Duane Eugene Owen | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

Duane Eugene OWEN



Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Robberies - Sex with corpse
Number of victims: 2
Date of murders: March 24 / May 29, 1984
Date of arrest: May 30, 1984
Date of birth: February 13, 1961
Victims profile: Karen Slattery, 14 / Georgianna Worden
Method of murder: Stabbing with knife - Hitting with a hammer
Location: Palm Beach County, Florida, USA
Status: Sentenced to death March 14, 1986




Florida Supreme Court

opinion 68549	opinion SC92144	opinion SC06-2104





DC# 101660 DOB: 02/13/61 Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, Palm Beach County Case# 84-4000 Sentencing Judge: The Honorable Richard B. Burk Attorneys, Trial: Craig Boudreau & Barry Krischer – Court-appointed Attorney, Direct Appeal: Craig Boudreau – Court-appointed Attorney, Collateral Appeals: Mark E. Olive – Private Date of Offense: 05/29/84 Date of Sentence: 03/14/86 Circumstances of the Offense: Sometime during the late night and early morning of 05/29/84, an individual forcibly entered the home of Georgianna Worden. As Ms. Worden slept, the intruder hit her with a hammer. The blow caused her death. The intruder also sexually assaulted Ms. Worden after hitting her with the hammer. Her children found Ms. Worden’s body on the morning of 05/29/84, as they were preparing for school. Owen was arrested the on 05/30/84, on unrelated charges. During the interrogation that occurred over the next several weeks, Owen confessed to this murder. Owen’s fingerprint was also found on a library book in the victim’s home. Additional Information: Owen was indicted (10 days later) for the same three offenses in which he received the same convictions and sentences (CC# 84-4014). Owen was sentenced to life for other offenses, which were committed approximately one month prior to the aforementioned offenses (CC# 84-4001). On 12/09/05, the Circuit Court (presided by Judge Krista Marx) resentenced Owen to consecutive life terms for these offenses. Trial Summary: 07/01/84 Defendant was indicted on the following charges: Count I: First-Degree Murder Count II: Sexual Battery with a Deadly weapon Count III: Unlawful Entry of a Dwelling with an Armed and Dangerous Weapon 07/12/84 Defendant entered a written plea of not guilty 02/18/86 The defendant was found guilty on all counts. 03/05/86 The jury recommended the death penalty by a vote of 10-2. 03/14/86 Defendant was sentenced as follows: Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death Count II: Sexual Battery with a Deadly Weapon – Life to run consecutive to the sentence in Count II from Case 84-4014 Count III: Unlawful Entry of a Dwelling with an Armed and Dangerous Weapon – Life to run consecutive to Count II Case Information: Owen filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 04/07/86. Owen filed a 3.850 motion in the circuit court on 07/31/86. On 09/01/86, the Court transferred jurisdiction of the case to the trial court in order to allow for a ruling on the 3.850 Motion. On 10/20/87, the motion was dismissed and jurisdiction was returned to the Court. In his Direct Appeal, Owen raised several issues surrounding the guilt phase of his trial. His main claim was that the confession obtained by law enforcement violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The Court ruled that Owen’s Sixth Amendment right was not violated because the interrogation session that resulted in the confession took place prior to his first court appearance. In reference to the penalty phase, all of Owen’s claims were either found to be harmless or were rejected by the Florida Supreme Court. The Court affirmed the sentence and conviction on 01/23/92. The rehearing was denied on 04/01/92, and the mandate was issued on 05/01/92. On 08/14/92, Owen filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court. On 10/13/92, the petition was denied. Owen then filed an amended 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 10/13/94. A Huff hearing was held on 11/05/97, where the court denied some claims and scheduled others for an evidentiary hearing. The evidentiary hearing was held on 12/08/97. The first witness at the hearing was Barry Krischer, Owen’s attorney for the original Slattery trial. After Mr. Krischer’s testimony, Owen decided not to proceed with the hearing because it would violate attorney-client privilege; therefore, the 3.850 Motion was denied. A 3.850 Appeal was filed to the Florida Supreme Court on 01/07/98. Owen claimed that the Circuit Court erred in its denial of the motion. The Florida Supreme Court found no abuse of discretion by the Circuit Court, and the Circuit Court’s denial of the 3.850 motion was affirmed on 09/21/00. The rehearing was denied on 11/13/00, and the mandate was issued on 12/13/00. Owen filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 02/23/01. The petition was denied on 04/02/01. Owen filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 07/29/01. The motion was denied on 09/21/01. Owen then filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on 09/28/01. He also filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 11/07/01. Both were denied on 07/11/03. On 11/07/01, Owen filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. The Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion on 07/11/03. Owen then filed a motion for a rehearing, which was denied on 09/02/03. A mandate was issued on 10/02/03. On 12/15/03, Owen filed a Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus to the United States District Court, Southern District, which is currently pending. The Commission on Capital Cases updates this information regularly. This information, however, is subject to change and may not reflect the latest status of an inmate’s case and should not be relied upon for statistical or legal purposes. FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us