Man who set neighbor on fire after she found him burglarizing her home is executed in Florida

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man who set his neighbor on fire after she returned from work to find him burglarizing her home was executed Tuesday evening.

Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, received a three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke for the 1990 killing of Marlys Sather. It was Florida's fifth execution this year.

The curtain to the death chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6 p.m. execution time, and the lethal injection began 2 minutes later after Willacy made a brief statement.

He apologized to his family and friends and urged his ”brothers on the row” to stay strong. He maintained his innocence, saying he would never kill his friend.

“To the victim’s family, I hope this brings you peace. If it does, that's good, ” Willacy said. “But this is not right.”

Shortly after the lethal injection got underway, a warden shook Willacy and shouted his name, but there was no response. His skin began to turn gray, and a medic eventually entered the chamber to examine Willacy, declaring him dead.

Court records indicate Sather, 56, had returned to her Palm Bay home on a lunch break from work on Sept. 5, 1990, and discovered Willacy burglarizing her home. He struck her in the head with a blunt object, fracturing her skull, and then bound her hands and ankles with wire and tape, according to investigators.

Willacy attempted to strangle Sather with a phone cord, and when that didn’t work, he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire, the records show. An autopsy determined that Sather had died from smoke inhalation, indicating she was still alive when she was set on fire.

Willacy also stole Sather’s car and other items from her home, and used the woman’s ATM card to steal cash, authorities said. When Sather failed to return from her break, her employer caller her family. Her son-in-law went to check on her and found her body.

Willacy was sentenced to death a year later upon a 9-3 jury recommendation after being convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery and arson.

Then in 1994 the Florida Supreme Court ordered a new sentencing because the trial judge failed to allow defense attorneys a chance to rehabilitate a potential juror who indicated she could not recommend the death penalty. Willacy again drew the death penalty in 1995, following the 11-1 recommendation of a new jury.

Florida's fifth execution of 2026 followed a record 19 executions in the state last year. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis oversaw more executions in a single year in 2025 than any other Florida governor since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. The previous record was set in 2014 with eight executions.

On Tuesday, Willacy woke up at 5 a.m. and remained compliant as the execution hour approached, Department of Corrections spokesman Jordan Kirkland said earlier. The inmate received visits during the day from his mother, two sisters and a cousin, but did not meet with a spiritual adviser.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday afternoon denied Willacy’s final appeal without comment. Last week the Florida Supreme Court also denied his appeals. He had made claims based on the state's refusal to grant public records requests about executions and lethal injection.

None of Sather's relatives spoke at a news briefing after the execution, but the family released a statement thanking DeSantis and others.

“We have waited 36.5 years for justice for our mom. Our mother, Marlys Mae Sather should be remembered as a beautiful and loving daughter, wife, mother of 3, grandmother of 5, great grandmother of 5, aunt, cousin and friend,” it said in part. It noted the victim had lost her husband to cancer in July 1990, “just weeks before she was murdered.”

“She was a new widow trying to take one day at a time,” it said. “We miss her so much every day.”