The Florida murderer found himself guilty of shooting and blugging a newlywed couple in front of a toddler.
James D. Ford, 64, was executed by a fatal injection at a Florida prison for the murder of 25-year-old Greg Marnolly, 25.
“Never give up. Always fight for your child,” said Connie Annie, Greg Marnolly's mother, in an interview on the day of execution, where she traveled hours to attend, Fox News Digital. He spoke to. “I have never stopped fighting for my son and Kimberly. Kimberly's mother isn't, so I didn't know if I was alive to see this today.”
“They're always talking about closures,” she added. “Well, no, that's justice. It's just right.”
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Greg, Kimberly Marnolly and a young girl. (Connie Annie/Family Handouts)
Ankney revealed that throughout the week, she felt a mix of emotions, leading up to Ford's execution.
“Remember that day… What they must have experienced, fear, fear, fear,” she said.
On a Sunday morning in the spring of 1997, Greg and Kimberly Marnolly planned to fish at Sodd Farm in South Florida along with Ford, a colleague of Greg on the Charlotte County Farm.
Their deceased bodies were found the following day, April 7, 1997, near the couple's pickup truck in the middle of a field on a remote 7,000-acre farm. Authorities found that their 22-month-old daughter, Malanda, was tied up in the car seat of a truck and survived the attack, according to court records.
“They didn't have the opportunity to be parents…it was taken away quickly,” Annie said.
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Greg and Kimberly Marnolly were married just six months before they were killed, Greg's mother said, just six months before they were killed. (Connie Annie/Family Handouts)
The young couple met in high school, but later began a romantic relationship and were together for several years, Greg's mother explained. They were married just six months before their death.
“We went to Tennessee. They got one of those country weddings in the mountains and they stayed in one of those big cabins. Kimberly had her white boots I was,” recalled Annie. “I can't even put it into words, because it was so beautiful. …And six months… such a terrifying ending of that beautiful, beautiful family. ”
On the day their bodies were found, Annie was called to the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office, where they learned some horrible news.
“I walked over there and Kimberly's mother and stepfather were there… sobbing,” she said. “She told me they were dead and I couldn't believe it… They said they were dead, but the baby was alive.”
Annie initially told her that the couple was going fishing, so she believed the couple had been killed in a boat accident.
“They didn't say murder right away…and when they did… I lost it,” she said. “It won't hit you right away…it's so incredible. There was no murder in Charlotte County…it was a tiny little town, everyone knew.”
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James Ford was executed for killing Greg and Kimberly Marnolly. (Florida Department of Corrections)
Investigators discovered Greg Marnolly was shot in the head, BL hit with a slit in his throat, and Kimberly Marnolly was sexually assaulted and brutally beaten before being shot, documents show It's.
Malanda was in the vehicle for over 18 hours with her mother's blood covered door open wide.
“That's beyond my understanding… It's evil,” Annie said. It was actually God's intervention that she survived… the angels must have been with her. ”
Authorities say Kimberly was doing everything he could to save his daughter while Ford attacked Greg.
Court records show that defensive wounds were found on the back of Kim's arm, indicating that she had a struggle.
“I'm sure Kimberly was trying to get Miranda in that car seat and was trying to get into that truck. She's never driven a stick in her life,” Annie said. “I'm just trying to take hell out of it and fight him.”
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Greg and Kimberly Marnolly's 22-month-old daughter were found remaining in the seat of a family pickup truck at the remote South Florida Sodd Farm. (Charlotte County Sheriff's Office)
During their investigation, law enforcement learned that Ford was seen along with the victim in the area of crime just before the murder, and he was later seen the same night,” “according to court documents Ford was also observed the day after the murder, which wounded his body.
“I went through the facility with him in a pickup truck and talked about what was going on that day,” he said, one of the deputies who responded at the time, and is now a major at the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office. . I told WFTX About Ford. “He was really cool. When you spoke to him, he couldn't believe it, but the physical evidence told us that it wasn't.”
Greg Marnolly's DNA was found on a knife in Ford's bedroom, Kimberly's DNA was found in Ford's truck, and Ford's DNA was found in Kimberly's body and clothing, court records show.
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James Ford was executed for the 1997 murders of Greg and Kimberly Marnolly. (Charlotte County Sheriff's Office)
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The bodies of Greg and Kimberly Marnolly were found near a pickup truck at the remote South Florida Sodd Farm. (Charlotte County Sheriff's Office)
Annie described her son as a “fun and loving child” along with many friends. He added, “I loved fishing, I loved hunting and driving blue pickup trucks in the mud,” and Greg enjoyed his time as an employee on the South Florida grass. farm.
“He went to work every day and said, 'Mom…it's like heaven.' When he died there, I said, “Oh, that was supposed to be what he was going,” she told Fox News. digital.
Annie said her stepdaughter Kimberly was “cheerful, funny” and “she had never had a child before, but she took it very seriously. She loved Malanda “He said.
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A few years after the murder, Annie stumbled. Parent of a murdered child.
“I survived between them, my pastor and Jesus,” she said. Since 1999, she has worked with the organization to support other grieving parents.
“I told myself, if I could help one person, I would have done my job,” Annie said. “It's an unparalleled support group.”
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Greg and Kimberly Marnolly were murdered in 1997 on a farm in Sodd, South Florida. (Charlotte County Sheriff's Office)
Ford was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, sexual assault with a firearm and child abuse, and was sentenced to death on June 3, 1999. In 2024, the six of them were in 2023.
“I just want to give him a big hug…thank him, thank you, thank you,” Annie said of DeSantis and signed a death warrant.
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“They can finally rest in peace. This has been going on for 27 years and now they can have peace,” she added. “The heartache will still be there, but he is finished. I have no mercy to him… it is entirely in the hands of God.”
