What's next now that DeSantis has signed death warrant for Flagler's 'ninja killer'

Louis Gaskin, Flagler County's 'ninja killer' is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. on April 12. The 56-year-old Gaskin would be the first Flagler County resident ever executed. Here is some more information on his case and what happens next.

A tight schedule for Gaskin's legal challenges

Circuit Judge Terence Perkins has set a case management conference for Thursday and hearings this week and next week on Gaskin's case at the Kim C. Hammond Justice Center in Bunnell. Gaskin is represented by Tracy Henry and Cortney Hackett at Capital Collateral Regional Counsel for the middle region of the state. The state agency handles death penalty appeals.

As Gaskin's attorneys' try to save his life, a process that normally takes about a year is done in 30 days from the circuit court to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court, said Gerod Hooper, the chief assistant at Capital Collateral Regional Counsel.   “It's all hands on deck here,” Hooper said in a phone interview. “The team that has the case and all the other teams are pitching in because it’s such a tight time frame.”

The prison warden can schedule the execution for between 30 to 45 days once the death warrant is signed but in this case chose 30. “It’s not good news obviously. It gives us 15 days less,” Hooper said.

Execution listFlorida executes 100th death row inmate. Who's on the list from Volusia, Flagler counties?

Gaskin on death row'Ninja Killer' of Flagler County arrested 29 years ago remains on death row

Gaskin: Killer dressed as ninja

Gaskin dressed like a 'ninja" and targeted Robert and Georgette Sturmfels on Ripley Place the night of Dec. 20, 1989. He used a .22-caliber rifle to shoot them through a window and then entered the house and finished them off before burglarizing the home. He then went to a house on Ricker Place, cut the phone line and threw logs and rocks on the roof to lure Joseph Rector out, and then shot him. But Rector and his wife were able to drive away as Gaskin fired at their car. After his arrest, Gaskin confessed to killing a man three years earlier. On, Nov. 20, 1986, Gaskin walked through some woods and shot through a window into a trailer, killing Charles Martin Miller. Gaskin said he killed Miller because he was known to have $600 to $900 on him.

Why Gaskin? Why now?

When asked why the governor had signed a death warrant for Gaskin now, DeSantis' press secretary, Bryan Griffin, responded in an email in which he included an account of the murders committed by Gaskin. Griffin wrote that "Factors in deciding death warrants include the complete exhaustion of remaining appeals and the egregiousness of the crime(s) committed."

First for Flagler but not for Volusia Flagler County area

While Gaskin would be the first inmate from Flagler County to be executed, Volusia has had 11 inmates executed since 1924, according to the state Department of Corrections website. The Volusia County number does not include serial killer Aileen Wuornos, who was prosecuted and sentenced to death in Daytona Beach for a Volusia County case. Wuornos, 46, was executed in 2002 on a death warrant for a Dixie County case. Wuornos was arrested in 1991 at the Last Resort, a biker bar in Port Orange. Wuornos was the subject of a movie titled "Monster" and killed six men throughout the state.

Jurors recommend death for 'ninja killer' by 8 to 4 vote

When Gaskin was sentenced to death, a judge only needed seven of the 12 jurors to recommend execution to be able to impose a death sentence. Since then the law has changed to require a unanimous jury recommendation. But a bill currently in the state legislature would do away with the requirement for unanimity and instead require a minimum of eight jurors recommending death. The proposed change came about after three jury members last year voted for a life sentence for Nikolas Cruz, who killed 17 people in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: What's next for Flagler County's 'ninja killer' set to be executed