A man convicted of killing two women he met at Florida beach bars during a days-long crime spree was put to death Tuesday.
Michael Zack III, 54, was pronounced dead around 6:15 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Zack was asked if he had any last words, and he answered, “Yes sir.” He then lifted his head to look at the witnesses and said, “I love you all.” He did not request a customary last meal, Florida corrections officials told Fox News Digital.
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Zack was convicted of killing Laurie Russillo and Ravonne Smith amid a crime spree in June 1996. He was sentenced to death for the killing of Smith, whom he befriended before beating and stabbing her with an oyster knife.
Zack’s nine-day crime spree began in Tallahassee when his girlfriend called and said he was being evicted. The bartender offered to loan him her pickup truck. He left with it and never returned, according to court records.
Michael Duane Zack III, 54, was put to death Tuesday for the killing of a Florida woman in 1996. Zack had also been convicted of killing another woman he met at a bar. (Florida Department of Corrections via AP, File)
Zack drove to a Niceville bar in the Florida Panhandle, where he befriended a construction company owner. The man learned Zack was living in the pickup truck and offered to let him stay at his home. Zack later stole two guns and $42. He pawned the guns, according to court records.
At yet another bar, he met Rosillo and invited her to the beach to do drugs. He then beat her, dragged her partially clothed into the dunes, strangled her and kicked sand over her face, according to court records. The next day he went to a Pensacola bar, where he met Smith. The two went to the beach to smoke marijuana and later she took him to the home she shared with her boyfriend.
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Zack said he killed because she made a comment about his mother’s murder, which was committed by his sister. He also claimed Smith had gone to another room to retrieve a gun after stabbing her in self-defense.
His execution was Florida’s eighth under Gov. Ron DeSantis since 2019 and the sixth this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
