US expands death penalty methods
In modern history, most death row inmates faced one method of execution. There are now many other ways to die.
Florida plans to execute a death row inmate for the “brutal and prolonged” rape and murder of a beloved convenience store manager who interfered during a robbery nearly 40 years ago.
Richard Barry Randolph, 63, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday, November 20th, for the 1988 murder of Minnie Ruth McCollum in the small town of East Palatka, Florida. If the execution goes as expected, Randolph will become the 17th inmate executed in Florida this year (a record) and the 44th in the United States, a number not seen since 2010.
John Tanner, the former prosecutor who tried Randolph in 1989, told USA TODAY that this case stands out among the many he has worked on because of the prolonged brutality that McCollum experienced.
“She knew he was going to kill her,” Tanner said this week. “He was completely insane, so violent that there was no humanity left in him.”
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When and where will Richard Barry Randolph be executed?
Richard Barry Randolph is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, November 20th at 6pm ET at the Florida State Penitentiary in Raeford.
What was Richard Barry Randolph convicted of?
On August 15, 1988, 27-year-old Richard Barry Randolph broke into the safe of the convenient Handy Way he worked in East Palatka, Florida, about 40 miles east of Gainesville. However, according to court records, a former co-worker, Minnie Ruth McCallum, 62, barged in.
That’s when Randolph attacked. According to court records, the man punched McCollum in the head, kicked him, choked him and stabbed him with a knife. During that time, I took a break and tried to get into the safe. Prosecutors said Randolph then raped McCollum and left her for dead.
McCallum survived for six days, but died in hospital from his wounds.
Although Randolph was unable to access the safe, he fled the store with the stolen lottery tickets and McCollum’s car. He was later convicted of first-degree murder, sexual assault, armed robbery, and grand theft of a motor vehicle, and sentenced to death.
“His statements reflect the fact that he was much stronger than she realized and that he had to repeatedly beat and choke her,” 7th Circuit Judge Robert Perry said in his sentencing for Randolph. “It is clear that the victim was distressed about her injuries and impending death, as she repeatedly screamed during the beating, strangulation, and throat stabbing.”
Who is Minnie McCollum?
USA TODAY was unable to determine whether McCallum had any surviving family members, and the Florida Attorney General’s Office did not respond to requests to contact them to tell her story.
Tanner recalled that McCallum seemed especially beloved in East Palatka, especially among Handy Way’s customers.
“She was kind of a celebrity. Working at a small convenience store in Palatka, everyone gets to know everyone,” he said. “They thought of her so much. The people who called us said she was just a great person and they wanted him to pay the penalty for what he did.”
In archived news reports, her last name is spelled McCallum, McCallum, McCallum. The attorney general’s office did not respond to repeated efforts by USA TODAY to confirm the correct spelling of her name.
FamilySearch, a popular genealogy site run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, lists her name as Minnie Ruth McCollum and describes her as the mother of one son who has been married to her husband for 47 years. Her son and husband are both listed as deceased.
Who is Richard Barry Randolph?
Randolph’s trial attorneys argued that he did not deserve the death penalty for a number of reasons. Randolph was an adopted child who never had a loving relationship with his mother, had antisocial disorders and was under the influence of crack cocaine at the time of McCallum’s murder.
Judge Perry rejected these claims, stating that he was loved by both of his adoptive parents, that his personality disorder had nothing to do with the crime, and that claims that he was mentally unstable were “selfish”.
The judge said that because McCallum and Randolph were former co-workers, Randolph “determined that it was necessary to silence the victim to prevent discovery and arrest.” “It is clear that she could have positively identified him,” the judge wrote.
Randolph’s current lawyers are seeking a halt to the execution, arguing in part that the three drugs Florida uses for the lethal injection will cause Randolph to die a “torturous” death due to lupus.
They claimed Randolph had a good childhood and countered that his adoptive father was abusive and his adoptive mother had a drinking problem. His lawyers said he had been repeatedly hospitalized for psychiatric reasons. They also noted Randolph’s “growth as a person and positive career behind bars” during the nearly 40 years he spent behind bars.
The Florida Supreme Court rejected those arguments, calling McCollum’s attack “brutal and prolonged” and saying it was too late to challenge his execution because of lupus.
“Randolph admitted that he was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus in 1990 and had suffered from the disease his entire life. Moreover, the current three-drug protocol has remained essentially unchanged since then,” the court wrote. “If so, the facts on which this claim is based have been available since at least 2017. Randolph’s current claims, brought eight years later, are untimely.”
How many more people will be executed this year?
Three more inmates are scheduled to be executed by the end of the year, all of whom have been involved in violence against women, Harold Nichols said. tennessee On December 11, 21-year-old Karen Pooley was charged with raping and murdering Mark Gerards in 1988. florida On Dec. 12, Frank Asen Walls was charged with the stabbing death of 33-year-old housewife Tressa Pettibone during a home invasion robbery in 1989. florida On December 18th, he will be indicted for the serial murders of a couple that occurred in 1987, and he is believed to be a serial killer who has committed at least five murders.
Of the 43 executions carried out so far this year, 34 involved at least one female victim. Of these, 21 involved sexual violence against women and six were assaults against companions.
If the remaining executions scheduled for 2025 go ahead as scheduled, the United States will have put to death 47 inmates this year. The last time large numbers of prisoners were executed in the United States was 16 years ago, in 2009.
Experts blame the rise in executions on the political climate under pro-death penalty President Donald Trump and a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter covering the death penalty for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.
