's execution brought an angry response
from death-penalty opponents, who think he was too mentally ill to
be executed. "We killed a mentally ill man tonight," Abe Bonowitz,
director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Hubert Alexander waited 23 years, one month and
13 days for the state to execute his mother's killer. "It has made
me mad," Alexander said. "The system let us down. It has to be dealt
with."
Bottoson was convicted in 1981. Alexander was
locked in a car trunk for days, stabbed 16 times and then run over
repeatedly with Bottoson's car. He had stolen $14,800 in postal
money orders and wanted to eliminate Alexander as a witness,
prosecutors said. Bottoson confessed the crime to other jail inmates
and visitors.
On Monday his attorneys argued that he was
incompetent because he suffered severe mental illness, but those
claims were dismissed by the courts. Shortly after 3 p.m. Monday,
Orange Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson issued a written order
finding Bottoson "sane to be executed." The order vacated Bottoson's
stay. Last-minute appeals by Bottoson's attorneys to the Florida
Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court were denied.
Dr. Xavier Amador, a clinical psychologist with
the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, evaluated Bottoson in
prison Thursday and said he had "Schizoaffective disorder" a long-term
condition "interfering with his ability to process reality." Dr.
Wade C. Myers, one of three psychiatrists appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush
to evaluate Bottoson on Friday, had an entirely different opinion of
Bottoson's mental state. "We felt like he clearly understood the
nature and effects of the death penalty," Myers said.
Bottoson had indicated to Amador that he was
locked in a battle between Jesus and Satan and that he had
"supernatural" powers allowing him to see future terrorist acts. He
also indicated "God will not allow him to be executed," Amador wrote.
Myers testified: "Mr. Bottoson did not relate this sort of
information to us." Bottoson's weekend reprieve was the second
granted to a death-row inmate by Bush in five days.
But few observers say they take that as a sign
that Bush is reconsidering his longtime support for capital
punishment. "I think every governor, Jeb Bush included, is a little
more careful, because they fear executing an innocent person," said
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Washington, D.C.,-based
Death Penalty Information Center. "Governors know that mistakes can
be made."
ProDeathPenalty.com
Linroy Bottoson, a self-professed "minister", was
sentenced to death for the murder of 74-year-old Catherine
Alexander.
On Friday October 26, 1979, the Eatonville,
Florida, post office was robbed, and over $14,000 worth of money
orders were taken along with about $150 in cash. Catherine
Alexander, the postmistress of Eatonville, was last seen leaving the
post office on that day at around noon led by a tall African-American
man. As she left, she whispered to bystanders to call the police and
to tell them that the man was stealing.
Later that day, Linroy Bottoson's wife attempted
to cash one of the missing money orders, and Bottoson and his wife
came under suspicion.
Postal inspectors entered Bottoson's home on
Monday October 29 and arrested him and his wife.
Upon searching Bottoson's home the next day,
postal inspectors found the missing money orders and Catherine's
shoes.
Catherine's body was found on the side of a dirt
road on the same night that the Bottosons were arrested. She had
been stabbed fourteen times in the back and once in the abdomen.
The medical examiner testified that she died from
crushing injuries to the chest and abdomen which were consistent
with having been run over by an automobile.
The undercarriage of Bottoson's car, a brown
Chevelle, contained hair samples and clothing impressions linked to
Catherine's hair and clothing. Expert evidence indicated that
clothing fibers similar to those in Catherine's clothes and a tip of
her fingernail were found in the trunk of Bottoson's car.
At trial, witnesses could not identify Bottoson
as the man seen leaving the post office with Catherine but
identified from a photograph a red LTD automobile that was rented to
Bottoson at the time as the car in which Catherine was taken away.
A postal inspector identified the money orders
found in Bottoson's home and traced them to the machine at the
Eatonville post office.
In addition, there was evidence that Bottoson
deposited some of the stolen money orders in his bank account.
Bottoson's former wife, who was married to him at
the time of the murder, testified that Bottoson was away from home
around noon on Friday, October 26 and that he gave her a postal
money order upon returning home. She testified that on the following
Monday, she did not see him from 1:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. and that
he had the brown Chevelle at the time.
