Michael Durocher

Case overview

Michael Alan Durocher (33) was executed by electrocution in Florida on August 25, 1993. He was executed for the 1983 murders of his girlfriend, Grace Reed, her daughter Candice, and his 6-month-old son Joshua in Clay County. He was also convicted in two other killings, including a death sentence for a shooting in a 1986 robbery and a life sentence for bludgeoning a roommate to death in 1988.

Timeline

• 1983 — Durocher murdered his girlfriend, Grace Reed; her 5-year-old daughter Candice; and his 6-month-old son Joshua in Clay County.
• 1990 — The bodies were not discovered until 1990.
• 1986 — Durocher was under a death sentence for shooting a man to death in a 1986 robbery in Jacksonville.
• 1988 — Durocher was serving a life sentence for bludgeoning a roommate to death two years later (1988) in Jacksonville.
• February 13, 1992 — Florida Supreme Court docket #74442, 596 So. 2d 997 (opinion initial brief of appellant; answer brief of appellee; reply brief of appellant).
• July 23, 1992 — Florida Supreme Court docket #77745, 604 So. 2d 810 (opinion initial brief of appellant; answer brief of appellee; reply brief of appellant).
• August 12, 1993 — Florida Supreme Court docket #81986, 623 So. 2d 482 (opinion petition for extraordinary relief and for a writ of habeas corpus, etc.).
• May — Governor Lawton Chiles signed Durocher’s death warrant.
• August 25, 1993 — Durocher was executed by electrocution at Florida State Prison near Starke.
• August 26, 1993 — The New York Times reported on the execution.

The offence

Durocher murdered:

• Grace Reed, his girlfriend
• Candice, Grace Reed’s 5-year-old daughter
• Joshua, his 6-month-old son

The bodies were not discovered until 1990. Durocher shot Grace Reed and the 5-year-old in the back and stabbed the baby.

Durocher also faced:

• A death sentence for a robbery-murder in Jacksonville in 1986 involving the shooting of a man to death.
• A life sentence for bludgeoning a roommate to death in Jacksonville in 1988.

Investigation / discovery

Trial and convictions

Durocher was convicted of killing five people and was executed for three of the deaths.

He was executed for the 1983 murders of Grace Reed, the 6-month-old son Joshua, and Grace Reed’s 5-year-old daughter Candice.

He was also under a death sentence for the 1986 robbery-related shooting death and serving a life sentence for the 1988 bludgeoning death of a roommate.

Sentencing

The New York Times account stated that Durocher had been sentenced in 1991.

Durocher had:

• A death sentence for the 1983 murders that led to his execution.
• A death sentence for the robbery-murder in Jacksonville in 1986.
• A life sentence for beating his Jacksonville roommate to death in 1988.

Appeals / habeas corpus proceedings

The New York Times account stated that the United States Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected two appeals filed over Durocher’s objections.

Florida’s Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that Durocher could waive all appeals and held that a state agency that represented death row inmates had no right to represent him. The agency’s lawyers filed late-hour appeals, claiming the United States Supreme Court had never ruled on what steps the states must take to protect condemned killers who want to waive their appeals.

At a court hearing this month, Durocher stated: "I am competent. I have thought about this for five years now."

Governor and execution arrangements

Durocher wrote Gov. Lawton Chiles that he was a "believer in capital punishment, and I respectfully request that justice now be served."

Durocher also wrote that Grace Reed had lied about Joshua being their child and that "that made her a nuisance, one that needed to be eliminated."

When Gov. Lawton Chiles signed the death warrant in May, Durocher wrote the Governor a thank-you note.

The New York Times account stated that Durocher had begged the Governor to sign his death warrant and went to his death after the United States Supreme Court rejected the two appeals filed over his objections.

A spokeswoman for Gov. Lawton Chiles said Durocher did not make a last statement before his execution.

Outcome

Michael Alan Durocher was executed by electrocution in Florida on August 25, 1993.

Other details

Durocher was put to death at Florida State Prison near Starke. He was described as the 32nd man executed in Florida since the state resumed capital punishment in 1979. The Seattle Times account stated that he did not make a last statement and that he repeatedly fought efforts to appeal his execution. The New York Times account stated that he was the 32nd inmate executed by Florida since it resumed the death penalty in 1979 and the first to be killed on his first scheduled execution date.

Specific quoted statement: "I am competent.