A man who had previously denied involvement in the rape and murder of his neighbor 27 years ago was executed on death row today. Norman Mearle Grim Jr, aged 65, was put to death in Florida by a three-drug injection, marking the state’s 15th execution of the year.
Despite Grim’s claims of innocence during the trial, he had been convicted of the sexual battery and first-degree murder of Cynthia Campbell. When asked if he wanted to make a final statement before the execution, Grim simply replied, “No sir.” Following the injection, he exhibited heavy breathing and slight twitching before being pronounced dead, nearly three decades after Campbell’s tragic demise.
Campbell was reported missing in 1998, and her body was later discovered by a fisherman in waters near the Pensacola Bay Bridge in Florida. Prosecutors revealed that she had sustained severe blunt-force injuries to her face and head, consistent with hammer blows, along with 11 stab wounds to her chest, seven of which had pierced her heart. Grim was linked to the crime through DNA evidence.
Despite Grim’s persistent denial of the crimes, he was found guilty after a trial in 2000 and sentenced to death, a sentence that was carried out today, 27 years later. The execution marked the highest number of Florida executions in a single year since the reinstatement of the death penalty by the US Supreme Court in 1976.
Following the signing of a death warrant and setting of an execution date, inmates are granted the opportunity to appeal to the Florida Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court. In Grim’s case, no visitors were received, and he did not meet with a spiritual adviser on his final day.
This year, Florida has surpassed all other states in the number of executions, followed by Texas and Alabama. At least 18 more individuals are scheduled for court-ordered executions in the US for the remainder of 2025 and into next year. Florida is set to conduct two more executions next month, including that of Bryan Fredrick Jennings, who is to be executed on November 13 for the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in 1979.
