Date of Sentence: 08/30/91
Circumstances of Offense:
Donn Duncan was living with his
fiancée, Deborah Bauer, her daughter, Carrieanne Bauer, and Deborah
Bauer’s mother, Antoinette Blakeley.
On the evening of 12/28/90,
Deborah Bauer left the house to go drinking, with Duncan following a
short time later. Duncan returned around 8:30 p.m., telling Blakely
that Bauer would be home later.
He explained that he had refused to buy
Bauer beer, and that Bauer had left with a man who was going to buy her
beer. Duncan told Blakely to ask Bauer to sleep on the couch so that
they would not argue, and that he was leaving in the morning. After
Bauer returned around 10:30 p.m., she slept on the couch.
After Duncan awoke on 12/29/90,
he had a brief conversation with Blakeley before looking for Bauer on
the front porch. Bauer was smoking a cigarette, and Duncan stood behind
her for a few seconds before stabbing her multiple times with a kitchen
knife that was hidden in his jacket.
When Carrieanne Bauer responded to
the attack and her mother’s screams, Duncan threatened her with the
knife. Duncan then threw the knife on the ground and waited for the
police to arrive. Bauer suffered two life-threatening wounds in the
back, three defensive wounds to her arms and one leg, and a fatal wound
to her chest.
After being advised of his
rights, Duncan told police that he had been arguing with Bauer and he
remembered stabbing her twice. In a signed statement, Duncan wrote:
I
walked out the door with the knife and stabbed Debbie [Bauer] as she was
sitting on the stoop.
I think I stabbed her twice. I saw her go off
with two guys last
night she came home about 1:00 a.m. and I guess I went nuts.
Prior Incarceration History in
the State of Florida:
Duncan was convicted and sentenced for the Second-Degree Murder of a
fellow inmate in 1969.
Trial Summary:
01/17/91
Indicted as follows:
Count I First-Degree
Murder
Count II Aggravated
Assault
05/23/91 Jury returned guilty verdicts on both counts of the
indictment
07/01/91 Jury recommended a death sentence by a vote of 12-0
08/30/91
Sentenced as follows:
Count I First-Degree
Murder – Death
Count II Aggravated
Assault – 3.5 years
Case Information:
Duncan filed a Direct Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on 09/19/91,
citing the following errors: the death sentence is disproportionate
compared to other cases and is cruel and unusual punishment; admission
of gruesome photographs of the 1969 murder; and refusal to give numerous
special jury instructions. The FSC affirmed the convictions and
sentences on 04/29/93.
Duncan filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the U.S. Supreme
Court on 09/15/93 that was denied on 11/08/93.
Duncan filed a 3.850 Motion with the circuit court on 05/02/95 and
amended the Motion on 06/02/98. The Motion was denied in part and
granted in part on 03/04/02.
The State filed a 3.850 Motion Appeal with the Florida Supreme Court on
03/21/02, and Duncan filed a cross-appeal on 03/25/02. On 11/24/04, the
FSC affirmed the granting of a new penalty phase and the denial of the
other issues raised in the 3.850 Motion.
Duncan filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus with the Florida
Supreme Court on 01/27/03. On 11/24/04, the FSC denied the Petition.
On
05/19/05, the State filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari with the
U.S. Supreme Court that was denied on 10/03/05.
Floridacapitalcases.state.fl.us