A jailhouse informant testified that Bottoson
confessed to the murder and indicated that the best witness is a
dead witness. He also testified that Bottoson said that "the old
bitch had a lot of fight in her."
Bottoson also gave a written confession to a
minister in an effort to obtain leniency. In the confession,
Bottoson wrote that "demon spirits" had "got on me." He also made
the comment that "dead witnesses are the best witnesses". A jury
found Bottoson guilty of first-degree murder. At the sentencing
hearing, the state presented an FBI agent who testified that
Bottoson was convicted of bank robbery in 1971. Bottoson's counsel
presented the testimony of a minister, the minister's wife, and
Bottoson's mother, who described Bottoson as kind, honest,
respectable, caring, and unselfishly devoted to his church.
The jury recommended that Bottoson be sentenced
to death, and the trial judge imposed a death sentence on May 1,
1981.
National Coalition to Abolish
the Death Penalty
Linroy Bottoson (FL) - Dec. 6, 2002 - 7:00 AM EST
The state of Florida is scheduled to execute
Linroy Bottoson, a black man, Dec. 6 for the 1979 murder of
Catherine Alexander. Before the crime, a mental hospital categorized
Bottoson as a “latent schizophrenic” – a classification describing
people who have schizophrenic episodes, but are considered in
remission. Evidence supports the claim that Bottoson’s mental
illness played a role in the murder; he later testified: “demon
spirits had got on me.”
Bottoson allegedly stole money orders from the
Eatonville Post Office in Orange County, and kidnapped and murdered
the postmistress, Alexander, in the process. Strong evidence linked
Bottoson to the crime, and little doubt concerning his involvement
emerged as investigations proceeded; however, his mental condition,
seemingly the cause of his violent actions, never received full
consideration in the case.
Over the years, mental health experts have
repeatedly raised red flags concerning Bottoson’s condition, but the
state of Florida has maintained its commitment to execute him
regardless. Bottoson’s belief in his ability to raise the dead has
not convinced the state to consider his mental illness, nor have his
religious hallucinations.
On Nov. 6, the U.S. Supreme Court intervened to
stop James Colburn’s execution in Texas because of concerns over his
mental illness. Gov. Bush evidently learned nothing from that last-minute
action by the court, and failed to concern himself with the fact
that Bottoson, now awaiting execution in Florida, suffers from
mental illness as well.
The states need to stop ignoring such cases and
evaluate mental illness circumstances more thoroughly. Florida,
Texas, and the other death penalty states should certainly be able
to cut these cases off before the U.S. Supreme Court has to act on
eve of execution appeals. Please write the state of Florida and
request a stay of this execution and a re-evaluation of Linroy
Bottoson’s mental condition.
Bottoson Executed for 1979 Murder of Eatonville
Postmistress
By Ron Word - Naples Daily News
AP 12-10-02
STARKE — Linroy Bottoson, an inmate who believed
he was locked in a battle between Satan and Jesus Christ, was
executed Monday for the kidnapping, robbery and slaying of the
Eatonville postmistress 23 years ago. Bottoson was pronounced dead
at 5:12 p.m. for the Oct. 26, 1979, murder of Catherine Alexander,
who was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed 16 times and then
fatally crushed by a car.
The execution by lethal injection came two hours
after Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson of Orlando ruled Bottoson
competent. The Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal of Johnson's
ruling.
The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected a separate appeal
Monday that argued Bottoson was mentally retarded. Bottoson did not
make any statements before his execution, which was viewed by some
of the victim's children. When asked if he had any last words, he
said, "No sir, no." Bottoson accepted Valium before he was killed.
For the family, the execution brought some closure. "You don't
rejoice in a person dying," said Hubert Alexander, the victim's 78-year-old
son, who witnessed the execution with his sister, Eunice Smith. "But
we rejoice that we can get on with our lives." "Nothing is going to
bring my mother back," he said. "The person that did this awful
thing to her is gone."
As chilly rain fell, eight people opposed to the
death penalty protested in a pasture across the highway from the
prison. Earlier Monday, Bottoson, 63, ate a regular prison meal that
included beef patties, cheese and bread.
