Death row inmate’s victim opposes execution she fears will help DeSantis 2024 bid

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A Florida death row inmate should not be executed as it would help boost Ron DeSantis’s presidential ambitions, says one of his victims.

Louis Gaskin, who is nicknamed the Ninja Killer, is set to be executed next week for killing Robert and Georgette Sturmfels in Palm Coast, Florida.

Noreen Rector is the ex-wife of Joe Rector, who Gaskin also shot on 20 December 1989 after murdering the Sturmfels, and opposes Mr DeSantis using the incident for political gain.

Mr DeSantis, the state’s governor who has been tipped to take on Donald Trump in 2024, signed Gaskin’s death warrant last month.

“His signing this death warrant is not doing me any favor, it has only stirred up painful memories and has victimized me again,” Ms Rector told The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

“In my mind, if Governor DeSantis was serious about law and order, he would be supporting gun control, not attacking the LGBT communities, banning books and rewriting history to make him and his followers feel good.”

Gaskin, 56, was found guilty of first-degree murder in 1990 for the killing of the Sturmfels in their Flagler County home. He also later attacked the Rectors and shot Joseph.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected his appeal on Thursday and denied his request for a stay of execution.

“I would be satisfied if Louis remained in prison, without the possibility of release. I don’t believe the death penalty serves any purpose,” she told the newspaper.

“What will really bother me is if this might, in some way, advance ... DeSantis in his presidential quest. I find him and his views highly offensive and divisive.”

Mr DeSantis has signed three death warrants so far in 2023.

In his final words, convicted murderer Donald Dillbeck blasted Mr DeSantis. “I really messed up. But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse,” he said before being executed.