By Brendan Farrington
Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A man convicted of murdering a woman he kidnapped from a convenience store parking lot doesn’t want his execution delayed, the Florida Supreme Court was told Wednesday.
William Happ — who kidnapped, beat, raped and killed 21-year-old Angela Crowley on May 24, 1986 — said he has had plenty of time to think about his execution and wants it to go forward as scheduled Oct. 15, according to a report filed by Circuit Court Judge Richard Howard.
Howard held a hearing to discuss the case. Happ took part in the proceedings by phone from Florida State Prison in Starke.
“The court explained the gravity of the situation to ... Happ and explained that this was his last opportunity to change his mind,” Howard wrote. “The Court specifically asked ‘Do you want anyone to file any motions delaying your execution, sir?’ The defendent begged, ‘None at all, please.’”
Happ’s decision came as a relief to Crowley’s brother Chris, who has been expecting Happ’s lawyers to fight the execution.
“After all this time it’s just really hard to believe. He’s just contested anything and everything up until now,” said Chris Crowley. “Until it’s actually taken place, I’ll be sitting on pins and needles, not as many pins and needles, but yeah.”
Angela Crowley moved to Fort Lauderdale from Oregon, Ill., just five months before the murder. She was working as a travel agent hoping to pursue her dreams to see the world. She was driving to Yankeetown to spend Memorial Day weekend on the Gulf with a friend. She stopped at the closed convenience store to call her friend, who planned to meet her to show Crowley the rest of the way to her house.
The call was never made. Happ smashed Crowley’s driver side window and kidnapped her. He raped and killed her by a canal, where a fisherman found her body later that day.
Happ, 51, told the judge he “had enough time to make this decision” and he has “thought about this for many years.”