Execution Scheduled in Pinellas County Murder

Larry Eugene Mann, 59, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday for the 1980 kidnapping and murder of a 10-year-old Pinellas County girl.

The Florida Supreme Court has rejected Mann's appeal for a stay of his execution by lethal injection, the Tampa Bay Times reports. Mann's legal team had argued unsusccessfully that Mann had reformed in prison and was a role model among inmates.

Elisa Nelson was bicycling to school in November 1980 when she was kidnapped by Mann. Her body was found in an orange grove.

She had died from a skull fracture by a single blow from what was believed to be a cement-encased steel pipe found at the scene.

In an article that ran April 7, 2013, in the Tampa Bay Times, Elisa's murder was described as one of the most horrific crimes in Pinellas County history.

Mann, who had prior arrests for sexually assaulting children, was linked to the crime when his wife found a blood-stained letter from Elisa's mom that the child was carrying to her Palm Harbor school when she was kidnapped.

On the day Elisa was murdered Mann had tried to kill himself.

Mann has filed several previous appeals from the Florida State Prison since he was convicted on March 26, 1981.

Gov. Rick Scott signed his death warrant on March 1.

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