Sally Ivester was 23 years old in 1976 when William Lee Thompson beat her with a chain, burned her with cigarettes, and left her to die in a Miami motel room.
Thompson has been on Florida's death row for nearly 50 years.
And Ron DeSantis just quietly cancelled Ivester’s execution with a one-sentence letter and zero explanation.
The Crime That Earned a Death Sentence
Thompson didn't deny what he did to Sally Ivester.
He pleaded guilty.
He pleaded guilty twice – first in 1976, then again after his original sentence was overturned on appeal.
He testified at his accomplice's retrial and accepted full responsibility for the torture and murder of a woman whose only crime was being in that motel room.
Florida's courts sentenced him to death.
Twice.
50 Years of Legal Delays
Thompson's case became a textbook example of why Americans have lost faith in the justice system.
His sentence was affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court in 1980.
Affirmed again in 1993.
Challenged again in 2016 over an IQ score that put him near the intellectual disability threshold.
Challenged again and again through the 2020s.
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Each appeal meant Sally Ivester's family waited longer.
Thompson spent those 50 years collecting medical care – malnutrition, heart failure, sepsis – while the family he destroyed watched the calendar turn decade after decade.
DeSantis Has Been Doing What Other Governors Wouldn't
DeSantis recognized that Florida's death row had become a waiting room with no exit.
He carried out 19 executions in 2025 alone – more than any Florida governor since executions resumed in 1976.
The previous single-year record was eight.
Florida, under DeSantis, has carried out nearly half of all state executions in the United States since 2025 began.
His reasoning was direct: "There are some crimes that are just so horrific, the only appropriate punishment is the death penalty. These are the worst of the worst."
Sally Ivester's killer qualifies.
The Doctor's Report and the Panel That Went Silent
A neuropsychologist named Robert Ouaou evaluated Thompson four times since 2015.
His most recent report said Thompson showed a "profound level" of cognitive impairment and – crucially – "did not recognize he had been sentenced to death."
Under Ford v. Wainwright, the 1986 Supreme Court ruling that governs competency for execution, a condemned person must understand what is happening to them and why.
That legal standard triggered a process.
DeSantis commissioned a three-doctor panel to make its own assessment.
The panel had a deadline of October 2.
That deadline passed.
The findings were never made public.
Thompson's attorneys said they were never told the outcome.
DeSantis' office refused to answer questions about it.
Then, Thursday night, DeSantis issued a one-sentence statement withdrawing Thompson's death warrant.
No reason.
No explanation.
No acknowledgment of Sally Ivester.
What DeSantis Still Owes Sally Ivester's Family
James Robertson – who knotted socks together and strangled his cellmate in 2008 because he wanted a death sentence – still dies Tuesday at noon.
Robertson waived all his appeals.
Robertson asked for this.
Good.
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But here's what's eating at people who've followed this case: DeSantis built his reputation on transparency and accountability, and Thursday night he went silent.
No press conference.
No statement explaining the medical findings.
No acknowledgment that Sally Ivester was beaten with chains and burned with cigarettes in a Miami motel room and her killer is still alive 50 years later.
DeSantis has earned enormous credit for doing what every Florida governor before him was too afraid to do – actually executing the monsters sitting on death row.
But the same governor who demanded accountability from the left on every issue went dark the moment he had to explain a decision to a murder victim's family.
Thompson is still on death row.
And if his condition improves – if the dementia somehow stabilizes – nothing stops DeSantis from signing another warrant.
That's the answer Sally Ivester's family deserves to hear out loud, in public, from the governor himself.
Not a one-sentence letter to a warden at 11 p.m.
Sources:
- Nichole Manna, "DeSantis Drops Death Warrant for Man Deemed Mentally Unfit," The Florida Trib, October 9, 2026.
- Katelyn Foley, "DeSantis Cancels Florida Inmate's Execution Scheduled for Tuesday Evening," WWSB ABC7, October 8, 2026.
- Florida Department of Corrections, "William Lee Thompson Capital Case Summary," Florida Legislature.
- Associated Press, "Florida Sets Up Third Execution in 2026 as State Leads US Death Penalty Surge," ABC News, January 30, 2026.
- Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986), U.S. Supreme Court.
- AP, "DeSantis Set a Florida Record for Executions," NBC News, August 2025.
