Florida sets execution date for man who killed neighbor in 1998

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has set an execution date for Norman Mearle Grim Jr., a 65-year-old man convicted of sexually battering and killing his next-door neighbor in 1998.

Cynthia Campbell was reported missing, and her body was later found by a fisherman off the Pensacola Bay Bridge. Prosecutors say Campbell suffered multiple blunt-forces injuries to her face and head that were consistent with hammer blows, as well as 11 stab wounds in the chest, seven of which penetrated her heart. DNA evidence linked Grim to the death, and he was convicted of sexual battery and first-degree murder in December 2000.

Grim is set to die by lethal injection on Oct. 28, a long-anticipated step in a case that has drawn attention in Florida’s capital-punishment docket. State officials moved to schedule the execution after the courts denied appeals and after Clemency processes were completed or exhausted, according to people briefed on the matter.

Florida has carried out 12 executions in 2025, including the Sept. 17 lethal injection of David Pittman. Two other Florida executions are scheduled for this fall: Victor Tony Jones is slated for Sept. 30 for the 1990 killings of two people during a robbery, and Samuel Lee Smithers is set for Oct. 14 for the murders of two women in 1996. Nationally, the United States has executed 33 people this year, surpassing 2024’s total of 25 and marking the busiest pace in a decade. The most executions in a single year since 2014, when 35 people were put to death, were still ahead of the 2025 tally at this point. Alabama and Texas each carried out executions on Sept. 25.

Legal analysts expect appeals to be filed in the Florida Supreme Court and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court, potentially delaying any final resolution as defense teams pursue stays or post-conviction challenges.

The current statewide activity comes as Florida’s death-penalty system continues to operate at a higher clip than in recent years, even as debates over capital punishment persist across the country. The state’s approach to lethal injections, clemency considerations, and post-conviction review has been a focal point for advocates on both sides of the issue, and the outcome of grim Jr.’s case could influence subsequent capital cases in Florida.

The Associated Press reported the details of Grim’s case, and ABC News provided the original reporting that informed the current scheduling of the execution and surrounding context. Appeals and procedural steps are expected to unfold over the coming weeks and months as part of Florida and federal review processes.