Florida to Execute Darryl Barwick for Brutal Murder of Woman in 1986

Florida is set to execute a man convicted of breaking into a woman's apartment in 1986 and brutally murdering her.

Darryl B. Barwick, 56, is set to be executed on May 3 at 6 p.m. for the murder of 24-year-old Rebecca Wendt.

Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Barwick's death warrant earlier this month.

Barwick's execution is set to go ahead after the Florida Supreme Court on Friday rejected an appeal from his attorneys, who argued that the execution should be halted because of his lifelong mental illness and intellectual disability.

Barwick's attorney has filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to halt the execution. She has been contacted for comment via email.

According to court records, Wendt had been sunbathing at her apartment complex in Panama City on the morning of March 31, 1986.

When she later returned to her apartment, Barwick followed her inside and attacked her.

Wendt's sister, who was also her roommate, returned to her apartment that night to find her body wrapped in a comforter.

Investigators found bloody footprints and fingerprints in the apartment, and an autopsy determined that Wendt had been stabbed 37 times. There was no evidence of sexual assault, but medical examiners reported finding semen on the comforter that she was wrapped in.

Barwick was arrested on April 15 and confessed to the murder. He told investigators that he entered the apartment with the intention of robbing Wendt and only stabbed her after she resisted.

Tests conducted on the semen left on the comforter showed that Barwick was within 2 percent of the population that could have left it.

Barwick was convicted of first-degree murder, armed burglary, attempted sexual battery, and armed robbery following a trial in November 1986. He was sentenced to death following the jury's 9-3 recommendation.

Death penalty opponents have called for Barwick's life to be spared.

A petition launched by Death Penalty Action is urging DeSantis and the Board of Executive Clemency to commute his sentence to life without the possibility of parole.

The petition says that Barwick was 19 when he was sent to death row, endured a childhood "filled with unimaginable horrors" and has been diagnosed with brain damage and intellectual disabilities.

"None of this information about Darryl erases or excuses his crime, however, due to his experiences in life we believe he is worthy of mercy," the petition states. "By commuting Darryl Barwick's sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole, you will send a message that the State of Florida cares about protecting people with serious mental illness, even those who commit horrific crimes."

Barwick's execution is the third scheduled in Florida this year—Donald Dillbeck was executed on February 23, and Louis Gaskin was executed on April 12.

It would be the fifth since DeSantis took office in 2019, and comes ahead of the governor's widely expected announcement of a presidential campaign.

Earlier this month, DeSantis signed a bill ending a unanimous jury requirement in death penalty sentencing. The governor had pushed for the legislation after a divided jury spared Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz from execution last year.

Florida had required a unanimous jury vote for capital punishment since 2017, but the new law allows capital punishment in the state with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution.

"Once a defendant in a capital case is found guilty by a unanimous jury, one juror should not be able to veto a capital sentence," DeSantis said in a statement. "I'm proud to sign legislation that will prevent families from having to endure what the Parkland families have and ensure proper justice will be served in the state of Florida."

DeSantis' office has been contacted for comment via email.