A man found guilty of raping and murdering a woman near a bar in Central Florida is set to be executed on Tuesday.
Thomas Lee Gudinas, 51, is scheduled for a lethal injection at the Florida State Jail near Stark, unless there are last-minute developments. His conviction stems from the murder of Michelle McGrath in May 1994.
If carried out, Gudinas will be the seventh person executed in Florida this year, with another execution lined up for next month.
In 2023, Florida executed six individuals, while only one execution occurred in the previous year.
Across the U.S., 23 men have been executed this year, marking the highest planned executions since 2015.
So far this year, Florida leads the nation in executions, followed by Texas and South Carolina.
Alabama has executed three people, while Oklahoma recorded two. States like Arizona, Indiana, Louisiana, and Tennessee each have one execution. Additionally, Mississippi is expected to conduct its first execution since 2022 on Wednesday.
Michelle McGrath was last seen at a bar named Barbarella on May 24, 1994, shortly before 3 a.m. Her body was discovered hours later, showing signs of severe trauma and sexual assault in an alley adjacent to a nearby school.
On the night before the murder, Gudinas had been at the same bar at the same time as his friend, though they later testified that he left the venue before his friend did.
Employees at the school who found McGrath’s body later recognized Gudinas as a man who had been seen fleeing the area previously. Another woman also identified him as the individual who had chased her to her car the night before and threatened her with assault.
Gudinas was convicted and sentenced to death in 1995.
His legal team has appealed to both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
The attorneys argue that Gudinas should be spared from execution due to evidence related to his “lifelong mental illness.”
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal, ruling that existing case law protecting those with intellectual disabilities does not extend to individuals with other mental health issues or brain conditions.
In the meantime, the federal appeal contends that the discretionary power given to the Florida governor regarding death warrants violates the inmate’s constitutional right to a fair process, leading to an arbitrary method for deciding who lives and dies. A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to be announced.
