Judge Considers Stopping Execution

Judge Considers Stopping Execution
Man Scheduled To Die For 1983 Killing

POSTED: Monday, August 17, 2009
UPDATED: 11:39 am EDT August 17, 2009

http://www.justnews.com/news/20430193/detail.html



John Marek
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Broward County Judge Jeffrey Levinson will decide Monday whether to stop the scheduled execution of convicted killer John Marek.
Marek's attorney, Martin McClain, filed a motion claiming there is a new witness who said Marek did not kill Adella Simmons in June 1983.
Prosecutors said Marek's attorneys have already tried this before, but the stay was shot down by the Florida Supreme Court.
Marek is set to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Levinson said he would make a decision by the end of the day Monday.
Jean Trach said she and Simmons, who were both in their 40s during the summer of 1983, were driving back to Miami from a vacation in Clearwater when they had car trouble on Florida's Turnpike. They pulled over the car, which was stalling.
Trach said two men in a truck pulled up and convinced Simmons they would drive her to a service station. Trach stayed behind.
Police said the men drove Simmons 60 miles to Dania Beach, where they dragged her to a lifeguard stand and raped and killed her.
Marek and Raymond Wigley were each convicted of first-degree murder in connection with Simmons' death. Wigley died in prison.
Previous Stories:
July 16, 2009: State To Go Ahead With Execution
May 8, 2009: Court Denies Death Row Inmate's Appeal
May 7, 2009: Man Claims Inmate's Codefendant Confessed To Killing
May 6, 2009: Survivor Describes 1983 Night Friend Was Killed
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