Florida murderer Oscar Bolin executed for 1986 killing

Convicted serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin got a last-minute reprieve from execution Thursday evening. He did not have any last words, and his last meal consisted of a rib-eye steak, baked potato, salad, garlic bread, lemon meringue pie and a bottle of Coca-Cola. In this Thursday, April 19, 2012, file photo, Oscar Ray Bolin Jr., looks around the courtroom in Tampa, Fla., after being found guilty in the killing of Natalie Blanche Holley.

His sentence for the Holley killing was changed to life in prison after a jury changed the verdict to second degree murder. The scheduled 6 p.m. execution time was delayed until the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Bolin’s final appeal.

Governor Rick Scott signed Bolin’s death warrant in October for the murder of bank worker Teri Lynn Matthews, 26. “I think they should have it terrifying, not just easy go to sleep”, says Kathleen Reeves, Teri Lynn Matthews’ mom.

A number of appeals had been filed on Bolin’s behalf in recent days. Prosecutors have noted that inmate falsely confessed to other crimes before claiming Matthews’ murder. His visitors included his wife, Rosalie, and Dale Recinella who is Bolin’s spiritual adviser.

Natalie Holley’s sister, Anita Holley, told the Tampa Bay Times she would attend the execution.

“It was not a celebratory event”, Reeves said. She was abducted from a Land O’ Lakes post office in December 1986, then raped, beaten and stabbed to death.

Although it’s been 30 years since Bolin killed his victims, he went through several trials due to legal errors and was ultimately found guilty ten times by ten different juries. Bolin was also convicted in the murder of Stephanie Collins of Carrollwood. After 28 years of this, being in this box for 28 years, it’s a release. It was later discovered that the tipster was the husband of Bolin’s ex-wife. “Phillip Bolin said he watched his brother try to drown her with a garden hose and beat her with a wood club”.

The 53-year-old Bolin has been convicted of killing three women. Since the death penalty was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, it has executed more inmates than all but three states (Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia).

While on trial, Bolin and a woman on his defense team fell in love. She was married to a prominent Tampa Attorney and had been a paralegal at the Hillsborough Public Defender’s office.