Courtesy photo. Martin Edward Grossman, 45, shown here in this Florida Department of Corrections mugshot, was put to death Tuesday night by the state of Florida for the 1984 slaying of a wildlife officer, shot in the basck of the head with her own fun when he was 19.
STARKE - A Florida Death Row inmate was put to death by lethal injection Tuesday for gunning down a state wildlife officer with her own gun more than 25 years ago, a spokesman for Gov. Charlie Crist announced.
Martin Edward Grossman, 45, was pronounced at 6:17 p.m. at Florida State Prison. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier in the day refused to stop the execution for Grossman, convicted of first-degree murder of 26-year-old Margaret "Peggy" Park, shot with her own gun on Dec. 13, 1984.
Grossman died 15 minutes after the lethal injection was administered at 6:02 p.m.
Grossman apologized to the victim's family: "I would like to extend my heartfelt remorse to the victim's family. I fully regret everything that occurred that night, for everything that was done, whether I remember everything or not. I accept responsibility."
According to court records, Grossman, then 19, attacked Park with a flashlight and shot her in the back of her head after she found him and another teen with a stolen gun while patrolling a wooded area of Pinellas County.
Grossman was the fifth condemned killer executed in Crist's administration and the 69th in Florida put to death since the death penalty was reinstated in 1979.
He was the 25th executed by means by lethal injection, which replaced the electric chair as the method of execution.