He did not get a special
meal because was given one on two other occasions when his
executions were postponed. In the ruling that denied Bottoson
another delay, Johnson agreed with state psychiatrists who found
that Bottoson understood that he was about to die and the reasons
for his execution, two requirements under Florida law.
Dr. Wade Myers, a state psychologist, testified
Monday in Orlando that while Bottoson sometimes heard God and
believed if he were to stand at Alexander's grave God would
resurrect her, that did not mean Bottoson was mentally ill. "There
are evangelists every Sunday who have large viewerships who say
they're also receiving the same messages from God," Myers said. "I
think when you begin to label fundamental Christian beliefs as
psychosis, it's not justified." But a clinical psychologist hired by
Bottoson's lawyers issued a report saying the convict was insane and
believed he was locked in a battle between Jesus and Satan.
Court documents showed that Bottoson's mother was obsessed with religion
and forced Bottoson to constantly read the Bible, pray, and preach
from street corners from the time he was seven to nine years of age.
In the summer of 1962, Bottoson attempted suicide in his church. He
was taken to a psychiatric hospital and diagnosed with an acute
schizophrenic episode.
Bottoson kidnapped Alexander, robbing her post
office of $144 and 37 money orders worth $400 each. The 74-year-old
woman was held captive for three days — some of that time in a car
trunk — before Bottoson killed her. Bottoson was arrested after his
wife tried to cash one of the money orders. Alexander's shoes and
the knife apparently used to stab her were found in Bottoson's house.
Bottoson is not the first person executed in
Florida who was alleged to be incompetent. In June 2000, Thomas
Provenzano was executed although he believed he was Jesus Christ.
Provenzano, 51, was executed for the murder of William "Arnie"
Wilkerson, one of three bailiffs shot in 1984 when the unemployed
electrician opened fire. The other two bailiffs were paralyzed; one
has since died.
Florida has executed two others inmates this year,
both of them in October. Since Florida reimposed the death penalty
in 1976, 53 inmates have been executed. A total of 250 have died
since the state took over executions from the counties in 1924,
including a federal inmate who died in the electric chair for murder
on the high seas.
Killer Linroy Bottoson Executed
The sentence
was carried out after the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme
Court rejected appeals on his behalf
By Ron Word - TCPalm.com
AP December 10, 2002
STARKE - Linroy Bottoson, an inmate who believed
he was locked in a battle between Satan and Jesus Christ, was
executed Monday for the kidnapping, robbery and slaying of the
Eatonville postmistress 23 years ago. Bottoson pronounced dead at
5:12 p.m. for the Oct. 26, 1979, murder of Catherine Alexander, who
was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed 16 times and then
fatally crushed by a car.
The execution by lethal injection came two hours
after Circuit Judge Anthony H. Johnson of Orlando ruled Bottoson
competent. The Florida Supreme Court rejected an appeal of Johnson's
ruling.
The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected an appeal Monday that
argued Bottoson was mentally retarded. When asked if he had any last
words, Bottoson said, "No sir, no." He accepted Valium before the
execution, which was viewed by the victim's son and other family
members. Earlier Monday, Bottoson ate a regular prison meal that
included beef patties, cheese and bread. He did not get a special
meal because was given one on two other occasions when his
executions were postponed.
In his ruling, Johnson agreed with state
psychiatrists who found that Bottoson understood that he was about
to die and the reasons for his execution, two requirements under
Florida law. Dr. Wade Myers, a state psychologist, testified Monday
in Orlando that while Bottoson sometimes hears God and believes if
he were to stand at Alexander's grave God would resurrect her, that
does not mean Bottoson is mentally ill. "There are evangelists every
Sunday who have large viewerships who say they're also receiving the
same messages from God," Myers said. "I think when you begin to
label fundamental Christian beliefs as psychosis, it's not
justified."
But a clinical psychologist hired by Bottoson's
lawyers issued a report saying he is insane. "Mr. Bottoson's chronic
mental illness renders him unable to rationally and factually
understand and appreciate the reason the State of Florida is seeking
his execution and unable to factually comprehend that his death will
in fact occur," psychologist Xavier Amador wrote after meeting with
him last week. "He understands himself to be locked in the middle of
a battle between Jesus and Satan, a battle he is certain, as one of
God's prophets, Jesus will win."
