Frank Walls is set to become the 19th person executed in Florida this year—extending a modern-era record—after a federal appeals court refused to intervene. On Saturday, a panel for the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request to halt the lethal injection scheduled for Thursday.
Court records reveal the brutal nature of the crime that sent Walls to death row. On the morning of July 22, 1987, Walls—then 19—broke into the Okaloosa County mobile home of Edward Alger and Ann Peterson. Intending to burglarize the residence, he woke the couple and forced Peterson to bind Alger before tying her up as well.
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The situation turned deadly when Alger managed to break free and struggle with the intruder. Walls responded by cutting Alger’s throat and shooting him three times in the head.
He then turned his attention to Peterson, shooting her execution-style. When the first shot failed to kill her, Walls reportedly placed a pillow over her face and fired again, ending her life.
Attorneys for the now 58-year-old inmate argued that his chronic health issues and weight (354 pounds) would make the execution cruel and unusual, potentially causing him to suffer pulmonary edema.
The defense also blasted the state’s “sloppy, breakneck pace” of executions in 2025, alleging recent errors with drug protocols.
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The court rejected those arguments, ruling that Walls waited too long to raise medical objections he has known about for years. Unless the U.S. Supreme Court issues a stay, Walls will be put to death for the 1987 double murder.
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