STARKE, USA: In a tragic turn of events, Michael Zack III is set to get lethal injection today (Tuesday) at 6 p.m., more than 25 years after a horrifying crime spree that claimed the lives of innocent women he met in bars across North Florida.
One of Zack’s victims was Ravonne Smith, a bar employee whom he befriended and later brutally attacked with an oyster knife in June 1996. Additionally, Zack was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Laura Rosillo, whom he met at a bar in a nearby county.
Zack’s violent rampage spanned nine days, commencing in Tallahassee, where he was a regular patron at a local bar. When Zack’s girlfriend informed him of his eviction, a bartender empathetically offered him her pickup truck. However, Zack callously drove away with the vehicle, never to return, as documented in court records.
His path led him to a Niceville bar in the Florida Panhandle, where he befriended a construction company owner. This acquaintance discovered that Zack was residing in the stolen pickup truck and offered him a place to stay. Tragically, Zack repaid this kindness by stealing two guns and $42, later pawning the firearms, according to court records.
At another bar, Zack encountered Rosillo and enticed her to go to the beach for drug use. The situation escalated horrifically, resulting in a brutal assault and Rosillo’s tragic demise in the sand dunes, as outlined in court records. The next day, Zack visited a Pensacola bar, where he met Smith. Their encounter took a sinister turn when Zack visited her home, subjecting her to a heinous assault that culminated in her untimely death. Zack fled the scene after stealing her belongings, only to be apprehended after a two-day hideout in an empty house, as detailed in court records.
Now aged 54, Zack admitted to the murder of Smith, claiming provocation after a comment about his mother, who had been murdered by his sister. He alleged self-defense, contending that he believed Smith was reaching for a gun.
Despite Zack’s admission, his legal team sought to halt the execution, citing fetal alcohol syndrome and posttraumatic stress disorder as mitigating factors. Their efforts were denied by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday afternoon, leaving Zack facing his imminent fate.
If the execution proceeds, it will mark the eighth execution under Governor Ron DeSantis since 2019, and the sixth this year after a hiatus in executions from 2020 to 2022. DeSantis has staunchly advocated for tougher and more expansive death penalty laws, making it a focal point of his presidential campaign.
