Chadwick Scott Willacy, who was found guilty of first-degree murder for setting his elderly neighbor ablaze after she purportedly discovered him committing a burglary in her home, continued to assert his innocence moments before his execution by the state of Florida on Tuesday.

Addressing the victim’s family, Willacy stated, as reported by The Associated Press, “To the victim’s family, I hope this brings you peace. If it does, that’s good. But this is not right.”

The 58-year-old was declared dead at 6:15 p.m. following the administration of a three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison.

Willacy faced conviction in 1991 for the 1990 murder of 56-year-old Marlys Sather, as documented in court records.

Capturing a somber scene, storm clouds gathered over Florida State Prison on August 24, 2017. An inset features a mugshot of Chadwick Scott Willacy, provided by the Florida Department of Corrections. (REUTERS/Phil Sears; Florida Department of Corrections)

On Sept. 5, 1990, Sather had returned from work to find Willacy, her next-door-neighbor, burglarizing her Palm Bay home. Willacy then bludgeoned her head, tied her hands and feet with wire and duct tape and “choked and strangled her with a cord with a force so intense that a portion of her skull was dislodged,” according to court documents.

He then took her ATM card and her car to withdraw money from her bank account. When he returned, he disabled her smoke detectors, covered her in gasoline and set her on fire with matches, placing a fan at her feet to provide more oxygen for the fire, according to court documents.

An autopsy report determined Sathey’s cause of death to be smoke inhalation, indicating she was still alive when she was set on fire.

Clouds hover over the entrance of Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., on Aug. 3, 2023. (AP)

“We have waited 36.5 years for justice for our mother,” Sather’s family wrote, according to the Independent Florida Alligator. “The pain has been unbearable without her with us every day.”

The family also indicated her death occurred just weeks after she lost her husband to cancer.

Willacy maintained his innocence, saying he would never kill his friend, the AP reported.

He did, however, express remorse to his family and told his “brothers on the row” to stay strong, per the AP. He was injected with the three-drug mix of an anesthetic, a paralytic and potassium acetate, which stops the heart. The combination is the standard in Florida lethal injections.

Infographic explaining death by lethal injection, the method used to administer the death penalty in the state of Florida. (JEAN-MICHEL CORNU, LUCA MATTEUCCI/AFP via Getty Images)

During an investigation into Sather’s murder, law enforcement officers found Willacy’s fingerprints on the fan at Sathey’s feet and on a gas can taken from her garage. Witnesses also reported seeing a man matching Willacy’s description near Sather’s house and driving her vehicle on the day of the murder.

Willacy’s girlfriend, told police she found a woman’s check register in Willacy’s trash. When police recognized the check register as belonging to Sather, they arrested Willacy. At Willacy’s house, police found some of Sather’s property, clothes with blood matching Sather’s blood type.

Willacy was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and arson and sentenced to death in 1991 after a 9-3 jury vote recommending the death penalty.

In 1994, the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing, citing the trial judge’s failure to give defense attorneys a chance to rehabilitate a potential juror who indicated she couldn’t recommend the death penalty, according to the AP.

In 1995, Willacy was again sentenced to death after a new jury recommended the death penalty in an 11-1 vote.

“Our mother, Marlys Mae Sather should be remembered as a beautiful and loving daughter, wife, mother of 3, grandmother of 5, great grandmother of 5, aunt, cousin and friend,” the Sather family’s statement read.

“She was a new widow trying to take one day at a time,” it said. “We miss her so much every day.”

Willacy’s execution was the fifth in Florida this year, following a record-breaking 2025 in which the state executed 19 death row inmates. The execution was the ninth in the U.S. this year.

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Prince Harry didn’t linger at Meghan Markle’s event, Her Best Life retreat in Sydney, as he swiftly exited on Friday, amid its surrounding controversy.

A newly surfaced video captures the Duke of Sussex promptly standing from his seat and heading for the exit right after Meghan concluded a Q&A session.

Before leaving, Harry, 41, briefly shook hands with a gentleman seated close to the stage, deliberately avoiding eye contact with the audience who were applauding Meghan with a standing ovation.

He then made a quick exit through the nearest doorway.

Posted by businesswoman Liliana Sanelli, who attended the event, she also included images of Meghan posing with retreat host Gemma O’Neill and a gushing caption.

“It’s not every day you get to meet someone as stunning as Meghan Markle,” she remarked.

