Stop the Execution of Thomas Overton

Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Board of Executive Clemency

Gov. DeSantis has signed a death warrant for Thomas Mitchell Overton, setting his execution for Thursday, November 19 at 6:00 pm. Mr. Overton was sentenced to death by non-unanimous jury votes for the 1991 murders of Susan and Michael MacIvor and has maintained his innocence for over 30 years.

Please sign this petition urging Governor DeSantis and the Florida Board of Executive Clemency to stop this execution, investigate the serious issues that have emerged surrounding this investigation and case, and choose truth and justice over another execution.

This page will be updated as more information becomes available. Last updated November 1, 2026

To: Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Board of Executive Clemency
From: [Your Name]

We urge you to stop the November 19 execution of Thomas Mitchell Overton and order a full, independent review of his innocence claim. His case raises serious questions about evidence tampering, mishandled DNA evidence, and untested evidence that could identify the people responsible for the murders of Susan and Michael MacIvor.

Mr. Overton has maintained his innocence for more than three decades. His attorneys have documented extraordinary failures in the investigation: crime scene evidence was taken to a forensic investigator’s home, stored in his personal refrigerator, and handed to a psychic. Signatures on evidence seals were falsified, and crucial samples went undocumented for more than 600 days. These failures undermine confidence in the evidence used to convict him.

The DNA evidence deserves particular scrutiny. His attorneys contend that sperm attributed to Mr. Overton was found on a mattress pad beneath a fitted sheet, raising serious questions about how it got there. Evidence of a chemical associated with spermicidal condoms supports their contention that the sample could have been planted. A DNA match cannot establish guilt when there are unresolved questions about how the biological material reached the crime scene.

Meanwhile, hair recovered from the tape binding one of the victims remains untested. Mr. Overton has repeatedly sought additional DNA testing. Florida should exhaust every opportunity to establish the truth before carrying out an irreversible punishment. The MacIvor family deserves a reliable account of what happened to their loved ones.

Mr. Overton is also a survivor of Florida’s notorious Dozier School for Boys. You signed legislation compensating survivors of abuse at Dozier, acknowledging the state’s responsibility for the harm inflicted on children in its custody. That acknowledgment must extend to how Florida treats those survivors today, including a man facing execution whose innocence claim remains unresolved.

We ask you to halt Mr. Overton’s execution, ensure that all available evidence receives appropriate testing, and order an independent investigation into the allegations of evidence tampering and misconduct. Florida must not execute him while these fundamental questions remain unanswered.