Florida executes killer rapist of store manager | US | News
Richard Barry Randolph, 63, was executed Thursday, becoming the 17th death row inmate executed in Florida in 2025.
In 1988, he was convicted of the “brutal and protracted” murder and rape of Minnie Ruth McCollum, a respected member of the community and convenience store manager.
Court records reveal that Randolph, then 27, was trying to get into the cash register at his former workplace, Handy Way Market, when McCollum, 62, walked in. At that moment he realized that his fate was sealed.
Fast forward thirty-seven years and he was executed by lethal injection by the Florida Department of Corrections. He was declared dead at 18.12 without a final statement.
A sickening murder
Court documents detail how Randolph began attacking McCollum, hitting him in the head with his fists, kicking, choking and eventually stabbing him. As he continued his brutal attack, he intermittently tried to open the safe but was unable to do so.
After raping McCollum, he left her for dead and fled in his car.
Three women reportedly witnessed Randolph fleeing the scene and immediately alerted authorities. When a deputy arrived, he found McCollum still clinging to life.
Tragically, he fell into a coma and later died from his injuries.
He died from severe head trauma six days after the horrific attack. “He knew he was going to kill her,” retired prosecutor John Tanner said this week.
‘They hope he pays the fine’
“He was completely out of control and so brutal that there was no humanity left in him,” he added. Tanner sued Randolph in 1989 and told USA TODAY that the case stood out among the many he handled because of the prolonged brutality inflicted on McCollum.
McCollum was said to be a respected member of the small town. “He was kind of a public figure. When you work at a small grocery store in Palatka, everyone knows everyone,” Tanner said.
“They thought the world of him. They called people and told him he was a great person and they hoped we would make him pay for what he did.
“His statements reflect the fact that it was much harsher than he thought and that he was forced to repeat the beating and/or strangulation,” Seventh Circuit Judge Robert Perry said of Randolph’s sentencing. “It was clear from her repeated screams during the beating, strangulation and stabbing in the throat that the victim was suffering from her injuries and impending death.”
America’s 44th execution
Randolph was executed by lethal injection Thursday night. This further extends Florida’s already record-breaking year for total executions.
Before this year the record was only 8. He will be the 44th person to be executed in the United States this year, the highest number in 15 years.
Two more executions are planned in Florida this year; Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is signing the death warrants for 58-year-old Mark Allen Geralds and 58-year-old Frank Athen Walls. Both men were convicted of the fatal home invasion, and Walls later confessed to three more murders.
Experts at the Death Penalty Policy Project attribute the increase in state-sanctioned executions to the pro-death penalty political climate Donald Trump and the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.