Prince Harry wasted no time in escaping Meghan Markle’s controversial Her Best Life retreat in Sydney. Pictured: Meghan on stage at the Intercontinental Coogee on Friday

A video of the moment has emerged showing the Duke of Sussex (pictured) rising quickly from his seat to make his way for the exit just as his wife completed a Q&A

Elsewhere she said, ‘Hearing Meghan speak so openly, authentically and be so real – has given me another perspective of powerful, insightful, strong women when they are truly real to themselves.’

Meanwhile, the Her Best Life podcast shared a cringey video of the after-party, which included scenes of attendees wearing oversized ‘novelty’ glasses while dancing to tunes spun by a DJ.

Meghan is not believed to have attended those festivities.  

Radio star Jackie ‘O’ Henderson – who is managed by O’Neill – was also featured in a brief clip, where she could be seen addressing a crowded conference room.

During her talk, The Duchess of Sussex asked superfans if it was finally time to invest in herself after spending ‘all her life investing in women’.

Attendees had paid up to AUD$3,199 for VIP tickets to the event, which included the opportunity to sit in the front row of the Q&A and take a photograph with the Duchess.

‘I’ve spent all my life investing in women, can I finally invest in me?’ Meghan asked the audience during her 90-minute appearance on stage.

She also told the crowd her experience in the public eye had been ‘very difficult’ but that people’s criticism of her had to do with their own ‘projections’.

She said the last decade, during which she celebrated happy moments such as her wedding and the birth of her two children, had been tainted by the vicious attacks.

Harry, 41, avoided eye contact with the patrons as they gave Meghan a standing ovation

Attendees had paid up to AUD$3,199 for VIP tickets to the event, which included the opportunity to sit in the front row of the Q&A and take a photograph with the Duchess. Pictured with podcaster Gemma O’Neill

The Her Best Life podcast shared a cringey video of the after party, which included scenes of attendees wearing oversized ‘novelty’ glasses. (Pictured)

Meghan said motherhood had taught her to have perspective and patience, something she needed, ‘given what our life is like’.

It comes after Meghan and Prince Harry’s tour Down Under was the subject of a poll that delivered an unflattering verdict on the four-day jaunt.

The survey revealed that a crushing four out of five Aussies (81 per cent) felt their visit had not improved their opinion of the couple. Just one in five (19 per cent) said it had.

Despite Harry’s speech declaring he never wanted to be a working royal and Meghan calling herself the ‘most trolled person in the entire world’ since marrying her prince, two-thirds of Australians (69 per cent) said the couple had not been treated unfairly by the Royal Family.

And almost nine out of ten Australians (87 per cent) said they believed Harry’s decision to visit the country with his wife would not help mend his relationship with his father, King Charles III.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex departed Australia on Friday after taking part in a mix of charitable royal-style engagements and money-spinning commercial events.

 The couple’s tour went from a stop at the Australian War Memorial and a visit to meet survivors of the Bondi terror attack to Meghan’s cameo on MasterChef Australia.

The Howard County Police Department in Maryland has unveiled surveillance footage depicting a suspect discharging a firearm inside a gas station, an act believed by investigators to have been part of a robbery attempt.

Captured without audio, the video reveals a woman brandishing a gun and engaging in conversation before she ultimately fires the weapon.

This alarming event took place on Friday. On Monday, the police took to social media to share the footage, announcing a reward of up to $2,500 for any information leading to the identification of the suspect.

The Howard County Police Department’s Facebook page features the video, providing the public with a crucial glimpse of the suspect involved. Previously, a smaller reward of up to $1,000 had been offered for tips related to the incident.

A reward of up to $1,000 had previously been offered.

“At approximately 7:43 p.m. April 17 police were called to the Shell gas station in the 7200 block of Cradlerock Way in Columbia for a report of a shooting,” police said in a statement.

Howard County Police Department shared footage of a suspect opening fire at a gas station during an attempted robbery. (Facebook/ Howard County Police Department)

“An adult male gas station employee was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center with serious injuries,” the department continued. “Through preliminary investigation detectives believe a single suspect fired shots during an attempted robbery before fleeing the scene. No one else was injured.”

The update issued on Monday noted, “The victim is currently listed in serious condition at Shock Trauma.”

Howard County Police Department shared surveillance video of the suspect in the gas station opening fire at a clerk. (Facebook/ Howard County Police Department)

The police department did not provide any new information to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.