US Supreme Court clears way for Florida to execute man in 1997 killings of married couple

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court denied the final appeal Wednesday of James Dennis Ford, who is scheduled to be executed in Florida for the 1997 murders of a married couple.

The court’s ruling came without comment. The 64-year-old inmate is set to receive a lethal injection Thursday evening at Florida State Prison outside Starke. It would be Florida’s first execution in 2025.

Ford was convicted by a jury of murdering Gregory Malnory, 25, and 26-year-old Kimberly Malnory during a fishing outing in 1997 at a remote sod farm in southwest Florida. Ford and Gregory Malnory were coworkers at the Charlotte County farm, court records show.

The couple’s 22-month-old daughter witnessed the killings and spent hours strapped in a seat in the couple’s pickup truck that was open to the elements, suffering numerous insect bites and dehydration before workers found her and her parents’ bodies.

Ford’s lawyers tried several unsuccessful appeals, most recently contending in part that he should be spared because he had the mentality of a 14-year-old when the killings happened. The courts rejected that.