Governor signs death warrant for Thomas Knight, to be executed Dec. 3 TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Thomas Knight, on Florida's death row since 1975, will be executed Dec. 3, the governor's office said in a statement. Gov. Rick Scott signed the death warrant Monday for Knight, 62, for the fatal stabbing of state corrections officer Richard Burke in 1980, although relatives of other victims of Knight will likely be allowed to attend the execution, by lethal injection, at Florida State Prison in Starke, Fla., The Miami Herald reported Tuesday. Knight kidnapped his Miami employer, Sydney Gans, and Gans' wife Lillian in 1974, forcing them to withdraw $50,000 from a bank account, and then shooting them to death. While awaiting trial, Knight escaped from jail and was involved in another fatal robbery before his capture. In jail in 1980, he stabbed Burke to death with a sharpened spoon, the newspaper said.