Florida executes an inmate who murdered his cellmate to receive the death penalty

Florida executed James Robertson on Tuesday, a 63-year-old inmate who claimed to have murdered his cellmate with the intention of receiving the death penalty and avoiding spending the rest of his life in prison.

Robertson died after receiving a three-drug injection at the Florida state prison. He was pronounced dead approximately ten minutes after the lethal injection was administered, according to Fox News.

When asked if he wanted to say any final words, the condemned man declined the opportunity.

Robertson had pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for strangling his cellmate, Frank Hart, while he slept in 2008. The inmate waived all appeals and told investigators that he had committed the crime so he would be sentenced to death and not have to spend the rest of his days behind bars.

Hart was murdered just eight days before his scheduled release date, according to his daughter, Rebecca Hart, who asked that her father not be reduced to a supporting character in his killer's story.

Hart had been sentenced to prison in 2003 following a conviction for sexual assault.

Robertson had been in prison since he was 17

Robertson was incarcerated in 1980, when he was 17, for robbery and assault. Subsequent convictions for escape, assault, and weapons-related offenses extended his time behind bars.

Prior to the execution, Jordan Kirkland, a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Corrections, defended the state's protocol for administering lethal injection.

According to the state Department of Corrections, Florida uses three drugs to execute condemned prisoners: a sedative, a muscle relaxant, and a substance that stops the heart.

Robertson's execution took place two weeks after the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee. The inmate survived two doses of pentobarbital and was taken to the hospital. She was later discharged and returned to prison.