Citations:
King v. State, 390 So.2d 315 (Fla. 1980), cert. denied, 101 S. Ct. 1529 (1981). (Direct Appeal).
King v. State, 407 So.2d 904 (Fla. 1981) (PCR).
King v. State, 514 So.2d 354 (Fla. 1987), cert. denied, 108 S. Ct. 2916 (1988). (Direct Appeal).
King v. Strickland, 714 F.2d 1481 (11th Cir. 09/02/1983).

Final Meal:
King was not offered a special meal because he already had received two of them during previous stays.

Final Words:
"I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man, and the state had evidence to that effect. I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through." King continued talking after his microphone was turned off, but the audience could only see his mouth move.

Internet Sources:

Florida Department of Corrections

Tallassahee Democrat

"Amos King Executed," by Ron Word. (AP February 27, 2003)

Amos King, maintaining his innocence to the end, was executed Wednesday by lethal injection for the rape and murder of a Tarpon Springs woman almost 26 years ago. King, 48, was condemned for the 1977 killing of Natalie Brady, 68, who lived near a Tarpon Springs corrections center where King was a work-release inmate. He then set fire to her home. King was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. at Florida State Prison, Gov. Jeb Bush's office said. "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man and the state had evidence to that effect," King said Wednesday on his death gurney. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through."

King was caught trying to sneak back into the prison about the same time firefighters and police arrived at Brady's home, according to court records. He fought with a counselor, James McDonough, who was stabbed 15 times with a knife that witnesses said apparently came from Brady's kitchen.

Two of Brady's nieces were crying in the front row as King gave his final statement and thanked his attorney, Peter Cannon. King continued talking after his microphone was turned off, but the audience could only see his mouth move. Monica Watson, one of the nieces, said afterward that she can now remember her aunt without thinking of the murder. "No one deserves to die the way she did," Watson said.

The execution had been set for 6 p.m. but was delayed by last-minute appeals, said Bush spokeswoman Liz Hirst. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected King's last appeal at 6:30 p.m. A flurry of appeals also was filed in the Florida Supreme Court, with the last motion arriving after 6 p.m. The state high court, which had rejected an appeal from King late Monday, didn't rule on the new appeals before his execution.

Orlando Sentinel

"Inmate Put to Death for 1977 Murder," by John Kennedy. (February 27, 2003)

STARKE -- The state executed Amos King on Wednesday night for the rape and murder of a Tarpon Springs woman almost 26 years ago. King, 48, was condemned for the 1977 killing of Natalie Brady, 68, who lived near a Tarpon Springs corrections center, where King was a work-release inmate. He then set fire to her home.

King, executed by lethal injection, was declared dead at 6:43 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke. He became the 55th person executed in Florida since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976. "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man, and the state had evidence to that effect," King said in his final statement. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through."

Two of Brady's nieces wept as King thanked his attorney, Peter Cannon. His execution was scheduled for 6 p.m. but was delayed by last-minute appeals, Bush spokeswoman Liz Hirst said. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected King's last appeal 30 minutes after his execution was scheduled.

The day of Brady's murder, King was caught trying to get back into the prison at about the same time firefighters and police arrived at the victim's home.

Death-penalty opponents said the execution signals a determination by Gov. Jeb Bush to proceed with capital punishment in Florida despite rising concerns nationwide. "While many states are taking a second look at the death penalty, Florida is ready to move forward," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington. Last year, only 13 states carried out executions, the fewest since 1994. The number of death sentences being imposed nationwide also is on the decline.

For a time, it appeared the King execution would not be carried out. In December, about 90 minutes before his scheduled execution, King won a reprieve from Bush, who delayed his execution while new DNA testing was conducted. But the DNA analysis failed to provide any new evidence, and Bush rescheduled the execution. David Menschel, an attorney with the Innocence Project in New York City, said the DNA review adequately examined existing evidence, but autopsy evidence that may have proved King's innocence has since been lost or destroyed by the state.

