Florida Executes Machete Killer of His Wife and Children, Breaking Decade-Long Record for Capital Punishment By Lesley Cosme Torres

A man convicted of killing his family with a machete three decades ago was put to death in Florida on Thursday, July 31, setting the state’s record for the highest number of annual executions since the restoration of the death penalty. 

Edward Zakrzewski, 60, was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Bradford County, according to court records obtained by PEOPLE. 

Zakrzewski and his 34-year-old wife Sylvia had been going through marital problems; he had told a neighbor twice that he would rather kill his family than go through a divorce, according to the court documents. 

On the morning of Jun 9, 1994, when Zakrzewski found out Sylvia wanted a divorce, he purchased a machete on his lunch break. His day went on as usual, then went home and waited for his family, the court documents said.

When his family got home, Zakrzewski first approached Sylvia, knocking her unconscious and strangling her with rope as she was sitting alone in the living room, per the court documents. He then approached his 7-year-old son Edward and killed him with the machete. 

According to the court documents, he then confronted his 5-year-old daughter Anna, striking her with the machete as she was in the bathroom.

Following the murders, Zakrzewski drove to Orlando and took a flight to Hawaii, where he changed his name and lived with a family who ran a religious commune for four months, per the court documents. 

One day, the family was watching the television show “Unsolved Mysteries” and saw Zakrzewski’s picture, the court documents said. The next day, he turned himself in to local police. 

Over the years, Zakrzewski’s lawyers filed numerous appeals but they were all denied, court documents show. 

On the day of his execution, Zakrzewski woke up at 5:15 a.m. and had fried pork chops, root beer and ice cream as his last meal, CBS News reported, citing state Department of Corrections spokesman Paul Walker. According to Walker, he had one visitor and “remained compliant” as he awaited to be executed. 

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For its lethal injection, Florida uses a combination of a sedative, a paralytic and a drug that stops the heart, the outlet reported, citing the state Department of Corrections.

This year, Florida has executed more people than it has in any year since 2014. Zakrzewski was the ninth person to be executed in the state, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.