Florida Executes Man Convicted of Killing 2 Women Whose Bodies Were Found in Pond

Clouds hover over the entrance of the Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., Aug. 3, 2023. AP Photo/Curt Anderson, File

STARKE, Fla.—A man convicted of the 1996 killings of two women whose bodies were left in a rural pond was put to death Tuesday evening.

Samuel Lee Smithers, 72, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Smithers was convicted in 1999 of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.