Murder of Delores Futrell by neighbor Randall Deviney examined on Fatal Florida

In episode one of Fatal Florida, they examine the horrific case of Delores Futrell, who brutally slain by her 18-year-old neighbor Randall Deviney in August 2008.

The 65-year-old Futrell had regularly cared for the teenage Deviney like he was one of her own. She used to bake cookies for him, pick him up at school and give him odd jobs so he could earn money.

However, one day Deviney grabbed a fillet knife and slit her throat from ear to ear. He then reached inside her throat and strangled her. He then dragged her from the backyard into her home and positioned her to make it look like she’d been sexually assaulted.

But Futrell wouldn’t go quietly and put up a fight, which would eventually lead to her killer’s conviction. She dug her nails deep into Deviney’s skin, which gave investigators the DNA they needed to bring him to justice.

Deviney claimed he just snapped while talking to Futrell. Still, the prosecution was successful in convincing a jury that it was premeditated murder with the intention to steal from the victim.

Randall Deviney has been sentenced three times

Deviney was convicted of the crime in 2010 and sentenced to death; however, his conviction was thrown out in 2013 due to police misconduct. A retrial in 2015 again saw him sentenced to death.

In 2016 a US Supreme Court challenge to Florida’s death penalty system saw Deviney sent back for re-sentencing once again. In 2017 a jury unanimously decided to keep him on death row, which is where he remains today.

Deviney had had a tough childhood; he had suffered sexual abuse from his mother and her drug-dealing boyfriend, and he had received regular beatings from both his parents.

While the jury agreed that these were mitigating factors, it wasn’t enough to keep Deviney from receiving the death penalty.

More from Investigation Discovery

Follow the links to read about more grisly murders profiled on ID.

On The Murder Tapes, the killing of  Ryne Zahner by his friend and former roommate, Caleb Bartels, was profiled. Bartels entered the backyard of his so-called friend and fired multiple shots from an assault rifle into Zahner. Bartels then fled the state before eventually being arrested.

In another murder profiled this week on Diabolical, Donald Spice murdered his girlfriend Lori Vargis with a hammer and then tried to cover it up by staging a car accident. He had intended to claim a $200,000 life insurance pay-out.

This episode of Fatal Florida airs at 8/9c on Investigation Discovery.