Court documents show that Bottoson's mother was
obsessed with religion and forced Bottoson to constantly read the
Bible, pray, and preach from street corners from ages seven to nine.
Bush Reschedules Killer's Execution
Three
challenges to death sentence fail
By Phil Long - Miami Herald
ST. AUGUSTINE -- A panel of three psychiatrists
on Friday found Linroy Bottoson competent to be executed. Meanwhile,
the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal appeals court in Atlanta
rejected challenges to his death sentence Friday. But Florida Gov.
Jeb Bush extended a temporary postponement of Bottoson's date with
death, originally scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, until 5 p.m. Monday.
Bottoson's attorney, Peter Cannon, who says his
client is mentally retarded and hears voices from God and Satan, may
appeal the decision on mental competency to a circuit court in
Orlando, but no decisions had been made late Friday.
Bottoson was
hospitalized with mental problems when he was young and has been
schizophrenic since, Cannon said. Under Florida law, being competent
to be executed means that Bottoson knows the ''nature and effect''
of the death penalty and knows why it's being imposed, said Carolyn
Snurkowski, chief appeals attorney for the state attorney general's
office.
Late Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down a
request for a stay of execution and refused to hear Bottoson's
assertion that Florida's death-penalty law is unconstitutional.
Also
on Friday, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal in Atlanta rejected
Bottoson's request for further hearings on his claim that he is
mentally retarded. Bottoson, 63, was convicted of the 1979 slaying
of Eatonville postmistress Catherine Alexander. He kidnapped her,
stole cash and money orders and stuffed her in the trunk of a car.
He stabbed her 15 times, then ran over her with the car, court
records show.
Bush granted the temporary delay because Florida
law requires an examination and a court review when an inmate, or
someone else, claims the condemned person is incompetent or insane,
officials said. Bush expressed concern for the family members of the
victim who have to endure yet another delay. ''The people opposed to
the death penalty are using every possible loophole to delay justice,''
Bush said Friday.
Cannon said he, too, is sympathetic, adding that
these times are ''horrible'' for the families of the victim and
Bottoson's family. But he objected to the word loophole. ''There are
no loopholes, just laws,'' Cannon said. Bottoson had already been
served his last meal Friday -- barbecued ribs, French fries and
onion rings, along with cole slaw, apple pie and milk.
Floridians for Alternatives to
the Death Penalty
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Execution of the "Insane".
Should Linroy Bottoson be executed for the
heinous, tortuous murder he committed on Catherine Alexander? If, in
fact, he "lacks the mental capacity to understand the fact of the
impending execution and the reason for it", then Florida law says he
should not be executed.
Governor Bush appointed three doctors who say Mr.
Bottoson does have that capacity. Unfortunately, the Governor, as
well as the state's prosecutors, have not released the reports
issued by those doctors. Mr. Bottoson's counsel had him examined
last Thursday by Dr. Xavier Amador.
Among Dr. Amador's many
accomplishments and credentials are that he is immediate past
Director of Research, Education and Practice at the National
Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). Dr. Amador also Co-Chaired the
latest revision of the "Schizophrenia and Related Disorders" section
of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM
IV). In other words, he helped write the diagnostic manual that
Florida's three doctors used to find Mr. Bottoson competent. Dr.
Amador's Report finds that Mr. Bottoson is not competent and his
report is available to the public at http://www.FADP.org.
I am sure many of you are wondering why any of
this matters. Mr. Bottoson killed Mrs. Alexander, shouldn't he
receive the death penalty?
But ask yourself, since the State of Florida is
preparing to execute a man in your name and in the names of all the
rest of the citizens of our state, don't you have the right and, and
yes, even the responsibility to know if this execution is being done
legally and that morally it is the right thing to do?
The law states
that the person who is to be executed must know that he is going to
die. Linroy Bottoson is incapable of such knowledge. In fact, Mr.
Bottoson is incapable of much, if any, knowledge of the real world
because he does not reside in our world.
