Serial Killer Oscar Ray Bolin Scheduled to Die Thursday

STARKE, FL — Time is running out for Oscar Ray Bolin. The convicted serial killer is scheduled to die Thursday at 6 p.m. by lethal injection for the December 1986 murder of Teri Lynn Matthews.

Matthews, 26, was abducted from the Land O’ Lakes Post Office on U.S. 41. Her body was found beaten and stabbed. The discovery rocked the community and left many on edge.

Matthews would have turned 55 on Dec. 30. Her mother, Kathleen Reeves, visited her daughter’s grave on her birthday bringing flowers. Inside the bouquet was a copy of the death warrant Gov. Rick Scott signed for Bolin, NBC reported.

“It’s the last thing I can do for her,” Reeves, 78, told the network.

Reeves isn’t the only grieving family member left to pick up the pieces after Bolin went on a 1986 killing spree in Tampa Bay. Bolin was also convicted in the murder of Stephanie Collins of Carrollwood. Collins was abducted from a shopping plaza along North Dale Mabry Highway. The Chamberlain High School student was 17. Bolin faces a second death sentence for her murder.

The death row inmate also received a life sentence in the January 1986 slaying of Natalie Blanch Holley in Hillsborough County.

See Also:

• Convicted Serial Killer Seeks Stay of Execution
• Serial Killer Oscar Ray Bolin’s Appeal Denied

Bolin, who was once a carnival worker and long-haul trucker, is suspected in a number of other murders across the country.

A number of appeals have been filed on Bolin’s behalf as the clock ticks down on his scheduled execution. The Florida Supreme Court rejected a request for a stay of execution and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit also on Monday declined to grant a stay.

Bolin’s attorney may still file a request with the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorney Bjorn Brunvand has vowed to do so, several media outlets have reported.

Should Bolin’s execution go off as scheduled, it would be the first in 2016 in Florida. Another execution has been scheduled for Feb. 11 for Cary Michael Lambrix, 55. Lambrix was convicted in Glades County for a 1983 double homicide. He has been on death row for more than 30 years.

Photo of Oscar Ray Bolin courtesy of the Florida Department of Corrections