A 77-year-old man convicted of beating a woman to death with a hammer in Florida in 1995 has been executed at Florida State Prison near Starke.
Curtis Wilkie Beasley was pronounced dead at 6.12pm on Tuesday after receiving a three-drug lethal injection. He was convicted of the first-degree murder, robbery and grand theft of Carolyn Monfort, who was 62 when she was killed.
The execution went ahead after the Florida Supreme Court rejected arguments that putting Beasley to death despite his age and alleged cognitive decline would amount to cruel and unusual punishment. The court also refused to halt the execution over claims relating to his death sentence and the non-unanimous jury recommendation. ([flcourts-media.flcourts.gov](https://flcourts-media.flcourts.gov/content/download/2495536/opinion/Opinion_SC2026-1399.pdf?utm_source=openai))
1995 hammer attack in Dundee
Beasley had been staying at Ms Monfort’s home in Dundee, south of Orlando, while carrying out pressure-washing and painting work at nearby apartments owned by her son-in-law.
When Ms Monfort could not be contacted for two days, her daughter went to the property and found her body in a blood-spattered laundry room. Investigators said she had suffered multiple blunt-force injuries to the head.
A bloodied hammer head wrapped in a towel was found near the body. Beasley was later traced after a witness saw him driving Ms Monfort’s vehicle.
He fled first to Miami and then to Alabama, where he was arrested while working under a false name. A jury convicted him in 1998 and recommended the death penalty by a 10-2 vote. ([flcourts-media.flcourts.gov](https://flcourts-media.flcourts.gov/content/download/2495536/opinion/Opinion_SC2026-1399.pdf?utm_source=openai))
Florida’s highest court rejected Beasley’s latest appeal on 22 September, ruling that his claims were either procedurally barred or without merit. A federal judge also denied a last-minute application for a stay on 24 September. ([law.justia.com](https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/2026/sc2026-1399.html?utm_source=openai))
Beasley was the 16th person executed in Florida this year and the seventh prisoner aged over 70 put to death by the state in 2026. Florida carried out a record 19 executions in 2025, the highest annual total since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. ([apnews.com](https://apnews.com/article/654f454839556dc3f9282fb4383e3d70?utm_source=openai))
Two further executions are scheduled in Florida this year. The execution of William Lee Thompson, 74, set for 13 October, was temporarily paused by Governor Ron DeSantis after a doctor raised concerns that he might have dementia.
