Florida has executed 62-year-old Jeffrey Hutchinson, a decorated Gulf War veteran, for the brutal 1998 murders of his girlfriend and her three children.
Despite desperate pleas from 129 fellow veterans, Hutchinson was pronounced dead at 8:14 p.m. ET Thursday at Florida State Prison.
Hutchinson, once an elite U.S. Army Ranger, was convicted of shooting Renee Flaherty, 32, and her children—Geoffrey, 9, Amanda, 7, and Logan, 4—in their Crestview home. The killings left a community stunned and a nation divided.
Veterans and advocates argued that Hutchinson returned from the Gulf War a broken man, suffering from untreated trauma, brain injuries, and Gulf War Illness.
In a powerful letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis, fellow service members called him “one of us,” urging clemency not to excuse the crime but to acknowledge the mental wounds of war.
But their voices weren’t enough.
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Flaherty’s brother, Wesley Elmore, once trusted Hutchinson. “I remember shaking Jeff’s hand and saying, ‘Take care of my sister and her kids.’ He said, ‘I promise I will,’” Elmore told USA TODAY. Months later, he was burying them.
On the night of the murders, Hutchinson told police, “I just shot my family.” He was found blood-spattered, dazed, still holding the phone.
The judge who sentenced him said 9-year-old Geoffrey’s death was particularly cruel, calling it “incomprehensible.”
Still, critics say Florida failed Hutchinson before it condemned him. His defense argued that he wasn’t the same man after the war—a claim backed by medical experts and veterans alike.
“To execute someone whose mind was shattered in service to this country,” one veteran wrote, “is not justice. It’s abandonment.”
Hutchinson declined to give a final statement. His last words, if any, were mumbled.
This marked Florida’s fourth execution this year.
