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William Reaves Jr: What We Know

By the Undercurrent desk · Published

Video · 3:37 · Watch on YouTube

William Reaves Jr., 77, was executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison on Oct. 20, 2026, for the 1986 killing of Indian River County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Raczkoski. He was convicted twice (1987, reversed; 1992, final in 1994). His lawyers' argument for years concerned his sentence: a federal judge once vacated it, and an appeals court reversed on a procedural rule. We take no position on the death penalty.

What's confirmed

  1. Sept. 23, 1986Deputy Richard Raczkoski, 29, responded to a 911 call Reaves made from a pay phone outside a convenience store near Vero Beach. Authorities say a gun fell from Reaves' clothing, the two struggled, and Reaves shot the deputy. AP; WPTV; CBS12; DPIC
  2. 1987Reaves convicted of first-degree murder, sentenced to death. 1991: the Florida Supreme Court reversed because a prosecutor on the case had once defended Reaves in another criminal matter. CBS12; AP; Wikipedia
  3. Feb. 1992a second jury convicted him and voted 10-2 for death. The sentence became final in 1994. CBS12; Fla. Supreme Court opinion SC2026-1512
  4. The defense says the jury never heard expert evidence of combat PTSD; the V.A. rated him 100% disabled by PTSD (Vietnam service). His trial lawyer had never tried a capital case and said he was "overwhelmed." DPIC; AP; 11th Cir. No. 15-11225
  5. 2015a federal judge found counsel ineffective and vacated the death sentence. Sept. 28, 2017: the 11th Circuit reversed, on a procedural rule barring consideration of evidence not presented in state court. DPIC; 11th Cir. No. 15-11225
  6. Sept. 18, 2026Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant. CBS12; Fox 13; Fla. Supreme Court opinion
  7. Oct. 14, 2026the Florida Supreme Court denied his final claims, writing that its cases emphasize "the unlimited discretion vested solely in the executive branch" over clemency. Fla. Supreme Court, SC2026-1512
  8. About 100 veterans asked the governor to halt the execution. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected his last appeal without comment on Oct. 20. He declined to give last words and was pronounced dead at 6:12 p.m. It was Florida's 18th execution of 2026. AP; Yahoo/USA Today
  9. Family: his nephew asked the governor for life in prison, not a pardon; the deputy's brother told WPTV "the pain will still always be there." WPTV

What we don't know / what's disputed

  • Why the governor did not grant clemency: the record we have gives no reason.
  • Whether the PTSD evidence would have changed a jury's vote. No jury or court decided it at a new sentencing.
  • Note: the deputy's surname is spelled Raczkoski by AP, DPIC and the sheriff's office, and Raczkowski by some local outlets.

What happens next

The execution is complete and no docket is open. We will update this if the record changes.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Deputy Raczkoski: Vero Beach, 1986
  2. 0:48Reaves trials: 1987 and 1992 verdicts
  3. 1:15Reaves PTSD claim: what the jury never heard
  4. 2:11Reaves execution: where it stands

Sources

  1. Florida Supreme Court, Reaves v. State, SC2026-1512 (Oct. 14, 2026), as filed in U.S. Supreme Court No. 26-5865 Primary recordsupremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/26/26-5865/429845/20261017200937372_-%20USSC%20Cert%20Petition%20Appendix%20PDFA.pdf
  2. U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Cir., No. 15-11225 (Sept. 28, 2017) Primary recordcases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca11/15-11225/1119757447/1.pdf
  3. WPTV (Oct. 8, 2026) Reportingwptv.com/wptv-investigates/i-love-him-family-of-death-row-inmate-william-reaves-pleads-for-clemency-ahead-of-oct-20-execution
  4. Death Penalty Information Center (Oct. 16, 2026) Secondarydeathpenaltyinfo.org/william-reaves-vietnam-veteran-whose-jury-did-not-learn-critical-mitigation-evidence-about-his-service-related-injury-is-set-for-execution-in-florida
  5. CBS12 Reportingcbs12.com/news/crime/william-reaves-77-killing-indian-river-county-deputy-die-by-lethal-injection-florida-state-prison-governor-ron-desantis-florida-supreme-court-florida-news
  6. AP via WBRC; Yahoo/USA Today live updates (Oct. 20, 2026)
  7. Florida Department of Corrections offender record DC# 040002; Indian River County Sheriff's Office In Memoriam page (ircsheriff.org/memoriam)

The record · as of Oct. 21, 2026

How we know

Primary records are court and agency documents; reporting is news coverage we checked against them. How we report.

