Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has withdrawn the death warrant for William Thompson, a death row inmate scheduled for execution on Oct. 14, citing reports that the 74-year-old is suffering from dementia. Thompson, one of Florida's longest-serving death row inmates, was convicted 50 years ago of a brutal torture murder.
DeSantis' office did not provide a specific reason for the withdrawal in a letter sent to the Florida State Prison Warden Randall Polk, which had been viewed by The Post. The governor had signed Thompson's death warrant on Sept. 11.
The withdrawal comes as Thompson's legal team has raised concerns about his cognitive state. His attorney, Brittney Lacy, submitted an emergency petition on Sept. 16, stating that Thompson required "emergent medical care." According to court documents, Thompson exhibited a "knowledge deficit" and "appeared unaware," reportedly failing to understand questions about his hospital stays and surgeries. A neuropsychologist, Robert Ouaou, examined Thompson and concluded that he "meets the criteria for insanity due to his dementia and significant cognitive decline," stating that Thompson "lacks the mental capacity to understand the fact of his impending execution and the reason for it."
Thompson also reportedly told the doctor he was in "severe pain" and too weak to move his arms or extremities. He has been hospitalized multiple times in Tallahassee, Jacksonville, and Gainesville, where doctors noted his impaired recall, including not knowing who the current president was.
Thompson was first sentenced to death in 1976 for the murder of Sally Ivester, a crime authorities at the time described as Miami-Dade's "meanest murder." Ivester was killed in 1976 during a robbery that escalated into a violent assault involving cigarettes and chains. Her accomplice, Rocco Surace, was sentenced to 203 years in prison and died in custody in 1993. Thompson's initial death sentence was overturned, and he was spared execution twice in the 1980s before being returned to death row in 1989.
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty executive director Grace Hanna welcomed DeSantis' decision, calling it "the correct decision." Hanna stated that Thompson is "gravely ill, not competent, and intellectually disabled," and that his execution would have been "an abject violation of the Eighth Amendment and an affront to human dignity."