Coffee Invitation Turns Deadly in Florida Murder Case
On Tuesday evening, October 28, 2025, the state of Florida is scheduled to carry out the execution of Norman Mearle Grim Jr., 65, for the brutal rape and murder of his next-door neighbour, Cynthia Campbell, in Pensacola nearly three decades ago. The date marks a grim milestone for Florida’s death-penalty system, as the state approaches 15 executions in a single year — nearly double its previous post-1976 annual record.
The Crime and Conviction
In July 1998, Campbell, then 41 and practicing law in Pensacola, called 911 after one of the windows in her house had been smashed. According to archived press reports, a deputy arrived and found Grim outside her home. He claimed he was investigating a barking dog. While the deputy was still at the scene, Grim invited Campbell to his home for coffee; the deputy encouraged her to go. Campbell accepted.
Once inside, prosecutors say, Grim attacked. Campbell was bludgeoned some 18 times and stabbed 11 times — seven of those wounds pierced her heart. Her body was wrapped in carpet and sheets and dumped into Pensacola Bay, where a fisherman discovered it just hours later.
At trial, DNA and other physical evidence tied Grim to the crime. He was convicted of sexual battery and first-degree murder in December 2000, and a circuit judge described the crime as “savagely brutal” and “senseless.” Grim refused to present any mitigating evidence during the penalty phase, and he later declined to fight his execution.
The Victim
Cynthia Campbell was originally from Pittsburgh and, by all accounts, someone committed to helping others. Before becoming a lawyer, she had been a nurse until a shoulder injury forced a career change. Her parents stated that their only daughter “always wanted to help the underdog.”
During the trial, her family asked jurors to focus on Campbell’s personhood and not simply the manner of her death. “I would like you to know Cindy as a person, our only daughter,” her mother told jurors. “The important thing is that she has a face,” her father added.
The Defendant’s Criminal History
Long before the 1998 killing, Grim had a violent track record. About sixteen years earlier, he had been convicted for a one-day crime spree: kidnapping a woman early in the morning, breaking into homes and injuring a woman, and attempting to kidnap a 14-year-old girl.
At the time of the Campbell murder, he was on parole for burglary. Prosecutors cited this prior history as an aggravating factor that supported the death sentence.
Execution and its Significance
If carried out, Grim’s execution will be the 15th in Florida in 2025 — surpassing the state’s previous highest annual total of eight, reached in 1984 and again in 2014. Nationwide, it would make Grim the 41st person executed in the United States this year — a number not seen since 2012.
The execution is scheduled for 6 p.m. Eastern Time at the Florida Department of Corrections execution chamber at Florida State Prison near Raiford (sometimes cited as “near Starke”). Grim declined final appeals and waived further legal challenges, effectively consenting to the timing of the execution.
Florida’s Death-penalty Landscape
Florida’s use of the death penalty has accelerated in recent years. Since the reinstatement of capital punishment in 1976, the state has executed over 120 individuals and currently holds more than 250 offenders on death row.
In 2025, Florida leads all states in the number of executions scheduled and carried out. Experts attribute the uptick to a confluence of factors: state law changes, pardons and commutations becoming less likely, and a federal and state political climate more supportive of capital punishment.
Questions Ahead
The case poses several questions that stretch beyond the individual crime:
What does the scheduling of so many executions in one year say about Florida’s justice system and its use of the death penalty?
How do the victim’s story and memory get preserved in the context of a rapidly increasing pace of executions?
What implications does a waiver of all appeals by the condemned (as with Grim) have for justice, closure and the rights of victims’ families?
With more executions looming in Florida, how might the state’s record-setting year affect public perception, legal challenges and policy debates?
As the clock ticks toward Grim’s scheduled execution, the case of Norman Mearle Grim Jr. remains emblematic of some of the most contentious debates in criminal justice today — about the death penalty’s efficacy, its fairness, and the balance between retribution, closure and due process.