Gov Ron Desantis

Florida’s Catholic bishops have appealed to Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt the execution of Edward James Spencer Florida’s Catholic bishops have appealed to Gov. Ron DeSantis to halt the execution of a condemned prisoner. In a letter to the governor, Michael Sheedy, executive director of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB), asked that the sentence of Edward James Spencer be commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Spencer is due to be executed at 6 p.m. on 25 June at Florida State Prison in Raiford, between Jacksonville and Gainesville, after DeSantis signed his death warrant on 26 May. Writing on behalf of all the Catholic bishops of Florida, Sheedy acknowledged the gravity of the crime while urging the governor to exercise mercy. “We mourn the tragic and horrific death of Karen Spencer, and we feel sorrow for the terrible suffering her son, other relatives and all who loved her have had to live with ever since,” he wrote. “May they find comfort in God. Indeed, the Church remains available to assist them with pastoral care.” The letter stressed that the Church’s opposition to the death penalty did not diminish the seriousness of the offence. “Mr Spencer’s crime was truly grave and merits a severe punishment by the state,” Sheedy wrote. Nevertheless, the bishops argued that clemency remained appropriate, citing Spencer’s age and the Church’s teaching on the dignity of every human person. “We ask that you exercise mercy and spare the life of Mr Spencer, who is elderly and no longer poses a threat to society,” the letter said. Quoting St John Paul II’s 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae , Sheedy added: “Not even a murderer loses his personal dignity.” The bishops further argued that life imprisonment without parole would constitute a severe punishment while avoiding the deliberate taking of life by the state. “To punish with lifelong imprisonment is not to minimise the heinousness of Mr Spencer’s crime,” the letter said. “It is rather to recognise with awe that God is the author of life, and to reserve to him the taking of human life except where it is otherwise impossible to maintain the common good.” Spencer was convicted of the 1992 murder of his wife, Karen. Prosecutors said he killed her in the backyard of her Orange County home using a brick and a knife. Karen’s 17-year-old son witnessed the attack and attempted to intervene. According to court proceedings, the killing took place after Spencer had been released from jail on bail. While defence lawyers argued that the murder was a crime of passion, prosecutors maintained that he had previously threatened to kill his wife and subsequently carried out those threats. Spencer will be 74 years old if the execution proceeds. According to data compiled by the Death Penalty Information Center, he would be among the ten oldest prisoners executed in the United States since 1976. The scheduled execution follows closely behind that of Andrew Lukehart, who was put to death by the State of Florida on 2 June after appeals for clemency were unsuccessful. Lukehart had been convicted of the first-degree murder of five-month-old Gabrielle Hanshaw in 1996. In a separate appeal before that execution, the Florida bishops similarly asked DeSantis to commute his sentence to life imprisonment without parole. In Florida, the bishops have regularly appealed for clemency in individual cases. Sheedy closed the latest letter with prayers for both the victim and those affected by the crime. “We pray for the repose of the soul of Karen Spencer and for the consolation of her loved ones,” he wrote. “We pray for you, too, as you consider this request.”