On the evening of October 28, 2025, the state of Florida is set to carry out its 15th execution of the year—a grim milestone that shatters all previous records for annual executions in the state. Norman Mearle Grim Jr., now 65, will receive a lethal injection at 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison near Starke, marking a decisive chapter in a case that has haunted Pensacola for nearly three decades.
Grim’s crime, committed in 1998, was as brutal as it was senseless. His victim, Cynthia Campbell, was a 41-year-old lawyer and a neighbor known for her compassion and drive to help others. According to the Pensacola News Journal (as reported by USA TODAY), Campbell had only recently begun practicing law and had previously worked as a nurse before an injury forced her to change careers. Her parents, Ralph and Dorothea Campbell, described her as someone who always wanted to help the underdog, emphasizing to jurors, “I would like you to know Cindy as a person, our only daughter,” and, “The important thing is that she has a face.”
On July 27, 1998, Campbell called 911 after discovering that a window in her home had been broken. Responding deputies found Grim outside her house; he claimed he was investigating a barking dog. In a chilling twist, Grim invited Campbell over for coffee several times that morning, and the deputy even encouraged her to accept, according to archived accounts. Campbell, unaware of the danger, walked into Grim’s home and into a deadly trap.
Court records, cited by USA TODAY, reveal the horrifying details: Grim attacked Campbell with a hammer and a knife, raping her before bludgeoning her 18 times and stabbing her 11 times, with seven wounds penetrating her heart. He then wrapped her body in carpet and sheets and dumped it off the Pensacola Bay Bridge. A fisherman discovered her body just two hours later, battered and bearing the marks of a savage assault—multiple blunt-force injuries to the face and head, as well as the fatal stab wounds. DNA and other physical evidence quickly tied Grim to the killing.
Despite being questioned by deputies immediately after the crime, Grim was not arrested on the spot due to a lack of probable cause. He fled the state, sparking a nationwide manhunt that ended four days later in Oklahoma, where authorities found him at a relative’s house. In December 2000, a jury viewed gruesome photographs of Campbell’s body and found Grim guilty of capital murder. The presiding judge called the crime “savagely brutal” and “senseless,” sentencing Grim to death. Notably, Grim declined to present any mitigating evidence at his sentencing—such as a traumatic childhood or mental illness—that might have lessened his punishment, and he has continued to refuse to fight his execution right up to the end.
Grim’s criminal history, prosecutors argued, was further justification for the death penalty. About 16 years before Campbell’s murder, he had embarked on a single-day crime spree in Pensacola: kidnapping a woman (who managed to escape), breaking into two homes and injuring a woman, and attempting to kidnap a 14-year-old girl. He served nine years in prison for those crimes and was on parole for burglary at the time he killed Campbell.
With Grim’s execution, Florida’s tally of executions for 2025 will reach 15—nearly double the state’s previous annual record of eight, set in both 1984 and 2014, according to reporting by the Associated Press and USA TODAY Network. Nationally, Grim’s death will be the 41st execution in the United States this year, a level not seen since 2012. At least five more executions are scheduled nationwide before January 2026, putting the country on pace for 46 executions in 2025—the highest total since 2010, though still far from the all-time high of 98 in 1999.
Florida has emerged as the nation’s leader in executions this year, outpacing Texas and Alabama, which have each carried out five, according to the Associated Press. Two more executions are planned in Florida for November: Bryan Fredrick Jennings, convicted of raping and killing a 6-year-old girl in 1979, is set to die on November 13; Richard Barry Randolph, convicted for the 1988 rape and fatal beating of his former manager, is scheduled for November 20. Both executions are proceeding under death warrants signed by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
The state’s lethal injection protocol, as detailed by the Florida Department of Corrections, involves administering a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart. This method, while intended to be humane, remains a subject of debate among death penalty opponents and human rights advocates, who question both its efficacy and morality. However, Grim himself has waived all remaining appeals, making no attempt to halt the process during a hearing earlier this month.
The broader surge in executions this year has not gone unnoticed by legal experts and advocates on both sides of the death penalty debate. Some attribute the increase to the political climate and a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court, which has been less receptive to last-minute appeals and challenges. Others point to state-level leadership and shifting public attitudes, especially in states like Florida, where the death penalty remains a fixture of criminal justice policy.
For the families involved, the legal and political backdrop may seem distant compared to the personal loss and trauma. The Campbells, who lost their only daughter to a crime of staggering brutality, sought to remind the world that Cynthia Campbell was more than just a victim—she was a person with a face, a history, and a commitment to helping others. As Florida prepares to close the book on one of its most notorious capital cases, the state’s record-breaking year for executions stands as both a testament to the enduring use of the death penalty and a sobering reminder of the lives irrevocably altered by violence and retribution.
With Norman Grim’s execution, Florida’s justice system delivers a final verdict on a case that has lingered for decades, even as the debate over capital punishment continues to rage across the nation.
