Oba Chandler Set to Be Executed Today; Picked Salami Sandwiches for His Last Meal

Florida Department of Corrections

Oba Chandler, scheduled to die at 4 p.m. today.

​Rapist/triple murderer Oba Chandler is scheduled to be executed at the Florida State Prison at 4 p.m. today, and he's already submitted the request for his last meal.

According to Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Jo Ellyn Rackleff, Chandler, 65, opted for two salami sandwiches on white bread, one peanut butter sandwich on white bread, and some tea.

Gov. Rick Scott inked the death warrant for Chandler -- the second of his governorship -- in early October, and barring any last-minute drama, the original scheduled date of Chandler's execution will hold true.

Chandler's legal fight has drawn far less controversy than the state's previous execution of cop-killer Manuel Valle, in which arguments over the one of the state's new lethal-injection drugs led to multiple delays of Valle's execution -- including a delay of several hours at the time he was scheduled to die.

Chandler's death sentence has already been upheld by the Florida Supreme Court twice, according to the Florida Commission on Capital Cases, and he's lost eight appeals in various courts since he was sentenced to die.

The Florida Supreme Court denied hearing arguments on an appeal filed by his court-appointed lawyer, Baya Harrison III, and the court stated it would not hear future arguments on the matter.

Harrison told us two weeks ago that he was preparing a last-ditch effort in federal court to prevent his client from being executed, but Harrison -- who certainly opposes the death penalty -- was far from optimistic about Chandler's chances.

Chandler was convicted of killing Joan Rogers and her two daughters, Michelle and Christe, more than 22 years ago.

Rogers and her two daughters were on vacation in Tampa from Ohio and checked into their hotel on June 1, 1989.

After a week of noticing that the family hadn't been in the hotel room, housekeeping staff called the cops. Police found Rogers' car abandoned near the Courtney Campbell Causeway, with a brochure inside containing directions written by Chandler.

The cops found all three of the women on June 4 -- naked from the waist down, arms and legs bound, with a cinder block tied by a rope around their necks.

Autopsy results showed the women died either from asphyxiation from the ropes around their necks or from drowning, and police said Chandler sexually assaulted Rogers.

After police made a connection between the murders and another rape in the area -- which was printed in local news reports -- Chandler left the area.

He lived with his family for the next few years -- including some time spent in Broward County -- before finally being arrested and charged in September 1992.

Chandler is currently one of 396 people on Florida's death row -- where he's been since 1994. More than a dozen inmates on death row have been there since the 1970s.

---

Follow The Pulp on Facebook and on Twitter: @ThePulpBPB. Follow Matthew Hendley on Facebook and on Twitter: @MatthewHendley.

---