Florida predator to be executed after inviting neighbor for coffee. Then he killed her.
A Florida man raped and murdered his next-door neighbor after inviting her for coffee. 15th prisoner executed in the state This year is nearly double Florida’s previous annual execution record.
Norman GrimThe 65-year-old is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, October 28, for the brutal murder of his neighbor in Pensacola, Cynthia Campbell, a 41-year-old lawyer who was always looking for ways to help people.
If Grim’s execution goes ahead as expected, he will be the 41st man executed in the United States this year; This figure is a figure not seen since 2012. At least five more executions are planned before January.
Here’s what you need to know about the execution, including more about Cynthia Campbell.
Norman Grim was photographed.
When and where is the execution?
Norman Grim will be executed at Florida State Prison in Raiford on Tuesday, October 28 at 6:00 PM ET.
Grim will be the 15th person executed in the state this year. The previous state record for annual executions was eight in 1984 and 2014.
What was Norman Grim found guilty of?
On July 27, 1998, 41-year-old Pensacola resident Cynthia Campbell called 911 after one of the windows of her home was broken.
According to an archived story in the Pensacola News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, a responding deputy found Norman Grim outside Campbell’s home, but Grim told him he was just investigating a barking dog. While the deputy was still there, Grim invited Campbell out for coffee several times, and the deputy encouraged him to accept, the Journal reported.
Campbell went to Grim’s house that morning and walked into a trap. According to court records, Grim attacked her with a hammer and knife, raped and killed her; It is stated that he was beaten 18 times with a stick and stabbed 11 times, most of them in the heart.
Grim then wrapped Campbell’s body in carpet and sheets and dumped her in Pensacola Bay, where a fisherman found her just two hours later, according to court records and archived news reports.
Although deputies initially questioned Grim, they said they did not arrest him because they did not have a valid reason, the News Journal reported. Grim fled the state and launched a four-day, nationwide manhunt that ended peacefully in Oklahoma when alert authorities identified the killer at a relative’s home.
A jury examining gruesome photographs of Campbell’s body found Grim guilty of capital murder, and a judge sentenced him to death, calling the crime “brutally cruel” and “senseless.”
Grim refused to present any mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his trial. Such evidence, which may include a traumatic childhood or mental illness, can help the defendant receive a lighter sentence.
Grim also refused to fight to stop his execution.
Who was Cynthia Campbell?
Cynthia Campbell was a Pittsburgh native and had briefly practiced law when she was killed, her parents told the Pensacola News Journal in 2000.
Ralph and Dorothea Campbell said their only daughter always wanted to help the underdog and initially became a nurse, but that career was derailed after a shoulder injury.
Speaking to jurors considering whether to recommend the death penalty to Grim, the Campbells said they wanted men and women to know there was something beyond the manner of their daughter’s death, the News Journal reported.
“I would like you to know Cindy as a person, as our only daughter,” Dorothea told them.
Ralph Campbell told them: “The important thing is that it has a face.”
More about Norman Grim’s criminal past
Nearly 16 years before killing Campbell, Grim was convicted of a one-day crime spree and served nine years in prison.
His crime spree began when he kidnapped a woman around 5 a.m. in Pensacola, but she managed to escape and drive away. Shortly after this, Grime broke into two separate homes and injured a woman before residents chased him away.
He then tried to kidnap a 14-year-old girl before being thwarted.
At the time of the murder, he was also on parole for theft.
In addition to the brutality of Campbell’s murder, prosecutors at the trial cited Grim’s violent past as justification for why he deserved the death penalty.
When is the next execution?
Two prisoners are scheduled to be executed on the same day, November 13: Tremane Forest in Oklahoma concerning the fatal stabbing of a migrant worker on January 1, 2002, and Bryan Jennings in Florida Case involving the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl named Becky Kunash.
If his execution goes ahead, Jennings would be the 16th inmate executed in Florida this year, doubling the state’s previous record.
At least six more people, including Norman Grim, are scheduled to be executed in the United States this year. This puts the country on pace to execute 46 inmates by 2025. While that’s the most annual executions in the U.S. since 2010, it’s still well below the all-time high of 98 set in 1999.
Experts attribute the increase in executions this year to the political climate under Donald Trump and a more conservative Supreme Court.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers executions for USA TODAY. Follow her on X @amandaleeusat.
This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Florida man to be executed for ‘brutally brutal’ rape and murder
