STARKE, Fla. - A Florida inmate was put to death Thursday, nearly three decades after the murder of 17-year-old Lynn Elliott, whose futile bid to flee led to his capture and ended a string of rapes and slayings that shook the quiet coastal town of Vero Beach.
David Alan Gore, 58, was pronounced dead at 6:19 p.m. Thursday after receiving an injection at the Florida State Prison, officials said.
Asked if he had a final statement, Gore said as he lay strapped to a gurney: “Yes, I do.’’
Making no eye contact with the family, he added that he hoped the family could “find it in their hearts to forgive me’’ and concluded: “I don’t fear death.’’
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On July 26, 1983, Gore and his cousin Fred Waterfield picked up Lynn Elliott and her 14-year-old friend hitchhiking. They took them at gunpoint to Gore’s parents’ house. Waterfield left and Gore raped the girls, who were bound.
Elliott freed her legs and ran naked from the house, hands still tied behind her back. Gore, also naked, chased her, dragged her back toward the house as she kicked and screamed, and then shot her twice in the head. Police were called after a boy witnessed the murder. Gore was caught and the other girl was rescued.
After his arrest, Gore admitted to killing three other girls and two women and led authorities to the bodies of four victims.
He then stretched out his appeals and remained on death row 28 years after he was condemned.
“I’ve been waiting for this day for years. I would’ve saved the state a lot of money if they let me. I’d do it myself and have no qualms about it,’’ said Mike Daley, whose wife, Judy Kay Daley, was killed by Gore in July 1981.
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