The Abduction of Carlie Brucia
No Shouts of Joy
Judge Owens granted his wish.
On March 16, 2006, the day before Carlie's birthday, he condemned Smith to death by injection.
"Her death was conscienceless and pitiless and undoubtedly unnecessarily torturous," Owens said. "The scales of life and death tilt unequivocally on the side of death."
Smith, in a prison jumpsuit, stared straight ahead and belied little emotion. Carlie's kin also were subdued.
There were no shouts of joy.
"A lot of people probably want to ask me am I happy with the verdict," the girl's aunt, Laurie Brucia, later said. "I don't think you are ever happy. Happy would be having Carlie right beside me. And giving her a hug and a kiss, watching her grow up and celebrating her 13th birthday tomorrow, which will never happen. That would be happiness."
Smith, one of 374 men on Death Row in Florida, is biding his time at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Fla.
He must be eating well. His weight has ballooned even further to 219 pounds, more than 40 pounds heavier than the day of his arrest. His most recent prison mug shot shows him with hog-jowl cheeks.
On average, a condemned Florida convict waits nearly 13 years to die.
Smith shouldn't expect visits from his wife and daughters in the interim.
Five months after Smith was sentenced, Luz Castrillon won a divorce decree that barred him from having any contact with his daughters. Castrillon sold their house and dropped out of sight.