![\"William](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789771808_308_05377_fitted.jpeg\" "\\"William")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
William Thompson<\/p>\n
Florida Department of Corrections<\/p>\n
The execution of a Miami Death Row inmate who beat and tortured a woman to death was \u201ctemporarily stayed\u201d after his attorneys raised concerns about his mental capacity, including him possibly having dementia.<\/p>\n
In an executive order signed Thursday evening, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis paused the execution and appointed three psychiatrists to examine 74-year-old William Thompson, convicted of the March 30, 1976, killing of 23-year-old Sally Ivester, who had moved to Miami from Georgia with the hope of starting a new life.<\/p>\n
Sally Ivester Find a Grave <\/p>\n
Thompson, then 23, and Rocco James Surace, then 30, beat Ivester with chains, burned her with cigarettes and assaulted her with a chair leg during the horrific ordeal inside the Sunny Isles Motel at 16375 Biscayne Blvd. in North Miami Beach. Ivester died of shock and internal injuries. (Surace died in prison in 1993.)<\/p>\n
The details of Ivester\u2019s murder are so haunting that a juror fainted during Thompson\u2019s trial. Police called it \u201cDade\u2019s meanest murder,\u201d according to the Miami Herald\u2019s archives.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Miami killer has an execution date, but concerns about dementia could alter that<\/a><\/p>\n If the panel of psychiatrists determines that Thompson has the mental capacity to understand why he is under a sentence of death, his execution will proceed as scheduled on Oct. 13 at Florida State Prison in Raiford.<\/p>\n Under Florida law, if there are concerns that a condemned prisoner facing execution is insane, the governor has to put the execution on hold and appoint three psychiatrists to examine the inmate. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a person who lacks a rational understanding of the reasons for their execution cannot be put to death.<\/p>\n DeSantis appointed Dr. Wade Myers, Dr. Tonia Werner and Dr. Emily Lazarou to evaluate Thompson on Oct. 10. Thompson\u2019s attorneys and a prosecutor can be present during the assessment. The experts must report their findings to the governor\u2019s office by the following day.<\/p>\n If Thompson is determined to not have the mental capacity to understand the proceedings, he will be placed in a Department of Corrections mental-health treatment facility until \u201csuch time as he has been restored to sanity and the sentence of death may be executed,\u201d according to the governor\u2019s order.<\/p>\n In his order, DeSantis pointed out how Thompson\u2019s attorneys said Robert Ouaou, a Naples neuropsychologist, \u201copined that Mr. Thompson meets the criteria for insanity due to his dementia and significant cognitive decline as Mr. Thompson lacks the mental capacity to understand the fact of his impending execution and the reason for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Thompson\u2019s attorneys raised concerns about his mental state and deteriorating health in an emergency petition filed in the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday. The petition, penned by attorney Brittney Lacy, requests that the Florida Department of Corrections immediately transport Thompson to a hospital to provide medical treatment because his health \u201crequires emergent medical care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe could not give counsel any details about his hospital stays,\u201d Lacy said in the filing. When he was asked about some of his recent procedures, including a surgery, he \u201cdid not understand\u201d and \u201cappeared unaware.\u201d<\/p>\n When Ouaou evaluated Thompson, he concluded that Thompson appeared to be disoriented and \u201cexpressed numerous times that he was in severe pain,\u201d according to the filing. Thompson was shackled to his wheelchair during the evaluation and appeared \u201ctoo weak to freely move his arms or extremities.\u201d<\/p>\n In the petition, Lacy details several recent hospitalizations in Tallahassee, Jacksonville and Gainesville during which medical staff noted that Thompson had \u201crapid deterioration\u201d of his health and a \u201cknowledge deficit.\u201d<\/p>\n Medical professionals at the prison assessed Thompson and noted that he was disoriented, walking unsteadily and had \u201ca change in mental status,\u201d according to the filing. Thompson \u201cdid not know who the president was. Stated it was Bush\u201d and was \u201cunable to verbally respond\u201d to a nurse\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n Since his death warrant was signed on Sept. 11, Thompson has been in a death-watch cell at Florida State Prison. Prisoners whose execution dates are approaching are placed in a death-watch cell, an isolated and closely monitored cell feet away from the execution chamber.<\/p>\n In the filing, Lacy says the cell is not equipped with the necessary medical equipment \u2014 and Thompson has not been provided a medical professional who can care for his wounds.<\/p>\n A twisted torture murder<\/p>\n Thompson and Surace, court records state, ordered Ivester to ask her parents for money. When she came up with only $25, they were enraged. Surace took off his chain belt and began beating Ivester, and Thompson also beat Ivester \u2014 with the belt, a chair leg and a night stick.<\/p>\n During the course of several hours, Ivester also was sexually assaulted, kicked and left to die, according to reports at the time in the Herald.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Miami Death Row inmate to be executed for 1976 motel torture murder<\/a><\/p>\n The men only stopped the attack, the Herald\u2019s reports say, when they hauled Ivester to a phone booth and forced her to call her mother for more money. Ivester\u2019s mother, Betty June Ivester, recalled that her daughter sounded as if there was a \u201cdeath rattle\u201d in her voice when she called.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2019I\u2019m all right. I\u2019m all right. I\u2019m going to be all right,\u2019 \u201d Betty June said her daughter told her, according to the Herald\u2019s report at the time.<\/p>\n In 1976, Thompson and Surace pleaded guilty to Ivester\u2019s murder and received death sentences. But the case dragged on for decades.<\/p>\n Both Thompson and Surace appealed and were granted new trials. Thompson again pleaded guilty, and in 1978 was sentenced to die. Surace was found guilty of second-degree murder after Thompson took the stand and accepted all the blame. Surace was sentenced to 203 years and died in prison in 1993.<\/p>\n In 1989, a third jury recommended that Thompson be executed, and a judge sent him back to Florida\u2019s Death Row.<\/p>\n![\"William](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/THOMPSON_WILLIAM20090331001.JPG\" "\\"THOMPSON_WILLIAM20090331001.JPG\\"")
William Lee Thompson, left, and Rocco Surace after their arrest in 1976. Battle Vaughan Miami Herald <\/p>\n William Lee Thompson, who raped, tortured and murdered Sally Ivester in a hotel room in 1976, appears in court in Miami on May 13, 2009. LILLY ECHEVERRIA Miami Herald <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1789771811_753_IMG_6789.jpg\")