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In 1994, a man is set to be executed in Florida for murdering his wife and two children. This drastic action was triggered by his wife’s decision to seek a divorce. The death warrant was authorized by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday.
Edward J. Zakrzewski, II, is set to die July 31 in the ninth execution scheduled for this year in the state.
After his wife Sylvia Zakrzewski, son Edward Zakrzewski (7 years old), and daughter Anna Zakrzewski (5 years old) were killed, he confessed to three charges of first-degree murder in 1996. Consequently, he received three death sentences for the brutal crimes.
The man beat his wife with a crowbar and machete and strangled her to death and killed the children with a machete June 9, 1994, in Okaloosa County.
Following media coverage of the case on the show “Unsolved Mysteries,” he surrendered himself to authorities. This led to his eventual arrest and prosecution as detailed in court documents.
Another man on death row, Michael Bernard Bell, 54, is set to die by lethal injection July 15 at Florida State Prison.
He’s convicted of killing two people outside a bar.
Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, who was convicted of raping and killing a woman in Florida, was executed following a lethal injection at the same prison last week.
The state also executed six people in 2023 but only carried out one execution last year.