Additional Coverage:
- Man who set neighbor on fire after she found him burglarizing her home is executed in Florida (nbcnews.com)
Florida Executes Man Who Set Neighbor on Fire After Home Burglary
STARKE, Fla. – Chadwick Scott Willacy, 58, was executed Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison for the 1990 murder of his neighbor, Marlys Sather. Willacy received a lethal three-drug injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. The execution marked Florida’s fifth this year.
The process began shortly after the scheduled 6 p.m. time. Willacy made a brief final statement, apologizing to his family and urging fellow inmates on death row to stay strong. He maintained his innocence, saying he would never harm a friend, and expressed hope that the victim’s family might find peace.
Court documents detail the tragic crime. On September 5, 1990, Sather, then 56, returned home on her lunch break from work in Palm Bay to find Willacy burglarizing her house.
He struck her with a blunt object, bound her hands and feet, and attempted to strangle her with a telephone cord. When that failed, he doused her in gasoline and set her on fire.
An autopsy revealed Sather died from smoke inhalation, indicating she was alive when set ablaze.
Willacy also stole Sather’s car and used her ATM card to withdraw cash. After she failed to return from her break, her employer contacted family members, who then discovered her body.
Willacy was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, robbery, and arson. Initially sentenced to death in 1991, his sentence was overturned in 1994 due to procedural errors during jury selection. A new jury again sentenced him to death in 1995.
Tuesday’s execution comes amid a wave of capital punishments in Florida. Last year, the state set a record with 19 executions under Governor Ron DeSantis, who has overseen more executions in a single year than any Florida governor since the death penalty’s reinstatement in 1976.
On the day of his execution, Willacy remained compliant and received visits from family members, though he did not meet with a spiritual advisor. His final appeals were denied by both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Sather’s family did not speak publicly after the execution but released a statement expressing gratitude to the governor and others involved. They remembered Marlys as a loving mother, grandmother, and friend who had recently lost her husband to cancer shortly before her murder.
Florida continues to lead the nation in executions, with 47 carried out nationwide in 2025. Another execution is scheduled in the state later this month for James Ernest Hitchcock, convicted of killing his 13-year-old niece.
Florida’s death penalty protocol involves a three-drug injection: a sedative, a paralytic agent, and a drug to stop the heart.