Anthony Bertolotti was executed by the State of Florida for the murder of Carol Miller Ward
According to court documents Carol Miller Ward would be working in her yard when Anthony Bertolotti asked to use her phone. Once inside of the home Anthony would sexually assault and murder the woman
Anthony Bertolotti would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Anthony Bertolotti would be executed by way of the electric chair on July 27 1990
Anthony Bertolotti Photos
Anthony Bertolotti Case
A 38-year-old man convicted of stabbing, raping and robbing a woman in 1983 was executed today after the United States Supreme Court rejected his assertions that Florida’s electric chair was not working properly.
The execution of Anthony Bertolotti was carried out at 7:07 P.M., apparently without problems, the Governor’s office said.
The Supreme Court, agreeing with lower courts that the chair was working properly, rejected Mr. Bertolotti’s last appeal about 30 minutes before the execution.
Voltage Is Found Sufficient
The Court upheld a ruling earlier in the day by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, concurring with a decision earlier this week by an Orlando judge that the chair’s 2,000 volts ”are sufficient to cause painless termination of life.’
The Federal court delayed executions for five other Florida inmates because of assertions that the chair had malfunctioned, resulting in a torturous death for a convict.
Their contentions stemmed from the botched execution May 4 of Jesse Tafero in which fire, smoke and sparks had spewed from his head and in which three surges of power had to be used before he was declared dead.
Chair Was Tested
Earlier this week, prison officials and an Auburn University expert conducted a test of the chair and concluded that it was working properly. They said a synthetic sponge, used for the first time in the Tafero execution, had caused flames to rise from his head.
Mr. Bertolotti was sentenced to die for the Sept. 27, 1983, murder of Carol Ward. She was working in her yard in Orange County when Mr. Bertolotti approached her and asked to use the telephone, and she let him in.
He found a knife and robbed her of $30, then became angry and stabbed her repeatedly until the knife broke. He found another knife and stabbed her until she died. Ms. Ward also was raped. Mr. Bertolotti was convicted March 31, 1984
He was the 23d convict to die in the chair since capital punishment was resumed in Florida in 1979.
