Bonnie Bobit

by Bonnie Bobit

For several years during the mid-1980s, Henry Lee Lucas enjoyed holding the title of "the most infamous man on death row." His fleeting fame did not evolve from the three cold-blooded murders he did commit, but from hundreds of murders he did not. When Lucas was sentenced to death in 1984, it wasn't for the 1960 murder of his mother. Nor was it for the 1982 cold-blooded rape and murder of Kate Rich, an 82-year-old Texas woman. And it wasn't even for the 1982 murder and dismemberment of Becky Powell, his longtime girlfriend. Instead, Lucas was sent to death row for the 1979 rape and murder of a woman known only as "Orange Socks" – a woman he probably never met.

by Bonnie Bobit

Did You Know?

Frank Johnson was the first death row inmate electrocuted in Florida. He met his fate with the electric chair on October 7, 1924. Throughout 1929 and from May 12, 1964 to May 24, 1979, there were no executions in Florida.

The executioner in Florida is an anonymous, private citizen who is paid $150 per execution. The position of executioner was advertised in the classified section of several Florida newspapers in 1978.

The electrocution cycle is two minutes or shorter in duration. During the cycle, voltage and amperage levels peak on three occasions. Maximum current is 2,000 volts and 14 amps.