ProDeathPenalty.Com

Amos King, was sentenced to be executed for the murder of Natalie "Tillie" Brady, 68, who was raped, stabbed and beaten in her Tarpon Springs home in 1977. Natalie Brady, known to many as "Tillie", came from an old Tarpon Springs family. She was described as a well-liked Christian woman, a widow who lived alone in a one-story house at the end of Brady Road. In March of 1977, Amos King was an inmate at Tarpon Springs Community Correctional Center, a minimum security work-release facility, where he was serving a sentence for larceny of a firearm. On March 17 he worked at a Clearwater restaurant from 5:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. the following morning. An inmate van picked him up at around 1:30 a.m., and he checked back into the facility at approximately 2:35 a.m. At about 3:40 a.m., the prison counselor, James McDonough, discovered King missing during a routine bed check. McDonough found King outside the building with blood on his pants. After McDonough escorted King back into the facility, a fight broke out between the two in which King repeatedly stabbed McDonough with a knife. King then fled the facility. Police rushing to help McDonough, who was found to have been stabbed more than 25 times, spotted a blaze at Brady's home. Firefighters found her body in a doorway where she had crawled to escape the flames. She had been raped, stabbed and beaten.

King admits he almost killed work release guard James "Dan" McDonough, who lived to tell of discovering King trying to sneak back into the center about the time Brady was killed. But King denies killing Brady and alleges evidence was planted to convict a black man for the murder of an elderly white woman. She had received two stab wounds, bruises over the chin, and burns on the leg. An autopsy revealed other injuries, which included bruises on the back of the head, hemorrhaging of the brain, hemorrhaging of the neck, and broken cartilage in the neck. There was a ragged tear of the vagina which apparently had been caused by blood-stained wooden knitting needles found at the scene. There was also evidence of forced sexual intercourse. Arson investigators concluded the fire had been set intentionally sometime between 3:00 and 3:30 a.m. Tillie's home was just 1,500 feet away from the work release facility.

The government presented strong circumstantial evidence of King's guilt on the murder charge. Joan Wood, the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on the deceased, for example, testified that King's blood type was present in the victim's vaginal washings. Woods stated that if Tillie's assailant had raped her with his pants on after causing the tear to the wall of her vagina, blood would have been present on the clothing, as McDonough had found on the crotch area of King's pants. She testified the paring knife used by King to assault McDonough was "consistent" with the wounds found on Tillie, but she admitted she could not say this knife caused the wound. A knife salesman testified that the paring knife was manufactured by the same company and was similar in design to other kitchen knives found in Tillie's house. An old friend of the deceased testified that the paring knife resembled one Tillie kept in her house.

The relatives of Tillie Brady say they would rather not hear King's name ever again. Eva Lysek, one of Tillie's sisters, doesn't care whether King lives or dies. "I just do not want them to let him out," said Ms. Lysek, who lives in Pinellas County and still regularly puts flowers on her sister's grave on holidays. "All I can say is, I do not have a sister. I have not had a sister for 25 years." King had been scheduled for execution in January, July and December in 2002, but received a stay both times. At the time of the January stay, a victim's advocate said the family was disappointed and discouraged. "Their opinion is it's just a joke now," said Wendy Hallowell, who spoke with Tillie's niece. King had previous execution dates in 1981 and 1988. When Marie Williams heard that the death warrant for her sister's killer had been reactivated in June of 2002, she knew what was coming: a new round of frustrations. "It's just bringing back old memories all the time. It's been 25 years," said Mrs. Williams, who lives in St. Petersburg. "It's just another one of those things that he'll get another appeal. That's what happened the last three times." "It's about time," said Abe Tarapani, summing up the feeling of many Tarpon Springs residents who are outraged at the delay. Despite the passage of time, for many family and friends of Mrs. Brady, the pain is still fresh, the venom still strong. "This man needs to burn to a crisp for what he did to her," said former Tarpon Springs Mayor Anita Protos. "It's been too long in coming. He should not have been shown any mercy to last this long."

