TALLAHASSEE — In what could be Florida’s 14th execution this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of murdering two women in 1996 in Hillsborough County and dumping them in a pond.

Samuel Smithers, 72, is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection Oct. 14 at Florida State Prison for the murders of Denise Roach and Christy Cowan at a secluded property where he worked as a caretaker, according to documents posted Friday on the Florida Supreme Court website.

Florida has set a modern-era record this year by executing 11 inmates and is scheduled to execute David Pittman on Wednesday and Victor Tony Jones on Sept. 30. The previous record for a year was eight executions in 1984 and 2014. The modern era represents the time since the death penalty was

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