Infamous killer set to be executed by lethal injection in Florida amid record-setting year

The execution of former Air Force Sgt. Edward Zakrzewski II on Thursday, July 31, is set to be the ninth in the Florida in 2025, more than any other year in the state's modern history.

The state previously executed eight people in 1984 and 2014. Florida is on track to outpace Texas, an oft-leader in state executions, for the first time since 1984.

Zakrzewski, 60, is being executed for the murder of his family in a crime that shocked north Florida more than 30 years ago on June 9, 1994. The bodies of his wife, 34-year-old Sylvia, his 5-year-old daughter Anna and 7-year-old son Edward were found in a bathroom in their home in the coastal city of Mary Esther. Zakrzewski used a machete on all three of them, and also hit his wife in the head with a crowbar and strangled her.

Florida has executed more inmates this year that any other state, with Gov. Ron DeSantis making the issue a priority, saying in May that he wants to bring closure to families who've been waiting sometimes decades for their loved one's killer to be executed.

"There are so some crimes that are just so horrific, the only appropriate punishment is the death penalty," he said.

Zakrzewski's execution would also be the 27th in the nation, a 10-year high.

Here's what you need to know about Zakrzewski's execution and the crime he committed.

When is Edward Zakrzewski's execution?

Zakrzewski is set to be executed by lethal injection at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday at the at Florida State Prison in Railford, about 45 miles southwest of Jacksonville.

What was Edward Zakrzewski convicted of?

On June 9, 1994, 7-year-old Edward called his father at work to tell him that his mother was filing divorce papers that day. Zakrzewski bought a machete during his lunch break, took it home and sharpened it before hiding it and a crowbar, according to court records.

Later that night, Zakrzewski told his kids to watch TV and then attacked his wife. He hit her in the head repeatedly with the crowbar, put a plastic bag over her head and choked her with a rope, he later confessed to police.

Zakrzewski then called to each of his children separately to come brush their teeth before attacking them each with the machete. He then dragged his wife, who was still alive, into the bathroom where her dead children were and used the machete on her head and neck several times. He left all their bodies in the tub.

Zakrzewski fled immediately after the murders, retreating to Hawaii's Molokai Island, living under an assumed name and befriending a local Pentecostal minister who let Zakrzewski stay in a shack on his property in exchange for maintenance work. Zakrzewski managed to live like that for four months before the minister recognized him on "Unsolved Mysteries," after which Zakrzewski turned himself in.

Zakrzewski eventually pleaded guilty to the murders, though his attorneys argued he should be spared from the death penalty. They cited his "exemplary" service in the Air Force, the fact that he turned himself in and pleaded guilty, was "a loving husband and father" before the killings, and that he showed "sincere grief and remorse."

Judge G. Robert Barron rejected the mitigating arguments. He pointed to the particularly disturbing way Anna had been killed, with evidence indicating that she likely saw her brother's body and was forced to kneel down and place her neck on the edge of the bathtub before her father hit her with the machete.

"The court is convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that prior to Anna's death she not only experienced the horror of knowing that she was about to be murdered by her own father, but she also experienced the absolute horror of knowing that her brother had been murdered and that she was next," he said at sentencing. "This court could not imagine a more heinous and atrocious way to die."

Barron found that the killings were "the product of probably months and undeniably hours of cool, calm reflection, and careful planning," and that death was the only just punishment.

Who is Edward Zakrzewski II?

Zakrzewski was one of four brothers and a sister who grew up in Michigan and later became estranged from his family, according to an archived report in the Kalamazoo Gazette. While in the military, he received the Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service.

Zakrzewski's trial attorney, Elton Killam, told the judge that his client was motivated to kill because of his wife's alleged infidelity, gambling habits and long-term psychological abuse. He decided to kill his children out of mercy because he didn't want to see them grow up in Korea, where his wife was from, and treated lesser than because of their mixed race, Killam said, according to an archived Associated Press report in which he referred to the children as "half breeds."

Killam told the judge that Zakrzewski met his wife in Montana at an Air Force base exchange where she worked. The two moved to South Korea before he was transferred to Elgin Air Force Base. He said she was unfaithful to Zakrzewski while in Korea, miscarried her lover's child while she was there, and later ran up big phone bills, calling her lover all while squandering money at night clubs and casinos while Zakrzewski stayed home with the kids, Killam said, according to AP.

FBI officials who were hunting Zakrzewski after the murders told reporters that he was a loner whose life revolved around his job, working toward getting a college degree and his children.

Zakrzewski's current attorney, Lisa Fusaro, told USA TODAY that "Zakrzewski is very remorseful and has become very spiritual over the years."

"He helps to mentor other death row inmates and practices yoga and meditation," she said. "He has continued to stay in contact with his family and friends all these years, who are deeply saddened by the signing of his (death) warrant."

USA TODAY was unable to track down any family members of Zakrzewski's victims to learn more about who they were.

What's going on in Florida?

After Thursday, Florida will have executed nine inmates this year. The state has two more scheduled in August and is expected to set more.

The high number is helping drive a busy year for executions in the nation. If Zakrzewski's execution goes forward as expected, states will have executed 27 inmates this year − a 10-year high. With 10 more on the calendar, the U.S. stands to execute as least 37 prisoners by year's end.

Robin Maher, director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said Florida's uptick "represents an unprecedented investment of taxpayer dollars and resources to enact a policy that has never been shown to improve public safety or deter crime."

"When compared to the rest of the country, Florida is clearly an outlier in the way that it enthusiastically uses the death penalty despite rising public concerns, high cost, and low public support," she said, referring to studies that show decreasing support for the death penalty though it was about 53% nationwide as of 2024, according to a Gallup poll.

How does Florida compare to Texas?

Texas remains the state that has executed the most inmates, by far. The state has executed 594 inmates in the modern death penalty era (since 1976). The next closest state is Oklahoma at 129, then Florida at 114.

Texas has either matched or outpaced Florida in executions every year in the modern era except for 1979, 1984 and this year.

Does Edward Zakrzewski have a chance at reprieve?

On July 22, the Florida Supreme Court rejected arguments from Zakrzewski's attorneys that his death sentence should be tossed out because he never would have been sentenced to die under current Florida law.

When he was sentenced in 1996, Zakrazewski’s jury recommended death on votes of 7-5 for the murder of his wife and son, and 6-6 for his daughter's murder. Under current law, at least eight jurors need to vote for the death penalty.

"Standards of decency have evolved," his attorneys wrote. The state Supreme Court ruled the claims were meritless.

The U.S. Supreme Court and DeSantis could stop the execution but it's considered unlikely.

Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.