This man has been diagnosed
as having schizophrenia since1962. He lives in a delusion of his
diseased brain. In Linroy Bottoson's world, the devil puts on plays
called trials. Satan directed the trial and the actors were the
jury, the attorneys, the witnesses and the judge. In Mr. Bottoson's
world, he is a holy prophet of God and God will not allow him to die
because he is needed to save the world from Satan's rule.
This man cannot appreciate his impending death
because he is too sick. He is incapable of making his peace with his
maker. He is incapable of making any moral judgements about right or
wrong. He is incapable of having a meaningful understanding of the
crime for which he was convicted.
Linroy Bottoson committed a gruesome crime and
deprived a family of their mother, sister, daughter, wife. Many of
us advocate for better services for those suffering from these
neurobiological brain disorders so that we don't have these horrible
and very preventable tragedies. Many of us, like Mrs. Alexander's
family, have also lost family and friends to these illnesses. Let us
not compound the problem by killing a human being who is so sick
that he cannot understand why he is being killed.
NAMI Florida calls on Governor Bush to commute Mr.
Bottoson's death sentence to life in prison. It is the moral, the
right, and the legal thing to do.
D. Michael Mathes, J.D., President, NAMI Florida
SENT BY:
Abraham J. Bonowitz, Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)
Bottoson Declared Sane, Executed in Florida
TheDeathHouse.com
Starke - The man who kidnapped and murdered an
elderly postmistress from a small Florida town was executed by
lethal injection Monday afternoon after his lawyers failed in last-ditch
attempts to convince three courts that he was insane and mentally
retarded. Linroy Bottoson, 63, was pronounced dead at 5:12 p.m. He
was the third convicted killer executed in Florida since October.
Sterling Ivey, spokesman for the Florida
Department of Corrections, said Bottoson made no final statement
before his execution.
He said Bottoson had spent an hour in the
afternoon with a prison chaplain and was hopeful that an Orlando
circuit court judge would rule him insane and stop the execution.
Ivey said that when the court rejected Bottoson’s insanity plea, the
condemned man appeared disappointed. Bottoson, a former child street
evangelist, was brought into the execution chamber at Florida State
Prison shortly before 5 p.m., Ivey said.
Frantic Legal Maneuvering
The execution of Bottoson followed several days
of frantic legal maneuvering to block his trip to the Florida death
house - including appeals to the circuit court judge in Florida, The
Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court - all of which were
rejected. Hours before his execution, Bottoson’s defense lawyers had
asked the Circuit Court judge during a hearing to declare Bottoson
insane. The lawyers said that Bottoson heard voices from God and
thought he could resurrect his victim from the dead.
At the hearing, Dr. Wade Myers said that Bottoson
had told him if he were to stand at the grave of his murder victim,
God would resurrect her and he wouldn't face the death penalty. But,
Myers said that did not mean Bottoson was insane.
A report from a
defense psychologist stated that Bottoson believed he wouldn’t be
executed because of his ability to hear God. This ability would
prevent a terrorist attack and force the governor to use him to help
save lives, Bottoson believed. "Mr. Bottoson's mental disease is
rendering him incapable of understanding the nature of the death
penalty or why it was imposed on him," Dr. Xavier Amador said in the
report.
Bush Ordered Psychiatric Review
Last Friday, Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a team of
psychiatrists, including Myers, to examine Bottoson after the
condemned man’s lawyers said Bottoson was insane. Florida law says
prisoners cannot be executed if they don’t understand that they are
going to die and why.
Bottoson was scheduled to be executed that day.
When the psychiatrists reported Friday that Bottoson was sane, Bush
rescheduled the execution for Monday afternoon, triggering more
legal attempts by his lawyers to block the execution in the courts.
In his Supreme Court appeal, Bottoson's attorneys asked the Justices
on Monday to block the execution, arguing that he is mentally
retarded and deserves a hearing on that issue. The high court has
banned the execution of mentally retarded killers
.
