A former escort service owner who has spent 23 years on death row was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening at Florida State Prison for the slaying of an exotic dancer.
Marshall Lee Gore was sentenced to death for the March 1988 murder of 30-year-old Robyn Novick, whose nude body was found dumped in rural Miami-Dade County. Gore was also convicted of killing another woman, Susan Roark, and of the attempted murder of a third woman.
In addition to the two death sentences, Gore was given seven life sentences plus another 110 years in a case involving the attempted murder.
Gore was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. Tuesday following an injection at Florida State Prison, authorities said.
Earlier, Corrections Department spokeswoman Jessica Cary said Gore requested a last meal of a sausage and pepperoni pizza, but he did not eat it. Gore did drink a soda, however, and met with both his spiritual adviser and one of his attorneys.
This is the fourth time Gore's execution has been scheduled this year. Twice, courts put the execution on hold due to insanity claims. Attorney General Pam Bondi's staff also once asked that it be postponed because it conflicted with her political fundraiser.
On Monday, Gore's attorneys asked for a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The 49-year-old Gore says he suffers from delusions related to a conspiracy theory in which the purpose of his execution is so that the elite and wealthy people can harvest his organs. Gore has also said he is being targeted by satanic worshippers for human sacrifice, that he hears voices telling him to hang himself and that he was somehow injected with the virus that causes tuberculosis.
The appeals judges sided with a panel of state-appointed mental health experts who concluded Gore's "insanity" was all an act "designed to mislead the panel and avoid responsibility for his past actions."
Gore was arrested after attacking a third woman, who survived, and later testified at his trial in connection with Novick's death. The survivor said Gore beat her with a rock, choked, raped and stabbed her, leaving her near where Novick's body was found.
The FBI tracked the woman's stolen car to Paducah, Ky., and arrested Gore. When he was found, he had the woman's bank and credit cards in his jacket pocket, according to court documents.
Upon questioning about all three crimes and shown pictures of Novick's body, police said his eyes filled with tears and he said, "If I did this, I deserve the death penalty."
Gore initially denied knowing any of the women, according to police. But he later testified that all three women worked for him at an escort service.