A murderer who stabbed a man nearly four decades ago finally said sorry today - moments before his execution.

Ronald Palmer Heath, 64, was pronounced dead approximately 10 minutes after receiving his three-drug lethal injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. When the warden asked Heath if he wished to make any final statement, the killer responded: "I'm sorry. That's all I can say. Thank you."

It marked Florida's first execution of 2026, following the state's 19 executions last year, including that of David Joseph Pittman, who continued to deny the three murders for which he was convicted. Heath, however, demonstrated remorse before the drugs were delivered through an IV inserted into the man's arm.

Heath was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery with a deadly weapon and other offences in the 1989 killing of Michael Sheridan. He and his brother Kenneth Heath encountered Sheridan at a bar in Gainesville, Florida, in May 1989.

After spending time at the bar together, the three men decided to go elsewhere to smoke cannabis.

However, at some stage, the brothers conspired to rob the other man. Ronald Heath drove the group to an isolated location, where Kenneth Heath produced a handgun and pointed it at Sheridan.

The man initially refused to hand over anything, and Kenneth Heath shot Sheridan in the chest. As Sheridan emptied his pockets, Ronald Heath started kicking the man and stabbing him with a hunting knife, prosecutors stated.

Kenneth Heath then shot Sheridan twice in the head. The brothers discarded Sheridan's body in a wooded area before returning to the Gainesville bar to pilfer items from his rental car, as per court documents.

The records reveal that the brothers made several purchases with Sheridan's credit cards the following day at a Gainesville shopping centre.

Ronald Heath was apprehended a few weeks later at his residence in Douglas, Georgia, after detectives linked him to the stolen credit cards. Officers retrieved clothing bought with the stolen cards, along with Sheridan's watch, according to court documents.

Kenneth Heath was also indicted for Sheridan's murder, but received a life sentence as part of a plea deal. Over a dozen relatives of Heath's victims bore witness to his execution.

At the age of 16, Heath was found guilty of murdering teenager Michael Green, serving a decade behind bars. Days following Sheridan's demise, authorities discovered the body of Tony Hammett.

Heath was charged with Hammett's murder, but the case never proceeded to trial.

Following the execution, Sheridan's brother, Thomas Sheridan, stated during a press conference that his family, along with the families of Green and Hammett, had been anticipating this day for over thirty years.

"Tonight, Ronald Palmer Heath was released to the custody of his new parole officer. As far as I'm concerned, any forgiveness is between him and God," declared Thomas Sheridan.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected appeals lodged by Ronald Heath last week. His legal team had contended that Florida corrections authorities had mishandled the state's death penalty procedures, that the secretive clemency system denied due process, that Heath's imprisonment as a minor impaired his cognitive development and that the jury did not unanimously recommend capital punishment.