Florida man set to be executed for ‘savagely brutal’ rape and murder
A Florida man who raped and murdered his next-door neighbor after inviting her over for coffee is set to become the 15th inmate executed in the state this year, nearly double Florida’s previous record for annual executions.
Norman Grim, 65, is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday, Oct. 28, for the brutal murder of his Pensacola neighbor, a 41-year-old lawyer named Cynthia Campbell who was described as always looking for ways to help people.
If Grim’s execution moves forward as expected, he’ll be the 41st man executed in the U.S. this year, a number not seen since 2012. At least five more executions are scheduled before January.
Here’s what you need to know about the execution, including more about Cynthia Campbell.
When and where is the execution?
Norman Grim is set to be executed at 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 28, at the Florida State Prison in Raiford.
Grim will become the 15th person executed in the state this year. The previous state record for annual executions was eight, reached in 1984 and 2014.
What was Norman Grim convicted of?
On July 27, 1998, 41-year-old Pensacola resident Cynthia Campbell called 911 after one of the windows in her house had been broken.
A responding deputy found Norman Grim outside Campbell’s home but Grim told him he was just investigating a barking dog, according to an archived story in the Pensacola News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. While the deputy was still there, Grim invited Campbell over for coffee several times, and the deputy encouraged her to accept, the Journal reported.
Campbell went to Grim’s home that morning and walked into a trap. Grim attacked her with a hammer and a knife and raped and killed her, according to court records, which say she had been bludgeoned 18 times and stabbed 11 times, mostly in the heart.
Grim then wrapped Campbell’s body in some carpet and sheets and dumped her in Pensacola Bay, where a fisherman found her just two hours later, court records and archived news reports say.
Though deputies initially questioned Grim, they said they didn’t arrest him because they didn’t have probable cause, the News Journal reported. Grim fled the state, setting off a nationwide manhunt that lasted four days and ended peacefully in Oklahoma when alert authorities spotted the killer at a relative’s house.
A jury who viewed gruesome photos of Campbell’s body found Grim guilty of capital murder and a judge sentenced him to death, calling the crime “savagely brutal” and “senseless.”
Grim declined to present any mitigating evidence during the penalty phase of his trial. Such evidence, which can include a traumatic childhood or mental illness, can help a defendant get a lighter sentence.
Grim has also declined to fight to stop his execution.
Who was Cynthia Campbell?
Cynthia Campbell was a Pittsburgh native who had only been practicing law for a short time when she was murdered, her now-deceased parents told the Pensacola News Journal in 2000.
Ralph and Dorothea Campbell said their only daughter always wanted to help the underdog and at first became a nurse, a career that was derailed after a shoulder injury.
Speaking to jurors considering whether to recommend the death penalty for Grim to a judge, the Campbells said that they wanted the men and women to know that their daughter was more than just the way she died, the News Journal reported.
“I would like you to know Cindy as a person, our only daughter,” Dorothea told them.
Ralph Campbell told them: “The important thing is that she has a face.”
More about Norman Grim’s criminal history
About 16 years before he killed Campbell, Grim was convicted of a single-day crime spree and served nine years in prison.
The crime spree began when he kidnapped a woman in Pensacola around 5 a.m., though she was able to escape and drive away in his car. Shortly after that, Grime broke into two separate homes and injured a woman before the residents chased him away.
Next he tried to kidnap a 14-year-old girl before he was thwarted.
At the time of the killing, he was also on parole for a burglary conviction.
On top of the brutality of Campbell’s murder, prosecutors at trial pointed to Grim’s violent past as further justification for why he deserved the death penalty.
When is the next execution?
Two inmates are set to be executed on the same day on Nov. 13: Tremane Wood in Oklahoma for the fatal stabbing of a migrant worker on Jan. 1, 2002, and Bryan Jennings in Florida for the kidnapping, rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl named Becky Kunash.
If his execution moves forward, Jennings will be the 16th inmate executed in Florida this year, double the state’s previous record.
Including Norman Grim, at least six more executions are scheduled in the U.S. this year. That puts the nation on pace to execute 46 inmates in 2025. That’s the most annual executions in the U.S. since 2010, though still far short of the all-time high of 98 in 1999.
Experts attribute the uptick in executions this year to the political climate under Donald Trump and a more conservative Supreme Court.
Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers executions for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.