Man yells ‘murderers!’ as he is executed for slaying

STARKE, FLA. » A Florida inmate convicted of raping and killing a college student decades ago screamed and yelled “murderers!” three times, thrashing on a gurney as he was being put to death Thursday.

The governor’s office said Eric Scott Branch, 47, was pronounced dead at 7:05 p.m. Thursday after receiving a lethal injection at Florida State Prison. Branch was convicted of the 1993 rape and fatal beating of University of West Florida student Susan Morris, 21, whose naked body was found buried in a shallow grave near a nature trail.

Just as officials were administering the lethal drugs that included a powerful sedative, Branch let out a loud, blood- curdling scream, thrashed about on his gurney and then yelled “murderers! murderers! murderers” before falling silent with a guttural groan.

Moments earlier, he had addressed the corrections officers in the room with him by saying that, instead of them carrying out the death sentence, it should have been Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi, both Republicans.

Asked whether Branch’s scream could have been caused by the execution drugs, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Michelle Glady said afterward that “there was no indication” that the scream was cause by the lethal injection procedure.

She said that conclusion had been confirmed by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.