A Florida man who recently dropped all legal appeals was executed Thursday for the 1988 murder of a woman who was sexually assaulted, killed with a hammer, and then set on fire in her own bed. James Phillip Barnes, 61, was pronounced dead at 6.13pm following a lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke. Lying on a gurney, Barnes appeared to already have his eyes shut when the curtain was opened for witnesses. He didn't respond when prison officials asked if he had a final statement, and he remained motionless except for breathing for about 10 minutes until that stopped. A doctor then pronounced him dead. The 61-year-old inmate was sentenced to death for the murder of nurse Patricia “Patsy” Miller. It was the fifth execution in Florida this year. One of the victim's siblings, Andrew Miller, witnessed the execution and said he came to remember his sister. “I did not come here to watch someone die. I came here to honor our sister, Patricia Miller,” he told reporters afterward. “No one should live in fear within the safety of their own home. No woman, no child, no animal should have that fear. We did.” Barnes was serving a life sentence for the 1997 strangulation of his wife, 44-year-old Linda Barnes, when he wrote letters in 2005 to a state prosecutor claiming responsibility for killing Miller years earlier at her condominium in Melbourne on Florida’s east coast. Barnes represented himself in court hearings where he offered no defense, pleaded guilty to killing Miller and did not attempt to seek a life sentence rather than the death penalty. Miller, who was 41 when Barnes killed her on April 20, 1988, had some previous unspecified negative interactions with him, according to a jailhouse interview he gave German film director Werner Herzog. “There were several events that happened (with Miller). I felt terribly humiliated, that’s all I can say,” Barnes said in the interview. When he pleaded guilty, Barnes told the judge that after breaking into Miller’s unit, “I raped her twice. I tried to strangle her to death. I hit her head with a hammer and killed her and I set her bed on fire,” according to court records. There was also DNA evidence linking Barnes to Miller’s killing. After pleading guilty, Barnes was sentenced to death on 13 December 2007. He also pleaded guilty to sexual battery, arson, and burglary with an assault and battery. Barnes killed his wife in 1997 after she discovered that he was dealing drugs. Her body was found stuffed in a closet after she was strangled, court records show. Barnes has claimed to have killed at least two other people but has never been charged in those cases. Barnes had been in and out of prison since his teenage years, including time served for convictions for grand theft, forgery, burglary and trafficking in stolen property. In the Miller case, state lawyers appointed to represent Barnes filed initial appeals, including one that led to mental competency evaluations. Two doctors found that Barnes had symptoms of personality disorder with “borderline antisocial and sociopathic features.” However, they pronounced him competent to understand his legal situation and plead guilty, and his convictions and death sentence were upheld. After DeSantis signed the inmate’s death warrant in June, a Brevard County judge granted Barnes’ motion to drop all appeals involving mitigating evidence such as his mental condition and said “that he wanted to accept responsibility for his actions and to proceed to execution (his death) without any delay,” court records show. Though unusual, condemned inmates sometimes don’t pursue every legal avenue to avoid execution. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that about 150 such inmates have been put to death since the US Supreme Court reaffirmed the death penalty as constitutional in 1976. The Florida Supreme Court accepted the Brevard County ruling, noting that no other motion seeking a stay of execution for Barnes had been filed in state or federal court. In the Herzog interview, Barnes said he had converted to Islam in prison and wanted to clear his conscience about the Miller case during the holy month of Ramadan. “They say I’m remorseless. I’m not. There are no more questions on this case. And I’m going to be executed,” Barnes said. Read More Grieving families confront Pittsburgh synagogue shooter at death penalty sentencing Singapore executes third prisoner in just 8 days. What explains this fresh wave of death sentences? Robert Bowers killed 11 in a Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. A jury ruled that he deserves death

John Lansing, the president and chief executive of NPR who led the outlet through the Covid-19 pandemic after taking the helm in 2019, will retire by the end of the year. The move comes just months after the radio network announced a significant budget shortfall and layoffs.

