Former Florida police officer James Duckett, 68, was executed by lethal injection on 28 July for the 1987 rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee. His execution ended a case that had lasted nearly four decades and was described as bringing closure to McAbee’s family.

Investigators also believe Duckett murdered another girl, Jeanifer Weldon, in the same year, although the article attributes that conclusion to law enforcement rather than stating it as a proven conviction. A sheriff said he was certain the same offender was responsible, linking the two families’ losses to one alleged killer.