Verified timeline

  1. 1986-09-23Indian River County Sheriff's Deputy Richard Raczkoski, 29, was shot four times outside a convenience store near Vero Beach after responding to a 911 call Reaves made from a pay phone; he died.Wikipedia; CBS12; DPIC; AP/WPTV per script table
  2. 1987-08-25First trial: jury found Reaves guilty of first-degree murder and recommended death; sentence imposed Sept. 2, 1987 (Wikipedia gives Aug. 25 verdict; CBS12 says only 'September 1987'). Use '1987'.Wikipedia; CBS12
  3. 1991-01-15Florida Supreme Court reversed the conviction and sentence because a prosecutor on the case had previously represented Reaves in an unrelated matter (conflict of interest).Wikipedia; CBS12
  4. 1992-02-27Retrial: second jury convicted Reaves of first-degree murder; the next day it voted 10-2 to recommend death (Wikipedia: Feb. 27/28; CBS12: Feb. 1992). Death sentence reinstated March 6, 1992.Wikipedia; CBS12; DPIC
  5. 1992-02-28First advisory jury (1987) voted 12-0 for death; second (1992) voted 10-2. Judge sentenced Mar. 6, 1992. Reaves' first indictment also named a felon-in-possession and cocaine-trafficking count, dropped after 1987 verdict.Florida Commission on Capital Cases (state primary)
  6. 2002-06-20At the 1992 penalty phase the jury heard a defense expert describe 'Vietnam Syndrome' (a sub-clinical variety of PTSD); the State rebutted it. Later PTSD diagnoses and the 2003 VA 100% rating came after trial. SCRIPT FACT #10 ('jury never heard expert testimony on combat PTSD') should be reworded to: 'the jury heard a Vietnam Syndrome diagnosis, not PTSD; the VA rated him 100% disabled for PTSD years later'.11th Cir. No. 15-11225 pp. 6-10, 33; DPIC; WPTV
  7. 2015-01-01Federal judge Donald Middlebrooks vacated the death sentence, finding trial counsel ineffective for failing to develop mitigating evidence of Reaves's combat-related PTSD (Vietnam veteran; VA rated him 100% disabled by PTSD). Exact date not captured.DPIC; 11th Cir. docket 15-11225 per script
  8. 2017-09-2811th Cir. reversed the 2015 vacatur on two stated grounds: federal court must confine review to the state-court record that existed when the state court ruled (Cullen v. Pinholster), and the Florida Supreme Court did not unreasonably find the added mental-health evidence cumulative. DPIC's 'procedural rule' summary covers only the first. Opinion date Sept. 28, 2017 is now sourced to the opinion itself.11th Cir. No. 15-11225 pp. 33, 44, 49 (primary)
  9. 2017-09-2811th Circuit reversed, reinstating the death sentence, citing a procedural rule that barred considering evidence not presented in state court. (Wikipedia: Sept. 28, 2017; DPIC: 2017.) Defense argument on PTSD is the defense's position, not a court finding on the merits.Wikipedia; DPIC
  10. 2026-09-18Gov. DeSantis signed the death warrant (18th of 2026). DPIC's page says Oct. 16 for the warrant; CBS12, FOX 13 and Wikipedia say Sept. 18.CBS12; FOX 13; Wikipedia; DPIC (conflicts)
  11. 2026-10-20Reaves, 77, executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison; pronounced dead 6:12 p.m. ET after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his last appeal.AP via WBRC; Yahoo/USA Today; Wikipedia (date)

Also in our research file

Updates and corrections

No corrections to this page. Spot an error? corrections@undercurrentdaily.com

Convicted twice; executed Oct. 20, 2026. Photos: Florida Department of Corrections; Indian River County Sheriff's Office.

Spot an error? Email corrections@undercurrentdaily.com. See our corrections policy. Have information about this case? Contact the investigating agency first.

Part of What We Know: open cases, confirmed facts only · YouTube playlist

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