SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. – The state of Florida is scheduled to carry out its 13th execution of the year on Tuesday, barring any last-minute holds.
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William Francis Silvia is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. at the Florida State Prison complex for the 2006 murder of his estranged wife and the attempted murder of her mother at her home.
The backstory:
William Frances Silvia was convicted and sentenced to death for shooting and killing his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and attempting to kill her mother, Betty Woodward, in 2006.
According to court records, on Sept. 22, 2006, William Silvia, who had lost his job and become homeless, went to his estranged wife’s parent’s home, where the two had an argument.Â
He then went to his truck, grabbed a shotgun, and fired seven shots – hitting both Patricia and Betty in the head.
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Silvia told detectives that he shot his estranged wife because she allegedly “spent all of their money and then started dating her ex-husband,” records state.
Two more executions scheduled
Local perspective:
Two more Florida death row inmates are scheduled to be executed in September.
Harold G. Lucas is scheduled to die on September 1. He was sentenced to death for the 1976 shooting and killing of his 16-year-old girlfriend – and hurting her friends – at a home in Bonita Springs, Florida.
Daniel O. Conohan Jr., known as the “Hog Trail Killer,” is scheduled to be executed on September 11 for the 1996 kidnapping and killing of 21-year-old Richard Alan Montgomery.
By the numbers:
Silvia’s execution will be the state’s 13th execution in 2026.
In 2025, Florida executed 19 people, the most number of people executed in a year in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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In 2024, one person was executed in Florida.Â
In 2023, six executions were conducted in Florida.
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