Mentally Ill Man Executed in Florida

Supreme Court dismissed appeal

A mentally ill man who claimed to be "the Prince of God" has been executed in Florida for the murders of eight people in the late 1970s.

John Errol Ferguson, a paranoid schizophrenic, was declared dead from lethal injection at 6.17pm local time on Monday.

He made a brief statement in front of 25 witnesses.

"I just want everyone to know that I am the prince of God and will rise again," he said calmly before receving the injection.

Three minutes into the procedure, he moved his head, strained his neck, moved his feet, put his head back down and closed his eyes.

The entire process took 16 minutes.