Miami killer has an execution date, but concerns about dementia could alter that

A man set to be executed in October — more than 50 years after beating and torturing a woman to death — has dementia and “appeared unaware” of his recent ailing health, his attorneys say in a court filing.

Attorneys for William Thompson, 74, say they have a “good faith belief that Mr. Thompson [lacks] a rational understanding of the current proceedings,” according to an emergency petition filed in the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday night.

The petition, penned by attorney Brittney Lacy, requests that the Florida Department of Corrections immediately transport Thompson to a hospital to provide medical treatment because his health is “rapidly deteriorating and he requires emergent medical care.”

“He could not give counsel any details about his hospital stays,” Lacy said. When he was asked about some of his recent procedures, he “did not understand” and “appeared unaware.”

On Tuesday, Thompson was evaluated by a neuropsychologist who concluded that Thompson appeared to be disoriented and “expressed numerous times that he was in severe pain,” according to the filing. Thompson was shackled to his wheelchair during the evaluation and appeared “too weak to freely move his arms or extremities.”

In a letter to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Lacy says she has a “good faith basis to believe” that Thompson is “insane and lacks the mental capacity to have a rational understanding of the nature and effect of the death penalty and the reasons why it was imposed upon him.”

Citing the neuropsychologist’s evaluation, Lacy sought a stay of execution — and said three psychiatrists should be appointed to examine Thompson. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a person who lacks a rational understanding of the reasons for their execution cannot be put to death.

Thompson’s execution is scheduled for Oct. 13 at Florida State Prison in Raiford. He was convicted of the March 30, 1976, killing of 23-year-old Sally Ivester, who had moved to Miami from Georgia with the hope of starting a new life. Gov. DeSantis signed Thompson’s death warrant on Friday.

Thompson, then 23, and Rocco James Surace, then 30, beat Ivester with chains, burned her with cigarettes and assaulted her with a chair leg during the horrific ordeal inside the Sunny Isles Motel, 16375 Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami Beach. Ivester died of shock and internal injuries. (Surace died in prison in 1993.)

READ MORE: Miami Death Row inmate to be executed for 1976 motel torture murder

The details of Ivester’s murder are so haunting that a juror fainted during Thompson’s trial. Police called it “Dade’s meanest murder,” according to the Miami Herald archives.

The day before Thompson’s death warrant was signed, the Death Row inmate was discharged from a hospital, Lacy said in the filing. And in the weeks prior, Thompson had been transported to at least three hospitals.

Dementia, health concerns in records

On Aug. 4, staff at Union Correctional Institution, the Raiford prison that houses Florida’s condemned inmates, received a request that Thompson be seen by medical professionals “due to a recent fall and dementia,” according to the filing.

Medical professionals at the prison assessed Thompson and determined he was disoriented, walking unsteadily and had “a change in mental status,” the petition says. Thompson “did not know who the president was. Stated it was Bush.”

Days later, on Aug. 17, Thompson was found unresponsive in his cell with shallow, uneven and labored breathing, according to the court document. His blood sugar and blood pressure were critically low, so he was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and transferred to HCA Jacksonville Memorial Hospital.

Several scans revealed that Thompson has heart failure, a collapsed lung, pneumonia, severe bed sores and fatty liver disease, according to the filing. He had an abdominal surgery that required 17 staples, and a “liver transplant was requested” for Thompson.

When he was discharged on Sept. 3, he fell out of his wheelchair while in the transport van, the filing states. He sustained a head injury that required three staples.

When Thompson was brought back to Death Row, a nurse reported that Thompson was “unable to verbally respond to her questions,” the petition says. Medical staff had difficulty inserting an IV.

Thompson was again hospitalized, this time transported to UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, according to the filing. He was diagnosed with sepsis, blood clots in the lungs, critically low blood pressure, fast heart rate and severe malnutrition.

The records, according to the document, indicate emergency medical workers were unable to insert an IV due to “fragile veins.” Medical staff at Shands noted that Thompson had “rapid deterioration” and a “knowledge deficit.”

When Thompson returned to Union Correctional Institution on Sept. 10, he was not placed in his regular Death Row cell but in a medical unit that is used as a hospice wing, the petition says. Prison records indicate Thompson can’t get up on his own and requires “complete assistance for bathing, using the toilet, transferring …”

Since his death warrant was signed, Thompson has been in a death-watch cell at Florida State Prison. Condemned prisoners awaiting execution are placed in a death-watch cell, an isolated and closely monitored cell feet away from the execution chamber. In the filing, Lacy says the cell is not equipped with the necessary medical equipment — and Thompson has not been provided a medical professional who can care for his wounds.

In a statement released by Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, Dr. Joseph Thornton, a psychiatrist who formerly supervised the medical care of Death Row inmates, expressed concern about the care that Thompson has received for his deteriorating health.

“A civilized society does not impose death by medical neglect,” Thornton said. “The State of Florida owes it to our citizens to ensure proper treatment.”

In the statement, Grace Hanna, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said Thompson’s medical care is a question of “basic human dignity.”

“Moving a gravely ill 74-year-old man with dementia from a prison hospice unit to death-watch is shocking and shameful, even in a state that has carried out an unprecedented number of executions over the past two years,” Hanna said.

A twisted torture murder

Thompson and Surace, court records state, ordered Ivester to ask her parents for money. When she came up with only $25, they were enraged. Surace took off his chain belt and began beating Ivester, and Thompson also beat Ivester — with the belt, a chair leg and a night stick.

Over the course of several hours, Ivester also was sexually assaulted, kicked and left to die, according to reports at the time in the Herald.

The men only stopped the attack, the Herald’s reports say, when they hauled Ivester to a phone booth and forced her to call her mother for more money. Ivester’s mother, Betty June Ivester, recalled that her daughter sounded as if there was a “death rattle” in her voice when she called.

“’I’m all right. I’m all right. I’m going to be all right,’” Betty June said her daughter told her, according to the Herald’s report at the time.

In 1976, Thompson and Surace pleaded guilty to Ivester’s murder and received death sentences. But the case dragged on for decades.

Both Thompson and Surace appealed and were granted new trials. Thompson again pleaded guilty, and in 1978 was sentenced to die. Surace was found guilty of second-degree murder after Thompson took the stand and accepted all the blame. Surace was sentenced to 203 years and died in prison in 1993.

In 1989, a third jury recommended that Thompson be executed, and a judge sent him back to Florida’s Death Row.