Blaine LeCouris, who was the Tarpon Springs police chief in 1977, said the murder made for a very trying chapter in Tarpon Springs history. LeCouris, a proponent of the work release program, said many residents opposed the location of the minimum security corrections facility, where inmates work during the day outside the facility and return at night. "We need these facilities, but no one wants them near them," LeCouris said. "In counties as close as Pinellas County, there's nowhere you can put them where they aren't around someone." Tillie's murder reignited the debate. LeCouris, father of current police chief Mark LeCouris, said that Mrs. Brady was well-known in the Tarpon community. "She was a good friend of mine," LeCouris said. "She was like a mother to a bunch of us. A better woman never lived. She was just a kind woman." Tempers ran high after King's arrest, he said. "We almost would've killed him ourselves if we could've got ahold of him," LeCouris said. "He took the life of a sweet, innocent lady." Elizabeth Palmer of Tarpon Springs, a friend of Tillie's, said the length of the appeals angers her. "This was a cut-and-dry case," Palmer said. "This should have been done two days after they caught him. It's hideous what he did to that lady. And (the execution) is way past due. It doesn't seem fair sometimes. I will never understand it." The scars in Tarpon Springs may never heal, she said. "It was an absolute shock that something like this could happen," Palmer said. "I go back to the day before this happened and think how peaceful it was," LeCouris said. "Here was a hardworking woman who lived alone, and he killed her."

*UPDATE - 12/02: Amos King, who escaped 2 other dates with death this year, escaped a 3rd time Monday when Gov. Jeb Bush granted a 30-day stay so DNA tests can be run. King was due to be executed at 6 p.m. by lethal injection when he won the stay after lawyer Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project met with the governor's death penalty attorney earlier Monday. King, 48, was condemned for raping and murdering Natalie Brady, 68, in her Tarpon Springs home in 1977 and setting the place ablaze after slipping away from a work-release prison. He was caught, in bloody clothing, trying to slip back in. Bush issued the stay due to new DNA techniques that were not available at the time of King's conviction in 1977. In a statement, Bush said Scheck "informed my legal office of the existence of previously untested evidence and further DNA testing that could possibly exonerate Amos King. It is wholly appropriate that we delay the execution until we can determine that all potentially useful DNA testing has been completed," Bush said. Scheck said he was "gratified and very pleased" - but not surprised after his meeting with Wendy Berger, the governor's death penalty lawyer. "I had confidence that Gov. Bush would do this," Scheck said, adding that the test results are "just the kind of thing you don't want to leave any chance to." King's lawyers called The Innocence Project for help about 10 days ago. They want to test 3 pubic hairs and scrapings from under Brady's fingernails. The execution was rescheduled for Jan 8. King had spent his final day with his religious adviser, Casey Walpole, a Gainesville Buddhist. King's jury had voted unanimously to recommend that he receive the death penalty. An autopsy determined that his victim had two stab wounds, bruises on the back of her head, bleeding of the brain and neck, a broken cartilage in her neck and a tear in her vagina. King had received stays of execution in February and July from the U.S. and Florida supreme courts. They had debated whether Florida's death penalty law is similar to Arizona's, which was declared unconstitutional by the nation's high court.

UPDATE: A third round of DNA tests failed to provide any proof of innocence or guilt for death row inmate Amos King, scheduled to die later this month for the 1977 killing of a Tarpon Springs woman. A judge allowed a third series of tests on the nightgown Natalie Brady wore when she was raped and murdered in her home. A pair of wooden knitting needles presumably used in the attack were also tested. King has maintained his innocence, but with the newest test results not proving it, he remains scheduled to be executed Feb. 26. Earlier testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on the nightgown and needles turned up no biological material from an attacker and earlier tests also proved inconclusive. "They haven't found anything in 26 years,'' said Brady's niece, Monica Watson. "They'll never find anything.'' Monica planned to attend the execution but had prepared for disappointment after enduring years of delays and stays. "Why did she have to die and somebody who was never productive got to live all these years?" she said. "This is hanging over our heads. You hate to be wishing someone is going to die. It's just that finally, someone is going to be held accountable." Watson said she is tired of hearing how King might be an innocent man. She said the family is unhappy that King has Web sites devoted to his cause that make scant mention of how her aunt was brutalized in her final moments. "She was one of those people you just wanted to be like," Watson said. "If it is over tomorrow, we will just feel like she can rest in peace. ... I just hope that he can ask for forgiveness and go quietly."

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

Amos King Executed for 1977 Murder

Feb. 26, 2003 - Amos King, maintaining his innocence to the end, was executed Wednesday y lethal injection for the rape and murder of a Tarpon Springs woman almost 26 years ago. King, 48, was condemned for the 1977 killing of Natalie Brady, 68, who lived near a Tarpon Springs corrections center, where King was a work-release inmate. He then set fire to her home. King was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m., the governor's office said.

