Florida carried out the execution of James Robertson on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, at 12:32 p.m. Robertson was sentenced to death for strangling his cellmate, Frank Hart, at Charlotte Correctional Institution in December 2008. According to investigators, Robertson planned the killing in advance, waiting until Hart was asleep and officers had passed the cell, and later admitted he did it to secure a first-degree murder charge and a death sentence. He pleaded guilty in 2012 and waived his jury penalty phase.
Frank Hart was scheduled to be released on December 18, 2008, just days after he was killed. His daughter, Rebecca, spoke at a press conference following the execution, saying that nothing that happened Tuesday would bring her father home. She asked the public to remember him by name, saying his life mattered before this became a murder and it still matters now. Robertson’s case drew national attention through Netflix’s “I Am a Killer” and “World’s Most Evil Prisoners,” which introduced his story to millions of viewers.
For families on the Suncoast, the case raises familiar questions about how true-crime entertainment treats the people at the center of real tragedies. The Department of Corrections confirmed the execution was carried out without incident. How do you think true-crime coverage affects the families of victims? Let us know in the comments.
