Executioners at Florida State Prison in Stark carried out the death sentence of Frank Athen Walls just after 6 p. m. Thursday, ending the life of a serial killer who terrorized the state’s Panhandle for more than two years and whose legal fight against the death penalty stretched nearly four decades.
Walls, 62, was pronounced dead at 6:11 p. m. after receiving a lethal injection, closing the final chapter of a case that began with a brutal double murder in July 1987 and later expanded to include at least three other victims.
Walls had been on death row since 1988, when he was first convicted for the murders of Air Force Airman Edward Alger, 22, and his girlfriend In Peterson, 20. The couple was asleep in their Okaloosa County mobile home when Walls broke in, armed with a gun and rope. He tied them up, but Alger managed to break free.
In the ensuing struggle, Walls slashed Alger’s throat and shot him in the head execution style. He then shot Peterson as she tried to resist. The crime shocked the quiet community and set in motion a legal saga that would span 37 years.
After a second trial in 1992 upheld his death sentence, Walls’ case took a darker turn when DNA technology linked him to the 1987 rape and murder of Audrey Jai. He later pleaded no contest to that charge to avoid another capital trial. Then, under questioning, he confessed to two more murders: Tommy Lou Whitten, killed in March 1985, and Cynthia Sucondra, murdered in September 1986.
All five victims were young women or couples in the same area of the Florida Panhandle. Walls had been operating as a serial killer undetected for over two years before his arrest for the Alger-Peterson murders.
Throughout his decades on death row, Walls’ attorneys fought tirelessly to spare his life. Their primary argument was that Walls was intellectually disabled and had suffered brain damage as a child. They presented evidence of cognitive impairments and learning disabilities, arguing that executing him would violate the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
The state countered that Walls’ crimes showed planning and intent, such as bringing weapons to the Alger-Peterson home, tying up his victims, and using multiple methods to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁. The courts repeatedly rejected his appeals, including the U. S.
Supreme Court, which denied his final petition on the afternoon of the execution.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Walls’ death warrant in 2025, setting the execution for December 18. In his final hours, Walls was moved to a special cell near the execution chamber. He was allowed visits from a spiritual adviser and one personal visitor.
For his last meal, he ordered steak and chicken, a baked potato, mixed vegetables, cheesecake, and juice. He ate quietly, surrounded by correctional officers who monitored every moment of the closely choreographed procedure.
At 6 p. m. , the curtain was raised in the execution chamber, revealing Walls strapped to the gurney.
A Catholic priest kept a hand on his leg as the warden asked for final words. Walls responded: “Good evening, everyone. I appreciate the opportunity to say what’s on my heart.
If any of the members of the family are here, I am sorry for all of the things I did, the pain I caused, and all that you have suffered all these years.”
With no further legal obstacles, the execution team began the injection sequence. Walls became unconscious within minutes, his breathing slowing until it stopped. The priest knelt and made the sign of the cross as the doctor pronounced him dead.
For the families of his victims—many of whom had waited nearly four decades for this moment—the execution brought a complex mix of relief and grief. No death can bring back those they lost, but for some, the finality of the sentence carried a measure of closure.
Frank Walls’ execution was the 19th carried out in Florida in 2025, marking the most executions in a single year in state history. The milestone reflects a renewed push by state officials to clear a backlog of death row cases. As the witnesses left the prison that cold December night, the memory of Walls’ crimes remained etched in the communities he terrorized.
Five young people—Edward Alger, In Peterson, Audrey Jai, Tommy Lou Whitten, and Cynthia Sucondra—were forever frozen in time, their lives stolen by a man who spent more years on death row than some of them lived. Justice, though delayed, arrived in the form of a lethal injection, ending the story of Frank Athen Walls.