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Man on death row 31 years loses appeal to high court
Associated Press
Published June 10, 2005
TALLAHASSEE - A confessed killer who has lived on death row for 31 years lost an appeal Thursday in the state Supreme Court.
William Elledge, 54, arrived on death row in April 1975 for the strangulation of 20-year-old Margaret Strack in Hollywood.
Over the years, Elledge has won several appeals - but he was always sentenced to death again: in 1977, 1989, 1994 and 1997.
Florida's high court dismissed more than a dozen issues Elledge raised in his second appeal of the last sentence.
One argument was that Elledge has lived on death row so long he has endured cruel and unusual punishment.
In the unsigned opinion, the court noted that Elledge argued in his previous appeal that "the psychologically devastating effects of his prolonged stay on death row" violated his constitutional rights.
The court dismissed that argument in 1997, and nothing has changed since, it wrote. It also rejected Elledge's contention that 31 years on death row violates international law.
Elledge is also serving life sentences for the murders of Edward Gaffney, a night watchman at a Hollywood grocery store, and Paul Nelson, a Jacksonville motel manager.
Gaffney, Nelson and Strack were all killed one weekend in August 1974. Elledge pleaded guilty to the murders.
Florida has 368 men and one woman on death row. The record for longevity is held by Gary Alvord, who arrived in April 1974 after being condemned for killing three women in Hillsborough County in 1973.
[Last modified June 10, 2005, 01:10:11]
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