A grieving husband witnessed the Tuesday execution of the man who abducted and killed his wife from a Florida insurance office over four decades ago — stating he “made a promise” to see her tragic case through.
Randy White, 70, lost his wife, Janet Renee White, after she was abducted, raped, and stabbed to death by Kayle Bates in 1982 — just minutes after he last said goodbye to her, USA Today reported.
Bates, 67, died by lethal injection at 6:17 p.m. Tuesday at Florida State Prison under a death warrant signed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis. It was the state’s 10th death sentence carried out in 2025.
The execution gave the widower long-awaited relief that he had finally reached the end of a nearly 43-year battle for justice in his wife’s killing.
“I made a promise to her right after it happened that I would be there for every trial, every hearing, every appeal, and that as long as I was living, I would seek justice for her,” White told the outlet after the execution.
He was only 27 when he lost his wife, who was the youngest of five siblings and always dreamed of having kids and her own business, the outlet reported.
“I feel a relief that I can mentally let Renee know that justice has finally been served for her, and that’s mentally what I need. It’s always been for her,” he said.
Bates was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, and attempted sexual battery in the June 14, 1982 killing of Janet White in Bay County in the Florida Panhandle.
Bates abducted White from the State Farm insurance office where she worked, took her into the woods behind the building, attempted to rape her, stabbed her to death, and tore a diamond ring from one of her fingers, according to court documents.
“Bates attacked her, but Renee fought back,” according to court records obtained by the outlet. “Despite her best efforts, Bates overpowered Renee and forced her into the woods behind the office.”
Within 15 minutes of saying goodbye to Renee, he got a call from the authorities about an emergency at her office.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Mr. White, I don’t know any easy way to say this … but your wife’s been murdered,’” White remembered. “I completely lost it.”
When police arrived, they found Bates covered in blood with her wedding ring in his pocket, documents showed.
Attorneys for Bates had filed appeals with the Florida Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court, as well as a federal lawsuit claiming DeSantis’ process for signing death warrants was discriminatory.
Veterans groups had also asked the Florida Gov to spare Bates from the death penalty because of his six-year military service in the National Guard, the outlet reported.
Florida has executed more people than any other state this year, while Texas and South Carolina are tied for second place with four each.
Bates declined to give last words at his execution and turned down his last meal, the outlet said.
Florida executions are carried out using a three-drug lethal injection: a sedative, a paralytic, and a drug that stops the heart, according to the state Department of Corrections.
White described the execution as “straightforward and quick.”
With Post wires.
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