King was caught trying to get back into the prison at about the same time firefighters and police arrived at Brady's home. He fought with a counselor, James McDonough, who was stabbed 15 times with a knife that witnesses said apparently came from Brady's kitchen. "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man and the state had evidence to that effect," King said in his final statement Wednesday. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through.:

2 of Brady's nieces were crying in the front row as King thanked his attorney, Peter Cannon. His execution was scheduled for 6 p.m., but delayed by last minute appeals, said Bush spokeswoman Liz Hirst. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected King's last appeal there 30 minutes after his execution was scheduled.

A flurry of appeals was also filed in the Florida Supreme Court, with the last motion arriving after 6 p.m. The state high court, which had rejected an appeal from King late Monday, didn't rule on the new appeals before his execution. King also lost recent appeals in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta and in the federal court in Tampa.

King contended in a Tuesday interview that he was the victim of racism, circumstances, perjured testimony, and ignored and lost evidence. He maintained his innocence in Brady's murder, saying, "I am not confessing to anything I did not do." King had survived execution attempts by 3 governors. Gov. Bob Graham signed King's 1st warrant in 1981, followed by Gov. Bob Martinez in 1988. King also survived 4 execution dates last year on a warrant signed by Bush.

King becomes the 1st condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Florida, and the 55th overall since Florida resumed capital punishment in 1979. Only Texas (298), Virginia (87), Missouri (60), and Oklahoma (57) have executed more people than Florida in the modern era, since America re-legalized the death penalty on July 2, 1976.

King becomes the 14th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 834th overall since America resumed executions on January 17, 1977.

(sources: Associated Press & Rick Halperin)

Amos King (FL) - Feb. 26, 2003

The state of Florida is scheduled to execute Amos King Feb. 26 for the 1976 murder of Natalie Brady. In the 26 years since the murder, King’s death sentence has been argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, vacated, retried, and reinstated. In 2003 alone, he received three stays – one from the U.S. Supreme Court in February, another from the Florida Supreme Court in July, and yet another from Gov. Jeb Bush in December. King’s pending execution represents the worst nightmare of the death penalty process: this is a possible innocence case, involving a defendant with ineffective counsel.

Gov. Bush granted King a 30-day stay just hours before his Dec. 2 execution date so that DNA testing could proceed and shed light on the merits of his innocence claim. The results came back inconclusive, prompting two drastically different reactions. Gov. Bush, ignoring his previous concerns regarding King’s possible innocence, immediately perceived the test results as a green light for an execution. Advocates for King, on the contrary, recognized that since the DNA testing proved nothing, the innocence claim remains strong enough to consider lingering doubt as grounds for clemency. King’s lawyers also note that the state destroyed one of the most critical pieces of evidence – the semen-infused vaginal washings – years ago, and that testing on that would have very likely produced more conclusive results.

Florida has freed more people from death row due to actual innocence than any other state, and accounts for approximately a quarter of the nation’s exonerations. Just last month, the state of Florida released Rudolph Holton after a combination of DNA evidence and witnesses’ admissions to lying at his trial proved his innocence claim. Holton walked free Jan. 24, after spending 16 years awaiting execution.

King’s innocence argument likely received little attention during his trial because of his struggles with inadequate legal assistance. Forced to gamble his life on state-appointed defense lawyers, he has been challenging the effectiveness of his trial counsel for more than two decades. In 1983, the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated his death sentence, claiming he received ineffective assistance during the penalty phase of his trial. The court found that his lead attorney, Thomas Cole, entered the trial fatigued and unprepared. Cole, although an experienced criminal defense lawyer, had been concentrating primarily on another case at the time, and met with his client only twice before the trial. His support attorney, Anthony Rondolino, joined the defense less than a week before the trial began.

In vacating the initial death sentence, Judge Paul H. Roney of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals wrote: “King was convicted on circumstantial evidence which however strong leaves room for doubt that a skilled attorney might raise to a sufficient level that, though not enough to defeat conviction, might convince a jury that the ultimate penalty should not be exacted.”

During the trial, Cole stated on the record: “Judge, I am beat, I have got to go home and get some sleep.” On another occasion he said: “I can’t think anymore.” Of course, Cole represented King during the guilt phase of the trial as well, and little evidence indicates that he provided effective counsel at any point in the trial.

