Thursday, May 7, 1998
Thomas Knight v. State of Florida

No. 87,783

Place of Origin
Dade County

Facts
On July 17, 1974, an armed gunman stopped Sydney Gans as he exited his car at the Sydney Bag & Paper Co. The gunman made him get back in the car and drive home to fetch Mrs. Gans, whom he also ordered into the car. The gunman demanded $50,000, and Gans said he could get it at the City National Bank in downtown Miami. Inside, Mr. Gans told bank officials what was happening, and they summoned police. Officers trailed the car after it left the bank, but lost sight of it in a construction site near S.W. 131st St. A surveillance helicopter soon reported shots fired and a man running into the woods from the car. Arriving, officers soon found Thomas Knight with the money and the murder weapon--a gun with the words "trouble" etched on each side. Thomas was tried and sentenced to death in 1975. A federal court later ordered a resentencing. He was again sentenced to death in 1996 and appealed.