A grieving husband witnessed the Tuesday execution of the person who kidnapped and killed his spouse from a Florida insurance coverage workplace over 4 many years in the past — stating he “made a promise” to see her tragic case by means of.
Randy White, 70, misplaced his spouse, Janet Renee White, after she was kidnapped, raped, and stabbed to demise by Kayle Bates in 1982 — simply minutes after he final mentioned goodbye to her, USA Today reported.
Bates, 67, died by deadly injection at 6:17 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Jail beneath a demise warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. It was the state's tenth demise sentence carried out in 2025.
The execution gave the widower long-awaited aid that he had lastly reached the top of an almost 43-year battle for justice in his spouse's killing.
“I made a promise to her proper after it occurred that I'd be there for each trial, each listening to, each attraction, and that so long as I used to be dwelling, I'd search justice for her,” White advised the outlet after the execution.
He was solely 27 when he misplaced his spouse, who was the youngest of 5 siblings and all the time dreamed of getting children and her personal enterprise, the outlet reported.
“I really feel a aid that I can mentally let Renee know that justice has lastly been served for her, and that's mentally what I would like. It's all the time been for her,” he mentioned.
Bates was convicted of first-degree homicide, kidnapping, armed theft, and tried sexual battery within the June 14, 1982 killing of Janet White in Bay County within the Florida Panhandle.
Bates kidnapped White from the State Farm insurance coverage workplace the place she labored, took her into the woods behind the constructing, tried to rape her, stabbed her to demise, and tore a diamond ring from one in all her fingers, based on courtroom paperwork.
“Bates attacked her, however Renee fought again,” based on courtroom information obtained by the outlet. “Regardless of her finest efforts, Bates overpowered Renee and compelled her into the woods behind the workplace.”
Inside quarter-hour of claiming goodbye to Renee, he received a name from the authorities about an emergency at her workplace.
“He checked out me and mentioned, ‘Mr. White, I don't know any straightforward solution to say this … however your spouse's been murdered,'” White remembered. “I utterly misplaced it.”
When police arrived, they discovered Bates coated in blood along with her marriage ceremony ring in his pocket, paperwork confirmed.
Attorneys for Bates had filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court docket and the US Supreme Court docket, in addition to a federal lawsuit claiming DeSantis' course of for signing demise warrants was discriminatory.
Veterans teams had additionally requested the Florida Gov to spare Bates from the demise penalty due to his six-year navy service within the Nationwide Guard, the outlet reported.
Florida has executed extra folks than some other state this 12 months, whereas Texas and South Carolina are tied for second place with 4 every.
Bates declined to offer final phrases at his execution and turned down his final meal, the outlet mentioned.
Florida executions are carried out utilizing a three-drug deadly injection: a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the center, based on the state Division of Corrections.
White described the execution as “easy and fast.”
With Put up wires.
