On Thursday, July 31, retired Air Force Sgt. Edward Zakrzewski II will be executed. This will be the ninth execution in Florida in 2025, more than in any other year in the country’s recent history. Eight people were previously put to death by the state in 1984 and 2014. For the first time since 1984, Florida is expected to surpass Texas, which frequently leads the nation in state executions.
Zakrzewski, 60, is being put to death for killing his family on June 9, 1994, a crime that horrified north Florida more than 30 years ago. His 34-year-old wife Sylvia, his 5-year-old daughter Anna, and his 7-year-old son Edward were discovered dead in a toilet of their Mary Esther, California, home. In addition to using a machete on all three of them, Zakrzewski reportedly strangled his wife after striking her in the head with a crowbar.
With Governor Ron DeSantis prioritizing the problem and declaring in May that he wants to provide closure to families who have been waiting for the execution of their loved one’s killer for sometimes decades, Florida has executed more prisoners this year than any other state. “There are so some crimes that are just so horrific, the only appropriate punishment is the death penalty,” he said, reports USA Today.
Zakrzewski’s execution would also mark a 10-year high—the 27th in the country. At 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, Zakrzewski will be put to death by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Raiford, which is located roughly 45 miles southwest of Jacksonville.
Seven-year-old Edward called his dad at work on June 9, 1994, to inform him that his mother was submitting divorce papers that day. According to court documents, Zakrzewski purchased a machete during his lunch break, sharpened it at home, and then concealed it along with a crowbar.
After telling his children to watch TV later that evening, Zakrzewski assaulted his wife. He then admitted to authorities that he had strangled her with a rope, placed a plastic bag over her head, and repeatedly struck her in the skull with the crowbar.
New material in Edward J. Zakrzewski II v. State of Florida, Okaloosa County death case. July 31 execution set (notice of appeal). See the docket here https://t.co/4gE9CMTlKH pic.twitter.com/RtAY7BzPE1
— FloridaSupremeCourt (@flcourts) July 14, 2025
Before striking each of his kids with the machete, Zakrzewski called for them to come brush their teeth individually. Then, dragging his still-living wife into the bathroom with her deceased children, he repeatedly slashed her head and neck with the machete. All of their bodies were left in the tub.
Following the killings, Zakrzewski ran away and took refuge on Molokai Island in Hawaii. There, he lived under a false identity and made friends with a local Pentecostal pastor who allowed him to dwell in a shack on his property in return for maintenance work. This is how Zakrzewski lived for four months until he was recognized by the pastor on “Unsolved Mysteries,” at which point he handed himself in.
In the end, Zakrzewski admitted to the killings, but his lawyers contended that he shouldn’t be executed. They mentioned his “exemplary” Air Force service, his self-reporting and guilty plea, the fact that he was “a loving husband and father” before the murders, and his “sincere grief and remorse.”
BREAKING: Governor DeSantis signs the ninth death warrant of 2025 and sets an execution date for Edward J. Zakrzewski, II. He is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, July 31 at 6 pm for the 1994 murders of Sylvia, Edward, and Anna Zakrzewski. pic.twitter.com/nwXdPTVlWh
— FADP (@FADPorg) July 1, 2025
The mitigating reasons were rejected by Judge G. Robert Barron. He drew attention to the very unsettling manner in which Anna had been murdered; there is evidence that she probably saw her brother’s body and was compelled to bow down and rest her neck on the bathtub’s edge before her father struck her with the machete.
According to an old account in the Kalamazoo Gazette, Zakrzewski was raised in Michigan with four brothers and a sister before drifting away from his family. He was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service during his time in the military.
Elton Killam, Zakrzewski’s trial lawyer, informed the judge that his client was driven to murder due to his wife’s alleged adultery, gambling, and psychological abuse over a lengthy period. According to an Associated Press account that has been archived, Killam claimed that he chose to kill his children out of mercy because he didn’t want them to grow up in Korea, where his wife was from, and be viewed less favorably due to their mixed race.
A man who killed his family is set to be executed in the State of Florida. Edward J. Zakrewski II is scheduled to be executed on July 31 in what will be the ninth execution scheduled in Florida this year. In 1996, Zakrzewski pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder… pic.twitter.com/USsuFgti9Y
— N’ Cuffs (@NCuffs1) July 2, 2025
Following the killings, FBI agents who were searching for Zakrzewski told reporters that he was a recluse whose life focused on his work, his children, and his pursuit of a college degree. Zakrzewski’s current attorney, Lisa Fusaro, told USA TODAY that “Zakrzewski is very remorseful and has become very spiritual over the years.”
“He helps to mentor other death row inmates and practices yoga and meditation,” she said. “He has continued to stay in contact with his family and friends all these years, who are deeply saddened by the signing of his (death) warrant.”