Kidnapped Postmistress
Bottoson was sentenced to death for the
kidnapping and murder of the 74-year-old postmistress of a small
Florida town. The victim, Catherine Willie Alexander, the head of
the post office in Eatonville, located north of Orlando, was stabbed
numerous times and run over with a car. Prosecutors said she was
held for three days by Bottoson before he killed her. She was
abducted in October 1979.
Bottoson had previously been convicted of
robbing a bank in California in 1971. The key evidence against him
in the Alexander murder were stolen postal money orders found in his
home, as well as the victim’s shoes. Bottoson had also given a
confession to a minister, saying that demon spirits had made him
slay the woman.
Bottoson was in a mental hospital before the
murder and had been diagnosed as a "latent schizophrenic." The
Florida Supreme Court had determined in January that there was no
proof of Bottoson's mental retardation.
They cited scores on IQ
tests as well as findings of no deficiencies in adoptive behavior.
These are two of the criteria used to determine mental retardation.
Critics of the death sentence also said that Bottoson had an
inexperienced trial lawyer, paid the equivalent of $13 an hour with
little money for investigation, during the trial.
Last Monday, Bush halted the scheduled execution
of Amos King
to allow his lawyers time to reexamine DNA evidence in
the hope the material will prove King innocent of the murder of an
elderly woman - a murder committed more than a quarter of a century
ago.
Abolish Archives
July 8, 2002 - FLORIDA
Longtime Death Row Inmate Linroy Bottoson Set for
Execution
More than 20 years after Eatonville postmistress
Catherine Alexander was robbed, held captive for 83 hours, stabbed
16 times and crushed to death by a car, her killer faced lethal
injection Monday.
Barring last-minute stays, Linroy Bottoson, 63,
was to die at 6 p.m. Monday in the death chamber at Florida State
Prison in northern Florida.
As he was being prepared for execution, his
attorneys went to the Florida Supreme Court to ask if recent U.S.
Supreme Court rulings apply in the Sunshine State. Their appeal
could have wide-ranging implications for all 371 inmates on
Florida's death row. Bottoson's execution would be Florida's 52nd
since the death penalty was reinstated in 1979 and the 1st in about
18 months because of a series of appeals from other states to the
nation's high court.
Bottoson attorneys asked the court to toss out
his conviction based on two recent high court rulings. One, in an
Arizona case, said juries and not judges should impose death
sentences. In Florida, juries can recommend a death sentence but
judges impose it. In the other, the court said retarded convicts
should not be executed.
On Sunday, prosecutors asked the court to dismiss
both, saying the Arizona ruling should have no affect on Florida and
that Bottoson isn't retarded by legal standards. "Florida's capital
sentencing statute has not been disturbed, and there is no decision
from any court that compels additional scrutiny of it," wrote
assistant attorneys general Ken Nunnelley and Doug Squire. The court
could set a hearing, stop the execution or let it go forward. If the
latter happened, defense attorneys said they will appeal to the U.S.
Supreme Court. Bottoson, black like his victim, was convicted by an
all-white jury in 1981 in Orlando, the Orange County seat.
Bottoson was accused of kidnapping Alexander from
the post office in the nation's oldest black-founded town while
stealing $144 in cash and 37 postal money orders worth $400 each. A
search of Bottoson's home turned up 31 of the money orders, the
victim's shoes, a torn up postal check, a bloody hunting knife and
carbon copies of stolen checks that had been deposited in a bank by
Bottoson's wife.
The details of Bottoson's crime were included in
a 1996 opinion by the state Supreme Court rejecting an earlier
appeal. "He held her captive for three days and at least part of the
time confined her in the trunk of his car," the high court wrote.
"He then stabbed her 16 times and finally ran over her with his car.
He admitted to the murder to more than one person." The car caused
her death. Her right and left collarbones and almost every rib was
crushed.
Bottoson came within hours of execution in
February, then was given a stay while the U.S. Supreme Court
considered the other cases.
(source: Associated Press)
Citations:
Bottoson v. State, 443 So. 2d 962, 963 (Fla.
