Florida is set to execute a man for breaking into a woman’s home and stabbing her to death in 1986.
FORT, Fla. — Florida plans to execute a man Wednesday for breaking into a woman’s home and stabbing her to death in 1986, a crime that occurred months after he was released from prison for rape.
Darryl B. Barwick, 56, will be executed at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke.
Barwick confessed to killing 24-year-old Rebecca Wendt in her Panama City apartment on March 31, 1986, after seeing her sunbathing outside and following her back to her room. He said he intended to rob Wendt, but then killed her as she resisted, stabbing her 37 times as she tried to fight him off.
Wendt’s bathing suit looked as if someone had tried to remove it without success, officials said. There were no signs of sexual assault, but medical examiners reported finding semen on a blanket where her body was found.
Authorities linked Barwick to the crime through his confession, the semen stain, a witness who saw him walk into and out of Wendt’s apartment, and footprints left inside and outside the ‘apartment.
He was convicted of first-degree murder, armed robbery, attempted sexual assault and armed robbery in November 1986, and was sentenced to death two months later on a 9-3 jury recommendation.
Barwick killed Wendt less than three months after he was released from prison for raping a 21-year-old woman at knifepoint, court records show. In his confession for Wendt’s murder, Barwick said he stabbed Wendt because he didn’t want to go back to prison.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Barwick’s death warrant last month. It is the third execution scheduled in Florida this year after a hiatus dating back to 2019. The execution will mark the state’s 102nd execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