According to the state, King murdered Natalie Brady in the early hours of March 18, 1977. An inmate at Tarpon Springs Community Correctional Center, a minimum-security work release facility, King allegedly escaped in the middle of the night, ran over to Brady’s house, and proceeded to rob, sexually assault, and stab her before lighting the house on fire.

Cole made numerous obvious errors while defending King, which several appellate judges noted in their opinions. He offered minimal challenges to critical pieces of evidence, including a kitchen knife a witness identified despite not having seen it in more than a decade. He also failed to present a piece of potentially exculpatory evidence concerning hair samples found on the victim’s nightgown and sheets.

Several judges have argued in favor of reversing King’s death sentence again, citing “lingering doubt” about his guilt and the effectiveness of his defense attorneys. Considering the circumstances – from the possibility of innocence to the painfully obvious issues concerning ineffective counsel – this case is a no-brainer: commute the sentence to life in prison. Please write the state of Florida and encourage clemency for Amos King.

Naples Daily News

Florida Inmate Amos King Executed for 1977 Slaying," by Ron Word. (AP 02/27/03)

STARKE — Amos King, maintaining his innocence to the end, was executed Wednesday by lethal injection for the rape and murder of a Tarpon Springs woman almost 26 years ago. King, 48, was condemned for the 1977 killing of Natalie Brady, 68, who lived near a Tarpon Springs corrections center where King was a work-release inmate. He then set fire to her home.

King was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. at Florida State Prison, seven minutes after an executioner began the flow of deadly chemicals into his veins. "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man and the state had evidence to that effect," King said Wednesday on his death gurney. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through."

King was caught trying to sneak back into the prison at about the same time firefighters and police arrived at Brady's home, according to court records. He fought with a counselor, James McDonough, who was stabbed 15 times with a knife that witnesses said apparently came from Brady's kitchen.

Two of Brady's nieces, Monica Watson and Peggy Scheerer, were crying in the front row as King gave his final statement and thanked his attorney, Peter Cannon. King continued talking after his microphone was turned off, but the audience could only see his mouth move. Both Watson and Scheerer, who held a picture of Natalie Brady, said they prayed for King and his lawyer. "This has been an emotional roller coaster for our family for many years and now maybe we can have some closure," Watson said.

The execution had been set for 6 p.m., but delayed by last minute appeals, said Liz Hirst, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jeb Bush. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected King's last appeal at 6:30 p.m. A flurry of appeals was also filed in the Florida Supreme Court, with the last motion arriving after 6 p.m. The state high court, which had rejected an appeal from King late Monday, didn't rule on the new appeals before his execution.

The 30 witnesses and corrections officials waited silently in the witness room outside the death chamber for more than 30 minutes, unaware of what was causing the delay. Most people stared straight ahead at the closed brown curtains or frequently checked their watches as the minutes dragged by.

When the curtain was opened, King strapped to a gurney, lifted his head and turned and looked at the witnesses, acknowledging Cannon and Buddhist priest Kevin Malone, who spent much of King's final day with him. After the execution, Malone criticized the state. "Twenty-six years after the event, they are still trying to make the determination (of his guilt). What is wrong with this picture?" Malone asked. "Every man, woman and child in Florida has blood on their hands," he said.

King also lost recent filings in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta and in federal court in Tampa. King contended in a Tuesday prison interview that he was the victim of racism, circumstances, perjured testimony, and ignored and lost evidence. He maintained his innocence in Brady's murder, saying, "I am not confessing to anything I did not do." King had survived six execution attempts by three governors. Gov. Bob Graham signed King's first warrant in 1981, followed by Gov. Bob Martinez in 1988. King also survived four execution dates last year on a warrant signed by Bush. His final execution was scheduled after DNA tests on evidence were inconclusive.

It was the 55th Florida execution since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1976. The last one was on Dec. 9, when Linroy Bottoson was executed for murdering Catherine Alexander, the postmistress in the historic black community of Eatonville north of Orlando.

ABCNews

Amos King Executed for 1977 Florida Murder of 68-Year-Old Woman in Her Home. (The Associated Press)

STARKE, Fla. Feb. 26 — Maintaining his innocence until the end, death row inmate Amos King was executed by lethal injection Wednesday for the murder of a 68-year-old woman in her home 26 years ago. King, 48, was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. at Florida State Prison, the governor's office said. "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man and the state had evidence to that effect," King said in his final statement Wednesday. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through."

