Who was Michael Duane Zack III? Florida convict denies last meal before being executed for 1996 murders
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
STARKE, FLORIDA: Michael Duane Zack III, 54, was a convicted murderer who killed two women he met at bars along the Florida Panhandle in 1996.
On October 3, the death row convict was killed by lethal injection at 6.14 pm EST at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Zack met with his wife and spiritual adviser on the day of his execution. He declined the last meal offered to him, although the department did not reveal its contents.
When asked if he had any last words, the double murderer replied, "Yes Sir," and proceeded to lift his head to look at the witnesses and said, "I love you all," as per Daily Mail.
Request to halt Michael Duane Zack III's execution denied by the US Supreme Court
According to the records of the US Supreme Court, the attorneys of Michael Duane Zack III had requested a stay of execution of the death row inmate a week ago.
However, the Supreme Court denied the request on Monday, October 2, the day before his execution.
The Florida Supreme Court and the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals had also passed on stopping the execution.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Zack's death warrant on August 17.
At the trial, Zack's attorneys said that he should not face the death penalty because he suffered from fetal alcohol syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder.
They argued that his brain was dysfunctional and he had a mental impairment, conditions which they claimed made Zack impulsive and caused him to be under constant emotional and mental distress.
Clearly, the claims did not hold up in court.
What were the crimes committed by Michael Duane Zack III?
Michael Duane Zack III was convicted for murdering Ravonne Smith with an oyster knife in June 1996, as well as separately charged with and sentenced to life in prison for killing Laura Rosillo, whom he met in a nearby bar.
According to court records, in 1996, Zack was in a bar in Tallahassee where he frequented when his girlfriend called and informed him of his eviction. Hearing that, the bartender offered him her pickup truck, with which he drove off and never returned.
Zack went to a Niceville bar in the Florida Panhandle, where he became friends with a construction company owner who offered to let him crash at his home.
The death row convict later stole two guns, which he pawned off, and $42 from him.
In another bar, Zack met Rosillo and invited her to the beach to do drugs. He then beat her, dragged her partially clothed into the dunes, strangled her, and kicked sand over her face.
Zack met Smith the following day at a Pensacola bar. They reportedly went to the beach to smoke marijuana, and later, she took him to the house she shared with her boyfriend.
There, the convict smashed a bottle over her head, slammed her head into the floor, raped her, and stabbed her four times in the center of the chest with an oyster knife.
He proceeded to steal her purse, as well as her television and VCR, which he tried to pawn off. The pawn shop suspected the items were stolen, and Zack fled and hid in an empty house for two days before being arrested.
Zack admitted to killing Smith in court, stating that he became enraged and beat her when she made a comment about his mother's murder, which his sister committed.
He claimed that he killed Smith in self-defense after he thought she was going to the next room to get a gun.
Smith's family witnessed the execution of Zack but did not have any comment for the press. The family of Rosillo was not present at the site.