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| Marshall L. Gore |
A temporary stay of execution was granted for a man who had been scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison on Monday.
Marshall Lee Gore, 49, who was convicted of killing 2 women 25 years ago, had been scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m.
But the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals approved a motion filed by Gore's attorney less than 2 hours before the procedure was expected to begin.
A hearing will be held on Thursday.
The former owner of a South Florida escort service is on death row for the 1988 killing of Robyn Novick, a 30-year-old exotic dancer whose naked body was found in a rural part of Miami-Dade County. Gore was also sentenced to die for the 1988 slaying of Susan Roark, whose body was found a few months later in Columbia County in northern Florida.
The Catholic Church opposes Gore's execution. About 40 people attended a prayer vigil that the Archdiocese of Miami held for Gore, his victims Novick and Roark and their families on Monday. The vigil was held after a regularly scheduled midday Mass at St. Martha Church on Biscayne Boulevard.
"How do you teach someone that killing is wrong by doing the very act that we are condemning?" said Joan Crown, director of the Catholic organization Respect Life.
Florida's bishops petitioned Gov. Rick Scott to commute the death penalty for Gore and 2 others on death row.
"The greatest sadness is for we as a people. We are trying to teach others that you do not kill, yet we are killing," Crown said.
If it takes place, the execution would be the 3rd in Florida in the past month.
On June 12, the state executed William Van Poyck for the 1987 murder of a prison guard during a botched attempt to free another inmate.
On May 29, Elmer Carroll was executed for the 1990 rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl.
Source: NBCMiami, June 25, 2013
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