Two nieces of the victim, Natalie Brady, were crying in the front row as King thanked his attorney, Peter Cannon. King's insistence that DNA testing could clear him of raping and killing Brady led Gov. Jeb Bush to issue a stay 90 minutes before King was to be executed Dec. 2. Bush lifted the stay this month after the tests yielded no new evidence. A flurry of last-minute appeals delayed the execution, scheduled for 6 p.m., Bush spokeswoman Liz Hirst said. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on his final appeal about 30 minutes after he was scheduled to die. King's attorneys also filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court even after 6 p.m., but the state court did not rule on them before the execution.

King was convicted of the 1977 rape and murder of Brady. He killed her after slipping away from a neighboring work-release prison, then set her home on fire. King was caught, in bloody clothing, trying to return to the prison at about the time firefighters and police arrived at Brady's home. He fought with a counselor, James McDonough, who was stabbed 15 times with a knife that witnesses said appeared to come from Brady's kitchen.

King denied attacking Brady, saying the blood on his clothes came from the fight with McDonough. "I am not confessing to anything I did not do," King said in an interview, adding that he had sent a letter to Brady's family explaining his innocence.

Brady's niece, Monica Watson, attended the execution and had prepared for disappointment after enduring years of delays and stays. "Why did she have to die and somebody who was never productive got to live all these years?" she said.

King became the 55th inmate to die since Florida reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Gov. Bob Graham signed King's first execution warrant in 1981, and Gov. Bob Martinez signed another in 1988. Under Bush, his execution was stayed four times last year.

Debra Buchanan of the Department of Corrections said King was not offered a special meal because he already had received two of them during previous stays.

Miami Herald

"Third DNA test no help for death row inmate Amos King," by Phil Long. (Wed, Feb. 19, 2003)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- (AP) -- A third round of DNA tests failed to provide any proof of innocence or guilt for death row inmate Amos King, scheduled to die later this month for the 1977 killing of a Tarpon Springs woman. ''The uncertainty and doubt that surrounds the case continues,'' said King's lawyer, David Menschel, of the Innocence Project, which pushes for DNA testing for inmates and has won exoneration of 116 inmates nationwide based on the genetic testing.

A judge allowed a third series of tests on the nightgown Natalie Brady wore when she was raped and murdered in her home. A pair of wooden knitting needles presumably used in the attack were also tested. King has maintained his innocence, but with the newest test results not proving it, he remains scheduled to be executed Feb. 26.

Earlier testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on the nightgown and needles turned up no biological material from an attacker and earlier tests also proved inconclusive. ''They haven't found anything in 26 years,'' said Brady's niece, Monica Watson. ``They'll never find anything.''

King was an inmate at the Tarpon Springs Community Correctional Center, a work release facility just 1,500 feet from the home where Brady lived alone. Early in the morning of March 18, 1977, a staffer doing a bed check found King's bed empty. When the staffer discovered King outside the building, King attacked him when the man tried to handcuff him. A few minutes later, police and fire units arrived at Brady's house, which was ablaze, and found her body.

King was scheduled for execution three times last year but won reprieves. The first reprieve came from the U.S. Supreme Court, the second from the Florida Supreme Court and the third from Gov. Jeb Bush. The governor granted the third reprieve about 90 minutes before King would have been executed on Dec. 2 and ordered additional DNA testing.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

MEDIA ADVISORY FROM FLORIDIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (FADP.org)

26 February 2003

THE HEIGHT OF ARROGANCE: THE KILLING OF AMOS KING

There is reason for doubt: How can Jeb Bush be so sure?

As Florida prepares to execute Amos King despite significant questions left unresolved regarding his actual guilt, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty condemns Governor Bush for his ignorance and arrogance. Amos King is scheduled to be exterminated by the people of the state of Florida on February 26, 2003, at 6pm, in revenge for his alleged murder of Natalie Brady.

"We remember the victim, Natalie Brady," said Abe Bonowitz, director of FADP, "But not with more killing. It is particularly galling that Governor Bush suggests that he is killing King "for the victims." That is a disingenuous statement given the fact that the evidence against King is entirely circumstantial. The nutshell here is that there is no conclusive evidence to point to Amos King. I don't believe that Governor Bush wants to leave himself open to the accusation that he killed a prisoner where there was doubt about the man's guilt, but that is exactly what he is doing."