1983) (Direct Appeal). Bottoson v. Florida, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct. 223, 83 L.Ed.2d
153 (1984). (Cert. Denied). Bottoson v. State, 674 So. 2d 621 (Fla. 1996) (PCR). Bottoson v. Florida, 519 U.S. 967, 117 S.Ct. 393, 136 L.Ed.2d
309 (1996). (Cert. Denied) Bottoson v. Singletary, 685 So.2d 1302 (Fla.1997). Bottoson v. Moore, 234 F.3d 526 (11th Cir. 2000) (Habeas).
Bottoson v. Florida, 122 S.Ct. 357, 151 L.Ed.2d 270 (2001). (Cert.
Denied). Bottoson v. Moore, 251 F.3d 165 (11th Cir.2001). (Habeas).
Bottoson v. State, 813 So. 2d 31 (Fla. 2002). (Stay)
Bottoson v. Moore (2002)
The facts of this case are set forth in our
initial opinion on direct appeal, wherein we affirmed Bottoson's
first-degree murder conviction and death sentence.
See Bottoson v. State, 443 So. 2d 962, 963-64 (Fla.
1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 873, 105 S.Ct. 223, 83 L.Ed.2d 153
(1984). Bottoson filed his initial rule 3.850 motion for
postconviction relief in 1985. Subsequently, a death warrant was
issued while postconviction proceedings were still pending. The
trial court entered an order granting an indefinite stay of
execution, and Bottoson subsequently filed several amendments to his
3.850 motion. On November 14, 1991, the trial court held an
evidentiary hearing and thereafter denied the motion. This Court
affirmed the trial court's denial of postconviction relief, and
denied rehearing on May 9, 1996. See Bottoson v. State, 674 So. 2d
621 (Fla. 1996), cert. denied, 519 U.S. 967, 117 S.Ct. 393, 136 L.Ed.2d
309 (1996). Bottoson also filed a petition for writ of habeas
corpus, which this Court denied on January 9, 1997. See Bottoson v.
Singletary, 685 So.2d 1302 (Fla.1997).
On June 2, 1998, Bottoson
sought habeas corpus relief in the United States District Court for
the Middle District of Florida, which was denied in an unpublished
opinion, and the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial. See Bottoson
v. Moore, 234 F.3d 526 (11th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, --- U.S.
----, 122 S.Ct. 357, 151 L.Ed.2d 270 (2001). The Eleventh Circuit 3
denied Bottoson's motion for rehearing on February 28, 2001. See
Bottoson v. Moore, 251 F.3d 165 (11th Cir.2001).
DEATH WARRANT PROCEEDINGS
On November 19, 2001, the Governor issued a
second death warrant, and Bottoson's execution was set for February
5, 2002, at 6 p.m. On January 11, 2002, Bottoson filed a successive
postconviction motion, entitled a "Motion to Vacate Judgement and
Sentence, and Request for Evidentiary Hearing and Stay of Execution."
The trial court held a preliminary Huff [footnote omitted] hearing
on January 15, 2002.
On the same day the trial court entered an
order granting an evidentiary hearing only on the issue of
Bottoson's claim that he should not be executed because he is
mentally retarded. On January 17, the trial court held the
evidentiary hearing and on January 18, the trial court entered an
order denying all claims. Bottoson v. State, 813 So. 2d 31 (Fla.
2002).
The United States Supreme Court issued a stay of
Bottoson’s execution on February 5, 2002. That stay was lifted on
June 28, 2002, and, on July 1, 2002, Bottoson’s execution was
rescheduled for July 8, 2002. Following the scheduling of his
execution for July 8, 2002, Bottoson informed the Circuit Court of
Orange County, Florida, that he would file a Florida Rule of
Criminal Procedure 3.850 motion no later than noon on July 4, 2002.
The Circuit Court scheduled a Huff hearing for 10:00 AM on July 5,
2002. Shortly before noon on July 4, 2002, Bottoson informed the
Circuit Court that he would not be filing a Rule 3.850 motion. The
Circuit Court issued an order allowing Bottoson until 4:30 PM on
July 4, 1Copies of these orders have been lodged with this Court
previously. 4 2002, to file any pleadings in that Court, after which
time no such filings would be allowed absent extraordinary
circumstances. No pleadings were filed, and the Circuit Court issued
an order cancelling the hearing.
