Key facts
- William Frances Silvia, 61, is scheduled for execution on Tuesday.
- Silvia was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding his mother-in-law in 2006.
- The US Supreme Court denied a request to halt the execution.
- This would be Florida's 13th execution of the year.
- Florida has 19 executions scheduled for September.
William Frances Silvia, 61, is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday in Florida for the 2006 fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and wounding his mother-in-law, Betty Woodard. This execution would be the 13th in Florida this year, continuing the state's aggressive use of the death penalty under Governor Ron DeSantis. The US Supreme Court denied a request to halt the execution.
Silvia was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder. He purchased a shotgun and went to Woodard's home, where his wife was living, and shot both women. Silvia was initially sentenced to death in 2008, but that sentence was later vacated on appeal. Following a new sentencing phase in 2018, he was again sentenced to death.
Silvia's attorneys argued that the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, a state agency providing legal representation to death row inmates, could not offer adequate assistance. The Florida Supreme Court rejected this appeal.
Florida has carried out 12 executions this year and has two more scheduled in September. In 2025, Florida executed 19 people, a state record since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, the first state in nearly a decade to do so. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is scheduled for execution on September 1, and Daniel Owen Conahan Jr, 72, on September 10.