Killer requests clemency hearing
Dublin Core
Title
Killer requests clemency hearing
Subject
Spaziano, Joe
Dilisio, Anthony
Clemency
Description
Joe Spaziano is seeking clemency after the key witness in the trial doubts his testimony was accurate. Another investigation into the case 21 years later has been authorized by the Governor of Florida.
Creator
Associated Press
Source
Associated Press, "Killer requests clemency hearing"
Publisher
HIST 298, University of Mary Washington
Date
1997
Rights
The materials in this online collection are held by Special Collections, Simpson Library, University of Mary Washington and are available for educational use. For this purpose only, you may reproduce materials without prior permission on the condition that you provide attribution of the source.
Format
1 JPG
300 dpi
Language
English
Coverage
Tallahassee, Florida
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
TALLAHASSEE - Joseph "Crazy Joe" Spaziano, convicted of the torture-murder of an 18-year-old Orlando woman and the rape of another, has asked to be set free because the main evidence against him is being questioned.
Spaziano's attorney asked Gov. Lawton Chiles for a clemency hearing, saying a key witness in the 21-year-old case now doubts his own hypnosis-enhanced testimony.
Chiles stayed the execution two weeks ago after newspapers reported that Anthony Dilisio doubts whether his testimony at the 1976 trial was true.
Chiles ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Dilisio's claims. What began as an interview with the Pensacola man has expanded into a full-scale investigation involving dozens of witnesses.
The challenge facing Chiles is which Diliso to believe - the drugged-out would-be biker who testified at age 18 that Spaziano showed him Laura Harberts' mutiliated body, or the 37-year-old lay minister who says he can't remember his drug-using days and doubts Spaziano is a killer.
Michael Mello, who represents Spaziano, said on Wednesday that the Cabinet should free Spaziano because Dilisio was the strongest element in the two cases.
Chiles or any other member of the Cabinet - the attorney general, secretary of state and commissioners of education, insurance and agriculture - could call a clemency hearing. The governor, with tree members of the Cabinet, could commute Spaziano's sentence, pardon him or uphold the sentence.
Spaziano last requested clemency in March, but was refused a hearing. In preparing that request, Spaziano's state-appointed attorneys interviewed Dilisio, but he told them he could shed no new light on the case.
Spaziano's attorney asked Gov. Lawton Chiles for a clemency hearing, saying a key witness in the 21-year-old case now doubts his own hypnosis-enhanced testimony.
Chiles stayed the execution two weeks ago after newspapers reported that Anthony Dilisio doubts whether his testimony at the 1976 trial was true.
Chiles ordered the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate Dilisio's claims. What began as an interview with the Pensacola man has expanded into a full-scale investigation involving dozens of witnesses.
The challenge facing Chiles is which Diliso to believe - the drugged-out would-be biker who testified at age 18 that Spaziano showed him Laura Harberts' mutiliated body, or the 37-year-old lay minister who says he can't remember his drug-using days and doubts Spaziano is a killer.
Michael Mello, who represents Spaziano, said on Wednesday that the Cabinet should free Spaziano because Dilisio was the strongest element in the two cases.
Chiles or any other member of the Cabinet - the attorney general, secretary of state and commissioners of education, insurance and agriculture - could call a clemency hearing. The governor, with tree members of the Cabinet, could commute Spaziano's sentence, pardon him or uphold the sentence.
Spaziano last requested clemency in March, but was refused a hearing. In preparing that request, Spaziano's state-appointed attorneys interviewed Dilisio, but he told them he could shed no new light on the case.
Original Format
Newspaper
Contributor of the Digital Item
Schmidt, Heidi
Student Editor of the Digital Item
Williams, Megan
Files
Citation
Associated Press, “Killer requests clemency hearing,” HIST299, accessed March 12, 2026, https://hist299.umwhistory.org/items/show/182.