A man who was found guilty of brutally killing two women he met at Florida beach bars during a days-long crime spree met his end on Tuesday. Michael Zack III, 54, was pronounced dead around 6:15 p.m. after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Before his execution, Zack was asked if he had any last words. He replied with a simple, "Yes sir," and then lifted his head to look at the witnesses, saying, "I love you all." Interestingly, he didn't make any request for a customary last meal, as confirmed by Florida corrections officials speaking to Fox News Digital.
Zack's conviction stemmed from the murders of Laurie Russillo and Ravonne Smith during a crime spree in June 1996. He received the death penalty for Smith's murder, a woman he had befriended before brutally assaulting her with an oyster knife.
Zack's nine-day crime spree began in Tallahassee after he was faced with eviction following a call from his girlfriend. A bartender offered to lend him her pickup truck, which he accepted, and then he disappeared without returning it, as documented in court records.
He subsequently arrived at a Niceville bar in the Florida Panhandle, where he struck up a friendship with a construction company owner. Upon learning that Zack was living in the stolen pickup truck, the man extended an offer for him to stay at his home. Zack later stole two guns and $42 from this person and pawned the firearms, as detailed in court records.
At yet another bar, Zack encountered Laurie Russillo and invited her to the beach for drug use. There, he subjected her to a brutal assault, dragged her partially clothed into the dunes, strangled her, and covered her face with sand, according to court records. The following day, he visited a Pensacola bar, where he met Ravonne Smith. The two went to the beach to smoke marijuana, and later she took him to her boyfriend's home.
Zack claimed he killed Smith because she made a comment about his mother's murder, which had been committed by his sister. He also alleged that Smith had gone to another room to retrieve a gun after he stabbed her in self-defense.
His execution marked the eighth carried out in Florida under Governor Ron DeSantis since 2019 and the sixth of the year.
In another news, a 15-year-old girl named Elif Cakal found herself caught in a cruel conspiracy orchestrated by four of her supposed friends. See detailed story here
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