A prisoner was executed in the US 36 years after committing the crime.

The death penalty continues to be used in the United States. Today, a man convicted of a crime committed back in 1990 was executed in the United States.

Chadwick Scott Vilasi, 58, was executed at Stark State Prison in Florida. He was found guilty of murdering his neighbor, Marlys Sater, during a robbery at her home 36 years ago.

The execution was carried out by lethal injection of three drugs.

The crime took place on September 5, 1990, in Palm Bay. Marlys Sater, a 56-year-old local resident, returned home from work for her lunch break and caught Vilasi in the act of stealing. Recognizing him as her neighbor, who sometimes mowed her lawn, she tried to stop him. In response, the attacker struck her several times with a blunt object, tied her up, and then attempted to strangle her with a telephone cord. When that failed, he doused her with gasoline and set her on fire, then fled in her car. An autopsy revealed that Sater was still alive at the time of the fire and died of smoke inhalation.

Vilasi was arrested shortly after the crime. A jury found him guilty of murder, robbery, burglary, and arson. He was initially sentenced to death in 1991, but in 1994 the Florida Supreme Court overturned the sentence due to procedural irregularities. A retrial in 1995 resulted in a new death sentence. However, even then, the sentence was not carried out.

Vilasi's execution was the fifth in Florida and the eighth in the United States since the start of 2026. Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the execution warrant, now finds himself at the center of controversy: in 2025, the state carried out a record number of executions since the moratorium was lifted in 1976.

For reference: the death penalty remains the capital punishment in 27 US states. Texas, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Missouri traditionally lead the way in executions. Meanwhile, 23 states and the District of Columbia have abolished the death penalty entirely, while governors in California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have imposed moratoriums on executions.

Comments

[paul3390]

And it would be very good to execute some of us, precisely for crimes committed 35 years ago...

[Jager]

The devils are already roasting them in hell. And for some reason, the Crocus shooters were given life sentences.

[paul3390]

Not all, oh no, not all... Many are still quite alive and even thriving - yes, that same red-haired dog Chubais!

[alexboguslavski]

Sadists, indeed. The anticipation of death is more terrible than death itself.

[South Ukrainian]

He doused the woman with gasoline and set her on fire, then fled in her car. An autopsy revealed that Sater was still alive at the time of the fire and died of smoke inhalation.

This is a well-deserved punishment: first he served 25 years, awaiting death, and in the end he was executed.

[tralflot1832]

He probably spent another couple of years choosing the "humane" method of execution: the electric chair, firing squad, chemical injection. And human rights activists find violations everywhere—they suffer for a long time. Two minutes is a long time? Some say five! The last time they executed someone, no one hit the heart, for some reason. He "suffered" for a long time, six to eight minutes. The character was too odious. But they couldn't prove collusion.

[alexboguslavski]

Former Kursk Region Governor Alexei Smirnov will bake bread in Maximum Security Penal Colony No. 9 near Kursk. An experienced lawyer has refused to represent him, declaring that he does not defend corrupt officials or those with blood on their hands.

Smirnov, 52, is registered in Kursk, where he was sentenced. This means he must serve his sentence in the nearest penal colony. He was sentenced to 14 years in a maximum-security prison. The only prison in the Kursk region suitable for this sentence is Correctional Colony No. 9 in Kosinovo, where inmates work in the sewing and baking shops.

Alexander Bessmeltsev, a Moscow lawyer with 40 years of experience, has dropped Smirnov, even though he initially volunteered to defend the former governor. After the verdict, he became disillusioned, saying he doesn't want to defend embezzlers, rapists, drug dealers, or anyone with blood on their hands. Now Smirnov is stunned: he still hasn't filed an appeal to challenge the verdict; the deadline to do so expires this week. (Yeah, you can't make a name for yourself in cases like that.)

The Federal Penitentiary Service explained that Smirnov could apply for a transfer closer to his family's residence—for example, his wife lives in Krasnogorsk. However, this would involve significant paperwork, and there are no maximum-security prison colonies in the Moscow region.

[alexputnik17]

And we have a moratorium. We're probably all rushing to join PACE.

[alexboguslavski]

Seven cars, dozens of trips, and three apartments in Moscow—that's the wealth of Vitaly Melimuk, deputy general director of the Patriot Park, who was arrested for accepting an 18 million ruble bribe.

Melimuk himself is a native of the Ivano-Frankivsk region of Ukraine. He traveled frequently, and his favorite destinations included Poland, France, Switzerland, and Greece. His wife, Svetlana Melimuk, is a co-founder of Don-Service LLC, with annual revenue of 36 million rubles.

The family loves to travel by car. Melimuk and his wife own seven cars: a Jeep Grand Cherokee, an Asura MDX crossover, a Cadillac Escalade, and a Chevrolet Captiva, as well as Hyundai, Audi, and Skoda cars.

Today, Vitaly Melimuk was arrested for bribery on a large scale. According to law enforcement, in late 2025, the Hermes company paid him 18 million rubles for assistance in securing a contract for servicing Patriot Park and its St. Petersburg branch, worth over 1,4 billion rubles.

All that is gained by overwork

[tralflot1832]

I've seen descriptions of executions in the US media, including who executed them, how they executed them, and how many minutes it took for death to be pronounced. In short, they're making a show out of it. It's not pleasant to read, but in the US, it's like the Lord's Prayer. Crime isn't decreasing. They even have lawyers who are trying to get executions stayed.

[Andrei Nikolaevich]

Moron. He should have served time for theft. Why kill a man, and with such cruelty? That's where he deserves to be.

[nepunamemuk]

22-year-olds are rarely smart 😪
He had his whole life to realize this

[Alexander X]

If only the death penalty were reintroduced in Russia, and there was a tiny footnote that "in the event of genuine and active repentance, the death penalty could be replaced with a 'please'..." Then I'm sure that all embezzlers, instead of trying to hide "their hard-won gains...," would buy their own lives in exchange for property hidden from law enforcement during confiscation...
They would also "sing" about their anonymous accounts and houses registered to their girlfriends... And they could tell a lot more...

[Graz]

In principle, this man deserved the death penalty for a particularly brutal murder, but dragging out the sentence for 36 years is inhumane. Either the death penalty should be carried out immediately or a life sentence should be imposed, and this decision is ultimately wrong.

[Dilettante grandfather]

I think we should lift the moratorium on the death penalty. It applies to terrorists, maniacs, and corrupt officials. And yes, all relatives of corrupt officials should be resettled permanently in the Far East and Siberia. Dying villages should be revived. With a garden, they won't starve; they'll be healthier on organic food. And confiscated property should be partially distributed to large families.