Florida set to execute man convicted of 1984 murders, rapes while children slept nearby

By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — One of the longest-held inmates on Florida’s death row is set to be executed Thursday evening for two 1984 slayings. Duane Owen is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at Florida State Prison for the March 1984 rape and stabbing death of a 14-year-old babysitter, and the hammer attack months later on a mother of two. Both attacks occurred in Florida’s Palm Beach County, where authorities say two other women were attacked and survived. All four attacks occurred just before and after Owen’s 23rd birthday. Now 62, Owen is one of 293 people on Florida’s death row and one of the longest held there.