Floridians will stage simultaneous "Murder in Progress" demonstrations this evening in the hour leading up to the killing in at least six Florida cities. For details, please see

Among the protesters outside Florida State Prison will be Abe Bonowitz, director of FADP, as well as SueZann Bosler and Bill Pelke, both murder victim family members and co-founders of the group Journey of Hope ...From Violence to Healing. ( ). Contact information for these individuals is listed above. Additionally, Amos King's spiritual advisor, The Rev. Kobutsu Malone, will be available for comment after the killing and may be reached via Abe Bonowitz at 561-371-5204.

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) has established a web page highlighting the major questions still unresolved in the case of Amos King. The new section of FADP's web page features an outline format raising major questions at , as well as a longer text summary prepared by David Menschel of the Innocence Project at .

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty calls on Governor Bush to commute Amos King's death sentence to life without the possibility of parole, and to enact an immediate "Time-Out" on executions in Florida.

SENT BY:

Abraham J. Bonowitz, Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)

PRESS RELEASE FROM FLORIDIANS FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE DEATH PENALTY (FADP.org)

21 February 2003

THERE IS REASON FOR DOUBT IN THE CASE AGAINST AMOS KING

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) has established a web page highlighting the major questions still unresolved in the case of Amos King, who is scheduled to be exterminated by the people of the state of Florida on February 26, 2003, at 6pm, in revenge for his alleged murder of Natalie Brady.

"The nutshell here is that there is no conclusive evidence to point to Amos King." said Abe Bonowitz, director of FADP. "I don't believe that Governor Bush wants to leave himself open to the accusation that he killed a prisoner where there was doubt about the man's guilt."

The new section of FADP's web page features an outline format raising major questions at http://www.fadp.org/amoskinginnocent.html , as well as a longer text summary prepared by David Menschel of the Innocence Project at .

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty calls on Governor Bush to commute Amos King's death sentence to life without the possibility of parole, and to enact an immediate "Time-Out" on executions in Florida.

SENT BY:

Abraham J. Bonowitz, Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)

The Death House

"King Executed in Florida for Murder of Elderly Woman 26 Years Ago," by Robert Anthony Phillips. (02-26-03) STARKE, Fla. - Amos King told reporters a day before he was executed that he did not know what to expect as he faced death on the Florida execution gurney. "I've never been dead before so you have to prepare as best as you could. It is just something you have go through," he said. He did. King is dead. King, who claimed he was innocent of the rape and murder of an elderly woman more than 26 years ago, was executed Wednesday night by lethal injection at Florida State Prison. He was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. King's execution was slated for 6 p.m., but was delayed by his last-ditch appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.

King maintained that he was innocent of the murder to the end. "I would like the governor and the family to know I am an innocent man and the state had evidence to that effect,'' King said in his last statement. "I'm sorry for the victim's family, for all the things we have gone through.'' So ended the quest by Florida prosecutors to push King into the death chamber to answer with his life for the murder of Natalie Brady on March 18, 1977. During that time King, 48, had survived death warrants signed by three governors.

Nabbed By Prison Counselor

In 1977, prosecutors said that King, who became a Buddist in prison, slipped away from a prison work release program, raped and murdered Brady, 68, in her Tarpon Springs home. He then set fire to the house King was serving a prison sentence for theft of a firearm at the time of the murder. King was nabbed outside the prison, near Brady's home, after missing his bed check. King fought with and stabbed the prison counselor, James McDonough, who had discovered him. McDonough later testified that King had a blood stain on the crotch of his pants. Prosecutors said the paring knife King used to stab the counselor was similar to a set of knives found in the victim’s home. In addition, King’s blood type was found in a vaginal washing from the victim. Brady had been stabbed, beaten and knitting needles were used to tear the inside of her vagina, an autopsy revealed.

