A 74-year-old man who has spent decades on Florida’s death row is challenging his upcoming execution, with his attorneys arguing that dementia and significant cognitive decline have left him unable to understand why he is being put to death.
William Thompson is scheduled to be executed on Oct. 13 for the 1976 murder, kidnapping, and rape of 23-year-old Sally Ivester in North Miami Beach. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Thompson’s latest death warrant earlier this month.
According to NBC6 files, Thompson and his co-defendant, Rocco Surace, were convicted of beating and torturing Ivester inside a motel room after she was unable to obtain money from her mother…