This week in 1997

“I am still innocent.”

— Pedro Medina, convicted of murder, electric chair, Florida.
Executed March 25, 1997

As Medina was being electrocuted, blue and orange flames burst from his head, igniting the death mask. The event overshadowed details of the Cuban native’s conviction for shooting a teacher in 1982. After the execution, Attorney General Bob Butterworth said, “People who wish to commit murder, they better not do it in the state of Florida because we may have a problem with our electric chair.”