STARKE — William Frances Silvia, 61, is scheduled to be executed by three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke on Tuesday at 6 p.m. local time. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to halt the execution.

Silvia would be the 13th prisoner put to death in Florida in 2026. The state has carried out more than half of the 22 executions conducted in the U.S. so far this year.

Silvia was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder for the 2006 fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and the wounding of her mother, Betty Woodard. According to court records, he purchased a shotgun in 2006, went to Woodard’s Orlando-area home where his wife had been living since their separation two months earlier, retrieved the shotgun from his truck after an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile during a cookout, and shot the two women.

Silvia was first sentenced to death following his 2008 trial. A court vacated his initial death sentence following an appeal related to Florida’s death penalty sentencing procedures. He was sentenced to death again in 2018 after being granted a new death penalty phase.

Silvia’s attorneys argued that the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel could not provide adequate legal assistance because it was already helping another death row inmate. The Florida Supreme Court rejected the appeal regarding legal representation.

All Florida executions are carried out via lethal injection of a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the Department of Corrections. Two more executions are scheduled in Florida in September 2026: Harold Gene Lucas, 74, on September 1, and Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. 72, on September 10. Conahan was convicted of kidnapping and strangling a man he had paid to pose for nude photos, and authorities suspect him of similar homicides committed in the 1990s in southwest Florida.

Why It Matters

The execution continues a period of heightened activity in Florida's use of capital punishment. Florida executed 19 prisoners in 2025, a record in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. In July 2026, Florida executed two prisoners in one day, becoming the first state to do so in nearly a decade.

Timeline

In 2006, William Frances Silvia was convicted of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder for the 2006 fatal shooting of his estranged wife, Patricia Silvia, and the wounding of her mother, Betty Woodard. Also in 2006, according to court records, William Silvia purchased a shotgun, went to Betty Woodard’s Orlando-area home where his wife had been living since their separation two months earlier, retrieved the shotgun from his truck after an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile during a cookout, and shot the two women. Silvia was first sentenced to death following his 2008 trial.

Silvia was sentenced to death again in 2018 after being granted a new death penalty phase. Florida executed 19 prisoners in 2025, a record in the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. William Frances Silvia would be the 13th prisoner put to death in Florida in 2026. Florida has carried out more than half of the 22 executions conducted in the U.S. so far in 2026.

What's New

The U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to halt the execution of William Frances Silvia, who is scheduled to be executed at Florida State Prison on August 18, 2026. He was convicted of fatally shooting his estranged wife and wounding her mother during a 2006 attack.

Additional details identified that Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. 72, was convicted of kidnapping and strangling a man he had paid to pose for nude photos. Authorities suspect him of similar homicides committed in the 1990s in southwest Florida.

How Sources Differ

Reports differ on the background of Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. One account states that Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. 72, was convicted of kidnapping and strangling a man he had paid to pose for nude photos, and authorities suspect him of similar homicides committed in the 1990s in southwest Florida. The Florida Department of Corrections execution schedule lists two more executions scheduled in Florida in September 2026: Harold Gene Lucas, 74, on September 1, and Daniel Owen Conahan Jr. 72, on September 10.