Army veteran Jeffrey Hutchinson set to be executed in Florida after killing girlfriend, her 3 kids
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — An Army combat veteran whose Gulf War experience triggered severe mental problems is scheduled to be executed Thursday in Florida for the shotgun killings of his girlfriend and her three young children in 1998.
STARKE, Fla. (AP) — An Army combat veteran whose Gulf War experience triggered severe mental problems is scheduled to be executed Thursday in Florida for the shotgun killings of his girlfriend and her three young children in 1998.
Barring a last-minute reprieve, Jeffrey Hutchinson is set to receive a lethal injection starting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison near Starke. The execution, if carried out, will be the fourth in Florida this year under death warrants signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, with a fifth execution planned for May 15.
Hutchinson, 62, has long claimed he is innocent and that two unknown assailants perpetrated the killings as part of a U.S. government conspiracy aimed at silencing him over his activism on claims of Gulf War illnesses and other issues affecting veterans. Hutchinson served eight years in the Army, part of it as an elite Ranger.
Court records, however, show that on the night of the murders in Crestview, Florida, Hutchinson had argued with his girlfriend, 32-year-old Renee Flaherty, then packed his clothes and guns into a truck. Hutchinson went to a bar and drank some beer, telling staff there that Flaherty was angry with him before leaving abruptly.
A short time later, a male caller told a 911 operator “I just shot my family” from the house Hutchinson and Flaherty shared with the three children: 9-year-old Geoffrey, 7-year-old Amanda, and 4-year-old Logan. All were killed with a 12-gauge shotgun that was found on a kitchen counter. Hutchinson was located by police in the garage with a phone still connected to the 911 center and gunshot residue on his hands.
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