After 25 years of moving through the court system, the planned execution of convicted murderer Marshall Lee Gore was delayed Tuesday because Florida attorney general Pam Bondi wanted to attend a fundraiser for herself.
Bondi, who is seeking reelection in Florida, asked Gov. Rick Scott to postpone the execution of Gore because it conflicted with her "re-election kick-off reception," according to the Tampa Bay Times. Scott said he didn't know why Bondi had asked to reschedule the execution.
"What's going on down there? It's ridiculous," said Phyllis Novick, mother of one of Gore's two victims. Since her daughter's murder in 1988, Novick has waited to see the man responsible executed, reports the local Tampa CBS station WTSP.
Bondi issued an apology (of a kind) for the delay Sunday:
"As a prosecutor, there was nothing more important than seeing justice done, especially when it came to the unconscionable act of murder. I personally put two people on death row and, as Attorney General, have already participated in eight executions since I took office, a role I take very seriously. The planned execution of Marshall Lee Gore had already been stayed twice by the courts, and we absolutely should not have requested that the date of the execution be moved."
The postponement is particularly ironic because Bondi was such a staunch supporter of Gov. Scott's "Timely Justice Act," signed into law this June, which expedites the execution process in the state.
The execution of Marshall Lee Gore has been rescheduled for October 1st. His execution date had been moved twice before, in June and July, but those stays were ordered by the court amid ongoing questions about his sanity.