TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A man nicknamed the “Deacon of Death” was executed Tuesday evening, nearly 30 years after committing two murders in Florida.
Samuel Smithers, 72, was a church deacon when he murdered Christie Cowan and Denise Roach in 1996.
Investigators said he paid both women for sex, then killed them and dumped their bodies in a pond in Plant City.
Smithers’ time of death was 6:15 p.m. after a lethal injection. When asked if he had anything left to say, he said “no sir,” according to Alex Lanfranconi, spokesman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
At the time of the murders, Craig Latimer, who is now the Hillsborough County Supervisor of Elections, was a lieutenant with the Sheriff’s Office who helped investigate the case.
“What do you define a serial killer as?” Latimer recalled after the initial arrest. “We’ve got two bodies here. This subject killed two individuals over a 10-day period.”
Smithers was sentenced to death in 1999 and has remained on death row ever since.
His execution marks Florida’s 14th of the year, the most in state history.
“Florida is currently executing people at the fastest rate in our state’s history and also the fastest rate in the country,” said Grace Hanna, organizer with Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
On Tuesday, the group delivered a petition with thousands of signatures to the governor, urging a major overhaul of the state’s death penalty system.
“The last comprehensive study found Florida’s death penalty costs taxpayers $51 million more per year than life in prison,” Hanna said.
The group also held vigils across Florida, including in the Tampa Bay area, as they do with all executions in the state.
“The father of one of the victims, Christie Cowan, has always opposed the execution,” Hanna said. “He’s in his 80s now and still feels this won’t bring him closure. These were terrible crimes, and I can’t make any excuse for that. We have to show respect for the victims but not with more killing.”
Two more executions are scheduled in Florida before the end of the year.