A death row inmate expressed chilling final words, maintaining his innocence before his execution.
David Joseph Pittman, who had been on death row for over three decades, was executed yesterday (September 17), marking the 12th execution in Florida this year.
Pittman, 63, was executed by lethal injection and had been sentenced in the early 1990s for the murder of his former partner’s parents, Clarence and Barbara Knowles, along with their 20-year-old daughter, Bonnie.
The victims were stabbed in their home during the night, after which their house was set ablaze.
It was alleged that Pittman committed the murders as an act of revenge against Clarence and Barbara’s daughter for filing a divorce against him.
Despite being charged with the murders, Pittman consistently claimed his innocence and reaffirmed this claim in his final words.
Just before his execution, he declared: “I know you all came to watch an innocent man be murdered by the State of Florida. I am innocent. I didn’t kill anybody. That’s it.”
Leading up to his execution, Pittman’s attorneys argued that he was too intellectually disabled to be executed under the US Constitution.
“The State of Florida runs the imminent risk of executing an intellectually disabled person, contrary to the provisions of the Eighth Amendment,” his attorneys wrote, according to USA Today.
The defense was based on Pittman’s reported IQ of 70, which, as per the American Psychiatric Association, could indicate Intellectual Disability.
“Traditionally, cognitive or intellectual functioning has been measured through the intelligence quotient (IQ) tests, with an IQ of less than 70 recommended for a clinical diagnosis of Intellectual Disability,” the association outlines on its website.
The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities similarly notes: “One way to measure intellectual functioning is an IQ test. Generally, an IQ test score of around 70 or as high as 75 indicates a significant limitation in intellectual functioning.”
However, a judge dismissed the efforts of Pittman’s legal team, contending that the convicted individual had premeditated the murders.
The Florida Attorney General’s Office stated: “The record shows that Pittman methodically planned the murders. He cut the telephone lines before entering the house in the middle of the night, stabbed and killed all three victims, and then set fire to the residence.”
The statement went on to assert: “In short, any claim that Pittman is intellectually disabled would run headlong into strong evidence of adaptive function.”