His brother might be his business partner, but Jake Paul has never been a fan of KSI and it looks like things aren’t changing any time soon. There’s been a long-running feud between the pair for years now, but where did it all start? Essentially, the pair’s resentment of each other stems from the early days of YouTube boxing, when KSI and Jake’s brother Logan Paul emerged as the two biggest figures on the scene. KSI first took on Logan in 2018 which resulted in a draw. Then, he fought Logan again in 2019 and won by split decision. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter During that time, the pair were 'frenemies' of sorts and built up anticipation by clashing regularly in a war of words. Since then, they’ve largely buried the hatchet to launch their hugely successful Prime energy drink together. But for Jake, it’s not been so easy to move on and let bygones be bygones – and he still wants to avenge his brother’s loss. Speaking about his feud with KSI on the BS podcast, Jake said: "Logan grabbed me and he was drunk in this sprinter van and I could tell how badly he was emotionally hurting from the loss to KSI. "I was seeing him and he was like drinking from the bottle, whilst I was sitting there sober. He was talking with his friends about the loss and I saw how badly it hurt him. In that same sprinter van ride, he grabbed me by the neck and said 'you have to beat KSI for our family'.” Another point of contention surrounds one of KSI’s previous fights. When considering how KSI will get on against Tommy Fury in their fight in October, Logan told Donagh Corby: “I think Tommy knocks him out in like less than five rounds.” He added: “I mean [KSI] is doing these gimmick WWE fights up until now. Tommy is his first real test, but who knows, he might throw an elbow on Tommy, too.” The comment about the elbow is a reference to KSI’s bout with Joe Fournier which was classified as a “no contest” after the fight after the winning knockout from KSI was ruled to be an illegal elbow strike. In fact, KSI and Logan themselves have been talking up the chances of a fight taking place between them for years now. They’ve been taking potshots at each other on social media. Before the fight between KSI and Fury was signed, he previously took a shot at him and Jake by writing: "What you waiting for @tommytntfury? Sign the damn contract and let me show you the difference between me and that fraud who only wins against retired MMA pensioners." The “MMA pensioners” comment was a reference to his win over former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, who was 47 when he fought Paul in 2022. Not one to back down easily, Jake replied: "This clown…tried to fight [Dillon Danis] who has never boxed and put a rehydration clause on him. Fought a 40 year old who hadn’t fought for 3 years and put a rehydration clause on him before elbowing him. Now trying to squeeze Tommy. I elevated Tommy, my son is now worth a lot more than the $1.5M offers you making. Tommy, February we run it back." Hitting out again, KSI responded by claiming Jake’s popularity had fallen dramatically. "We ain’t offering 1.5 million It’s crazy how much your hype has died since you lost. No one cares anymore,” he wrote. KSI has also made it clearly that he just doesn’t like Jake as a person at all, too. As he explained to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour in May this year, KSI said: “I don’t know, we’ve kind of just hated each other for so many years. I think there are several reasons, but because I don’t really dwell on it until it’s time, so I don’t really know. “I think it’s ego. It’s one of the ones where he thinks he’s better than me, I think he’s trash… We just don’t see eye to eye. I just think he’s a d***head. I just don’t think he’s a good person. I know he’s got friends, I know he’s got a lot of people that like him, but there’s a lot of people that hate him, and I’m one of them. I just don’t like him. I just don’t like everything about him. And I feel like he also tries to s*** on everything that I have done, or that I have worked hard for. When I look at him I go, ‘Compared to what you’ve done, to me, you are not on my level, but I’m still going to show you.’ Someone who is devoting all their time into boxing, I can still come from all my music tours, all my YouTube videos, all my Sidemen videos, whatever, my Prime, etc., I can come into your realm and still knock you out.” Will we ever get to see a fight between the pair? The way they've been talking about each other over the years, we'd never rule it out. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 31, 2023--

An NCAA medical committee is recommending the removal of marijuana from its banned drug list and whether testing should be limited to performance-enhancing substances

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Andrew Tate learned chess from his father Emory Tate, who was a former world chess champion

'I’ll take on both the Usos at once,' Logan Paul claimed

You don’t need to watch more than the first few minutes of Greta Gerwig’s Barbie movie to realize the impact of fashion in the film. As soon as Barbie (played by Margot Robbie) steps onscreen — dressed as Mattel’s first-ever adult doll in a black-and-white swimsuit, cat-eye sunglasses, and heeled mules — the children instantly smash the baby dolls they used to play with to worship at the altar of the style icon. “My main inspiration was to stick closely to the history of Barbie. To look into the Mattel back catalog and find looks for different moments in the movie,” Barbie costume designer Jacqueline Durran tells Refinery29 of the film’s wardrobing.

President Joe Biden declared Thursday the United States would avoid a disastrous credit default even as lawmakers went on a 10-day break without a deal on raising the nation's borrowing...

A win ended the New York Yankees' first nine-game losing streak in 41 years but left them 9 1/2 games out of the American League's last playoff spot

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 3, 2023--