A man who was convicted of raping and murdering his manager at a Florida convenience store in 1988 was executed on Thursday evening, marking the 17th execution in the state this year.
Richard Barry Randolph, aged 63, was found guilty of the brutal murder and rape of Minnie Ruth McCollum, the convenience store manager, in 1988. He was caught in the act of trying to break into the store’s safe when McCollum unexpectedly walked in on him. Randolph was convicted of murder, armed robbery, sexual battery, and grand theft in 1989. After thirty-seven years, he was put to death by lethal injection by Florida’s Department of Corrections. The execution proceeded smoothly without any complications, and Randolph did not make a final statement before his death.
In August 1988, court records reveal that Randolph attempted to break into a Palatka convenience store where he had previously worked. He engaged in a violent struggle with McCollum, during which he beat, strangled, stabbed, and raped her before fleeing the scene in her car.
Following the incident, three witnesses observed Randolph leaving the store in a disordered state and promptly alerted the police. McCollum was found alive but in a coma and succumbed to severe brain injuries six days later. Randolph was apprehended shortly after at a Jacksonville grocery store while attempting to borrow money and cash in stolen lottery tickets. He confessed to the crime and led investigators to the discarded bloody clothing.
Despite multiple appeals, the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Randolph’s death sentence, denying his requests for further legal intervention.
