Donald Dillbeck

Donald David Dillbeck (May 24, 1963 – February 23, 2023) was an American convicted murderer executed by the state of Florida for killing a woman in a Tallahassee mall parking lot in 1990 after escaping from prison, where he was serving a life sentence for killing a sheriff's deputy in 1979.

Donald Dillbeck
Born
Donald David Dillbeck

(1963-05-24)May 24, 1963
El Paso, Texas, U.S.
DiedFebruary 23, 2023(2023-02-23) (aged 59)
Florida State Prison, Raiford, Florida, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Conviction(s)First degree murder (2 counts)
Armed robbery
Armed burglary
Attempted escape
Criminal penaltyLife imprisonment (June 6, 1979)
Death (March 15, 1991)

Life and crimes

At age six, Dillbeck's father walked out on him and his alcoholic mother, and he was placed in several foster homes until age 15.[1]

On April 11, 1979, Dillbeck was a high school dropout and runaway,[2] sitting inside a stolen car at a closed park at the beach in Fort Myers Beach, Florida. Someone made a suspicious person complaint about this, and Lee County deputy Dwight Lynn Hall arrived and questioned him. He ran from the car, so Hall chased and caught him on foot. During a struggle that followed, Dillbeck grabbed Hall's gun and shot him dead.[3] He was arrested and, on June 6, sentenced to life imprisonment.

On February 7, 1983, Dillbeck escaped prison and was recaptured. For this, he was sentenced to one year and one day in prison. He was later given a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence and put in a lower-security facility, where he was disciplined multiple times, including for attempted assault in 1984 and drinking intoxicants in 1985.[4]

On June 22, 1990, Dillbeck was working with other inmates on a catering function at the Quincy vocational center. He walked away and ended up in Tallahassee, where he stole a paring knife. On June 24, he approached a woman named Robbie Faye Vann, 44, in her vehicle in the parking lot of the Tallahassee Mall. With the knife, he attempted to carjack her, and she resisted. He then stabbed her repeatedly, killing her. The vehicle crashed in the lot, and he fled on foot, chased by a mall security guard. First reports to 911 were of a car crash, then a stabbing and foot chase.[5] He was arrested in a nearby backyard soon after, still armed with the knife.

Governor Bob Martinez called for tighter custody of inmates and firing of the corrections officers involved.[4][6] A 1991 article called the case reminiscent of Willie Horton's 1988 furlough by Michael Dukakis's program.[7]

Conviction and execution

Dillbeck's court-appointed lawyer conceded his crimes and tried to save him from the electric chair.[1]

Dillbeck was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, and armed burglary and was sentenced to death on March 15, 1991.[8] He also got two more consecutive life sentences on top of the one he was already serving. He was sent to death row at the Florida State Prison in Raiford.

At the sentencing, Dillbeck told the judge: "I'm really sorry for what happened. I wish it didn't, not because I'm standing here, but because it happened. I'm asking for a life sentence, not for my sake, but for my parents' sake." His parents said he "had been brain damaged and abused".[9]

On January 23, 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Dillbeck's death warrant, scheduling his execution for February 23.[10][11] Dillbeck was executed that day at Florida State Prison via lethal injection. He was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. EST.[12] Dillbeck's last words were an attack on DeSantis. He said "I know I hurt people when I was young. I really messed up. But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse. He's taken a lot from a lot of people. I speak for all men, women and children. He's put his foot on our necks. Ron DeSantis and other people like him can suck our dicks."[13]

He is the first person executed in Florida since the execution of Gary Ray Bowles in 2019 and the 100th execution since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Dillbeck illustrates prison crisis". Gainesville Sun. February 26, 1991. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  2. Freeman, Robert M. (2000). Popular Culture and Corrections. American Correctional Association. p. 58. ISBN 1569911266. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  3. "15-Year-Old Held On Murder Charge". Lakeland Ledger. April 12, 1979. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  4. "DOC officials fired in inmate's escape". Gainesville Sun. June 26, 1990. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  5. Bobit, Bonnie (1999). Death Row. Bobit Publishing. p. 166. ISBN 0962485780. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  6. O'Neal, Donna (June 26, 1990). "3 fired over murderer's escape". Orlando Sentinel. pp. A-1, A-8. Retrieved January 28, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Criminal Justice Newsletter, Volume 21". 21. Pace Publications. 1991: 16–338. Retrieved 3 July 2015. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  8. Newton, Michael (2006). The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Infobase Publishing. p. 337. ISBN 0816069875. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  9. "Escaped inmate gets death sentence for June stabbing". Gainesville Sun. March 17, 1991. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
  10. Farrington, Brendan (January 23, 2023). "Florida Execution Set for Man in Woman's 1990 Slaying". WTVJ. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  11. "- Florida Supreme Court Docket". Onlinedocketssc.flcourts.org. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
  12. "Florida executes Donald Dillbeck; first inmate to die since 2019". Kiro 7. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  13. "Death Row Inmate Uses Last Words to Diss DeSantis: 'Suck Our D*cks'". Daily Beast. 23 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
  14. "Florida executes Donald Dillbeck for 1990 Tallahassee murder". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2023-02-24.
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