Evidence Destroyed

King was last scheduled for execution Dec. 2, 2002, but Gov. Jeb Bush gave King a 30 day reprieve after King's lawyers urged that DNA testing be done on crime scene evidence to try to prove that King was innocent of the murder. See Bush Blocks King's Execution for DNA Testing . However, efforts to either prove or disprove King as the killer through DNA testing were fruitless, as the materials available for testing were either degraded or had no biological material on them to test. Defense lawyers said key evidence that could either prove or disprove King as the killer - vaginal washings from the victim - was destroyed by the state two years after King's trial. Defense lawyers countered that Kings' blood type is shared by 22 percent of the population. And, although the corrections counselor who found King outside the prison testified that blood was on King's pants, no blood evidence was presented by prosecutors at trial. King, in interviews and statements released to reporters several days before his execution, cast himself as the victim of perjured testimony, lies by prosecutors and mishandled evidence.

Lack Of Moral Certainty

Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty said that King was being "exterminated" based on circumstantial evidence and that the case against him lacked the "moral certainty" needed for a death sentence. "The nutshell here is that there is no conclusive evidence to point to Amos King," said Abe Bonowitz, director of the anti- death penalty group. Anti-death penalty foes also noted that King was tried before an all-white jury and claimed he had inadequate legal counsel during his trial. A death warrant for King had first been signed in 1981 - under the administration of then Governor Bob Graham. In recent days, King's lawyers had filed a flurry of last ditch appeals to federal appeals courts in Atlanta, Florida, the Florida Supreme Court and even the U.S. Supreme Court.

'I'm Not A Murderer'

In an interview with Florida reporters Tuesday, King said he was prepared for his execution as "well as I can be" and that he was not going to confess to a murder he did not commit. "I am not a rapist. I am not a murderer," King said. "This is inconsistent to my character." King became the 55th convicted killer put to death in Florida since it reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

AmosKing.Com

Latest Media Coverage on Amos King

Canadian Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (King Homepage)

Amos King:A Victim of Injustice in Florida

Governor Jeb Bush issued a 30 day stay so that advanced DNA testing was done on the Caucasian hair and fingernail scrapings Three pubic hairs and scrapings recovered from under Brady's fingernails were too degraded to yield any results, evidence that might still have been testable was destroyed or lost by the state years ago. (Latest news below)

The Latest News on Amos King - 2003

(Amos King's 'Official' Homepage Links to ALL the information on his case !)

Amos King Campaign - case run-down;Information from Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP)

A pastoral appeal on behalf of Amos King - (Information from Rev. Kobutsu Malone at The Engaged Zen Foundation)

A Complete index of Amos legal papers and files is at:

The Latest media coverage of Amos case is at:

AMOS KING'S MOTION FOR DNA TESTING

Please help stop the killing of Amos King !
PLEASE JOIN EVERYONE BY TAKING A FEW MINUTES TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FOLLOWING ACTION !

CALL the office of Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe at 727-464-6221. Everyone is out for the weekend, but a very nice live operator is taking messages. Please leave a message for Mr. McCabe asking him to "Please intervene in the case of Amos King, who may be innocent. You stated that you would review any case touched by Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Joan Wood. Please ask Governor Bush to grant a stay of execution pending your review of Ms. Wood's handling of the case of Amos King."

On Monday morning the fax machine will be turned on. IF a stay has not been granted, FAX a brief note to Mr. McCabe at 727-464-6534. Then call to follow up. Do similarly with the office of the Florida Attorney General.

Amos' Own Story - Amos Tells His Story

Facts Of The Case

Legal Files

Media Coverage

Actions

"This case was bent to fit me. I was the convenient person... If my trial was tomorrow, I would walk away a free man."

King v. Strickland, 714 F.2d 1481 (11th Cir. 09/02/1983)

King v. State, 514 So.2d 354 (Fla. 1987)

After retrial of penalty phase for murder, ordered by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, 748 F.2d 1462, on basis that defendant had received ineffective assistance of counsel in penalty phase, a jury before the Circuit Court, Pinellas County, Philip A. Federico, C.J., recommended the death sentence. The judge imposed that sentence. Defendant appealed. The Supreme Court held that: (1) State did not systematically exclude blacks from jury; (2) defendant was not allowed to relitigate innocence or guilt; (3) statistical studies were insufficient to demonstrate unconstitutional discrimination in imposing death penalty; (4) lingering doubt was not appropriate mitigating circumstance; (5) there was no reversible error in admission of evidence; and (6) one jury finding of aggravating circumstances was not appropriate. Affirmed. Barkett, J., concurred in part and dissented in part with opinion, which Kogan, J., concurred.