Randy White says he will witness the execution of Kale Barrington Bates on Tuesday.
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Florida is scheduled to run death row inmates for the death of a young woman attacked at work more than 40 years ago.
Kale Barrington Bates’ execution with a fatal injection for the murder of Janet Lenny White in 1982 will be on the 10th of this year in Florida. Bates’ death also marks the 29th execution in the United States this year, more than any other year since 2015.
Among the witnesses to Bates’ execution on Tuesday, August 19th, White’s still troublesome husband, Randy White. He told USA Today that justice was far too long for his eight-year wife who went by Rennie’s side.
“This was hanging out for 43 years,” White said. “At least I can put this part behind me and not think about it again. I can do it with that.”
Meanwhile, a group of veterans has been insisting on a respite for Bates, a former Florida National Security Guard, who was also the father of her husband and three-year-old daughter at the time of the murder. As executions move forward, Bates will become the fourth veteran executed in Florida this year after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant.
According to a letter signed by 130 veterans and sent to DeSantis, “When our leaders sign their deaths at the hands of the nation, we cannot become a veteran-friendly state.” “We now urge you to lead from a place of courage, return from your service to the honor code and stop the setting for execution of fellow soldiers.”
DeSantis said he has signed a death warrant for the worst and worst, and wants to bring closure to the victim’s families.
What you need to know about Bates’ execution includes the possibility of his resignation.
When will Kayle Barrington Bates run?
Bates, 67, is scheduled to be executed by a fatal injection at 6pm on Tuesday, August 19th at Florida State Jail in Rayford, about 40 miles southwest of Jacksonville.
Why was Kayle Barrington Bates convicted of?
On Monday, June 14th, 1982, Randy and Lenny White returned to work after a romantic weekend trip.
At lunchtime they met at Lynnhaven’s house, where she watched her favorite melodrama and he made a sandwich for her. When it was time to return to work, Randy wanted to make sure Lenny had returned safely to the state farm insurance office where she worked, so he chased her in her car and watched her walk.
However, a man broke into the back of the office and waited for her.
When Rennie came in, the phone rang. She responded, saying “Hello” when Kyle Barrington Bates popped out, according to court records. Rennie let out a “bone-shattering cry” and Bates cut off the phone cord, court records say. The woman who was calling the office immediately called the police.
“Bates attacked her, but Rennie fought back,” court records said. “In spite of her best efforts, Bates overwhelmed Rennie and pushed her into the woods behind her office.”
Bates “brutally beaten” Renee, strangled her, stabbed her twice in the chest, and “trying to rape her,” Randy opposes the terminology regarding sexual assault, but “trying to rape her.” Bates admitted that “both he and Lenny’s underwear contained evidence of semen” and “engaged in unilateral sexual acts,” court records state.
Within about 15 minutes of waving goodbye to Lenny, Randy received a call in her office that an emergency had occurred. Soon after, the sheriff’s pastor broke the news.
“He looked at me and recalled, ‘Mr. White, I don’t know of an easy way to say this…but your wife was murdered,” Randy recalled. “I lost it completely… you’re not ready for life to stop it all of a sudden.”
Police said they arrived within minutes of the attack and found blood-covered Bates with Rennie’s wedding ring in their pocket. Bates was convicted of murder and sentenced to death.
Can Kayle Barrington Bates still win the grace?
Both time and appeal are lacking for Bates, who have always claimed that he didn’t kill Renee.
Bates’ attorneys lost various discussions this month between the Florida Supreme Court and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Justice, who failed DNA testing in the case.
Recently, his lawyer petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to suspend the execution of applications that bring many claims, including that execution is unconstitutional, as Florida tends to carry out more executions for crimes that “expressed bias for executing black individuals.”
In response, the Florida Attorney General’s Office said of the 21 execution warrants signed by DeSantis, 19% were black inmates and 26% of the victims involved were non-white. “These statistics completely refute the claims of racism in the governor’s warrant selection,” the prosecutor wrote.
James Driscoll Jr., one of Bates’ lawyers, described him as a “man of faith” who relied on his religion.
He said that Bates had switched to Islam in prison around 1993, “focusing on studying the Quran,” and was “a leader and calm figure of some of the young people,” and that he had reunited with his daughter, now in his 40s.
“This guy has shown quiet dignity throughout all these inspirational cases,” Drisco told USA Today on Monday shortly after his last visit with Bates.
“If Florida stolen Bates’ life, it would be a tragic miscarriage of justice,” he continued. “No matter what happens, Mr. Bates is in peace.”
Who is witnessing the execution?
Among the witnesses is Rennie’s eight-year husband, Randy White. In a two-hour interview, he told USA Today that the couple met as teenagers at a pizza parlour and got married 10 weeks later.
“She’s walking through the door. I mean the second thing she went in. I can remember what I said. “She was absolutely gorgeous.”
Later, Randy learns that when she gets home the night Rennie meets, she tells her mother, “I met the man of my dreams.”
“We were totally hooked on each other,” Randy said. “Like an upside down madness.”
Eight years after the wedding, the whites were still living as if they were on their honeymoon, travelling frequently and spontaneously. In 1982, when he was 27 and 24, they decided it was time to have a baby, Randy said. “She wanted the kids to be really, really bad.”
A month later, she was murdered. And Randy remarried and was with his second wife for over 30 years, but he never became a father.
“That part of me left after she was killed,” he said. “It destroyed me.”
Now, Randy is preparing to witness Bates’ execution. He said it was too long to come, years after Rennie’s murder.
He said only two of Rennie’s four siblings still live to see the day.
“There were so many deaths in her family and I thought I had passed justice and never could have seen it,” he said. “It would be different to start a new life again at the forefront… but I will never overcome it. I will fight it until my last breath.”
When will the next run be?
There are another 10 executions scheduled for this year, with the next one being executed in Florida on August 28th by fatal injection in the 1992 murder of his girlfriend, mother and his best friend.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter at USA Today. Contact her at amanda.myers@usatoday.com and follow her at X at @AmandaleUSAT
