On Friday, October 26, 1979, a robber stole $14,000 worth of money orders and about $150 in cash from the Eatonville, Florida, post office and kidnapped the postmistress, Catherine Alexander. Not long afterwards, Dorothy Bottoson attempted to cash one of the stolen money orders. She and her husband Linroy were arrested the following Monday. That evening Alexander’s body was found on the side of a dirt road. She had been stabbed more than a dozen times and run over by a car.

When postal inspectors searched the Bottoson’s home the next day, they discovered Alexander’s shoes and the murder weapon. An examination of Linroy Bottoson’s car turned up hair and fibers from Alexander’s clothing. Bottoson’s defense? He had been possessed by demon spirits. He was convicted in March 1980 of seven counts of theft and possession of government property with a sentencing of ten years on each count. He was then found guilty of first degree murder on May 1, 1981 and sentenced to death. Bottoson was executed by lethal injection on December 9, 2002.