RAIFORD, Fla. (WCJB) — Florida was scheduled to execute a man on Tuesday for the 1989 murder of a traveling salesman in Gainesville, marking the state’s first execution this year.
Ronald Heath, 65, was convicted of first-degree murder for the death of Michael Sheridan, 30. Heath’s brother, Kenneth, was also convicted of murder and received a life sentence.
Michael Sheridan is remembered by his younger brother Tom as a standout sibling.
“Just a fun-loving guy – a wise guy in the best sense of the word,” Tom Sheridan said.
Photo of traveling salesman Michael Sheridan, 30, who was killed in Gainesville, Fla., in 1989(WCJB)
The 30-year-old’s life was cut short while on a business trip in Gainesville. Michael was reported missing for failing to show up at a New York airport after his trip.
“Word trickled out that Mike was missing and trickled out to us, obviously, the family,” Tom said.
Michael met brothers Ronald and Kenneth Heath at the Purple Porpoise, now MacDinton’s, on University Avenue in May 1989. The three left together in Kenneth’s car, where the brothers robbed Michael, who initially put up a fight. Court documents reveal Ronald ordered Kenneth to shoot Michael. He did, twice in the head.
“He was missing six days. He was discovered May 30,” Tom said.
The brothers were each convicted of first-degree murder. They were arrested weeks after it was discovered they stole Michael’s credit card and used it at the Oaks Mall. Ronald received a death sentence for orchestrating Michael’s death, while Kenneth took an offer to testify against his brother for a sentence of life in prison.
Tom and his six other siblings often think about Michael, who would be 67 today.
“To know what he could have been and what he would have been, I think, is the most, if you will, the most distressing thing – it’s that emotion you have to deal with,” Tom said.
Tom says Michael was also a standout athlete who qualified for track and field nationals while attending Catawba College in North Carolina. After his death, Michael’s family started a scholarship in his name. The impact Michael had on others was evident, Tom says, by a generous donation from a high school classmate.
“They never forgot him. We are talking, one guy gave a $20,000 donation. At the time, the guy couldn’t have been more than 30,” Tom said.
Michael also liked to play jokes. Tom remembers his brother pulled off a senior prank, filling a gym bag with water balloons.
“They loaded them up with water balloons. Had a trenchcoat on, rolled into a full cafeteria and started a water balloon fight,” Tom said.
Ronald Heath, 65, convicted of killing traveling salesman Michael Sheridan(WCJB)
Ronald Heath served 10 and a half years of a 30-year prison sentence for the death of Michael Green, a Jacksonville teenager killed in 1977. Heath was 16 at the time of the killing.
Tom believes that if Ronald served more than a third of his sentence, his brother would still be alive. Ronald was arrested and charged with Michael’s death about six months after his release.
“In terms of Ron and forgiveness, that’s between him and God. And I am here to tell you, I am very happy that I, we, had a hand in arranging his meeting,” Tom said.
After Michael Sheridan’s death, the Heath brothers drove back to Jacksonville. Two days after Michael’s murder, the body of Tony Hammett was discovered there. Ronald Heath was indicted on a first-degree murder charge, but that case never went to trial.
Ronald Heath served a 10-year sentence for the death of Michael Green when Heath was 16 years old.
Tom Sheridan flew from Syracuse, New York, to witness the execution. He said he was also there for the families of Michael Green and Tony Hammett.
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