Killer set to die for murders almost 27 years ago

A Tampa man who brutally murdered two men in 1991 will be executed by lethal injection Wednesday.

Patrick Hannon, 53, fatally shot a man six times and stabbed another 14 times. According to Bay News 9, Gov. Rick Scott signed his death warrant last month. He will be the 26th prisoner executed during Scott’s term.

Hannon is scheduled to be executed at Florida State Prison at 6 p.m.

According to police reports, Hannon worked alongside two other men to kill two roommates, Brandon Snider, 27, and Robert Carter, 28, in a townhouse near the University of South Florida campus in January 1991.

Jim Acker, one of Hannon’s friends, initially began the assault by attacking Snider with a knife because he vandalized Acker’s sister’s apartment.

Hannon, however was the one to deliver the killing blows. According to court documents, he slit Snider’s neck, nearly cutting off his head. Then, prosecutors say, he retrieved Robert Carter from his hiding place under a bed in an upstairs bedroom and shot him in the chest multiple times.

The jury unanimously recommended that Hannon be sentenced to death.

A request to halt his execution was denied by the Florida Supreme Court. Hannon attempted to have his sentence re-examined based on changes recently made to Florida’s death penalty system, according to Bay News 9.

This story was originally published November 8, 2017 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Killer set to die for murders almost 27 years ago."