Florida's Catholic bishops have appealed to Gov. Ron DeSantis to stay two scheduled executions and commute the prisoners' sentences to life imprisonment without parole.
The state is scheduled to execute James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone Jr on July 28.
In a letter to the governor, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops (FCCB) reflected on the story of Cain and Abel, noting that although Cain's killing of his brother was “a terrible sin”, “God did not ignore this crime or let Cain off the hook but imposed a severe punishment upon him”.
The FCCB describes itself as the “nonpartisan public policy voice on behalf of the Catholic bishops of Florida”.
“Nevertheless,” the bishops wrote, “God did not demand that Cain be put to death.”
“We therefore ask that you grant a stay of the execution for James Duckett and Dominick Occhicone Jr, and commute their sentences to life imprisonment without parole.”
Duckett was sentenced to death on June 30, 1988, for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee, who was abducted on May 11, 1987. He had previously been scheduled for execution on March 31, 2026, but the Supreme Court of Florida stayed the execution to allow further DNA testing. Duckett maintains his innocence. He has also been identified by investigators as a suspect in two other murders but has never been charged in those cases.
Occhicone was convicted of the June 10, 1986, murders of his former girlfriend's parents, Raymond and Martha Artzner. On November 9, 1987, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Raymond Artzner and to death for the murder of Martha Artzner.
At the age of 80, Occhicone would become the oldest person executed in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
“These crimes,” the FCCB wrote, “are gravely evil,” and the murders “are profound sorrows which their loved ones will carry to the end of their days”.
“To punish with lifelong imprisonment is not to minimize the heinousness of these men's crimes. It is rather to recognize with awe that God is the author of life, and to reserve to him the taking of human life except where it is otherwise impossible to maintain the common good,” the bishops wrote.
If both executions proceed, it would be the first time Florida has carried out two executions on the same day since 1964, something the FCCB said “seems especially callous”.
“We appeal to you that it is possible both to uphold justice and to exercise mercy,” the letter said.
The bishops continued: “We can entrust the final judgment of every individual to God. We pray for the repose of the souls of Teresa McAbee and of Raymond and Martha Artzner and for the consolation of their loved ones. We pray for you, too, as you consider this request.”
Florida has executed 135 people since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976 and currently has 241 inmates on death row. The state most recently executed convicted murderer Dennis Sochor, 74, on July 14.
