"Florida Prepares to Execute Inmate for Nurse's 1988 Hammer Killing"

James Phillip Barnes, a Florida inmate convicted of strangling his wife and brutally murdering another woman in 1988, is set to be executed by lethal injection after dropping all legal appeals and expressing a desire to accept his punishment. Barnes, who represented himself in court, pleaded guilty to the murder of nurse Patricia Miller and offered no defense. He also admitted to raping her, attempting to strangle her, hitting her head with a hammer, and setting her bed on fire. Barnes had previously been serving a life sentence for the strangulation of his wife. He has claimed to have killed at least two other people but has never been charged in those cases.