Sheriff Recounts Couey Case

Special Report: Previous Stories, Photos, Timeline

INVERNESS - After John Couey was sentenced to death and before he was whisked away in the darkness of night and taken to his death row cell on Monday, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy confronted him.

John Couey

"One of the things I told him was, "You know, John, it's your responsibility and nobody else's,' "' Dawsy said he told the 49-year-old man responsible for the kidnapping, rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford.

"Quit blaming other people," Dawsy said he told Couey.

Dawsy said Couey dug a hole before abducting the girl, signaling his intentions.

"He went there premeditated," Dawsy said. "He had gloves on his hands. He left that dirt spot on the pillowcase. That dirt spot came from digging that hole before he went over there."

Dawsy and his detectives were criticized when a judge threw out Couey's confession because he had asked for a lawyer during questioning but was not granted one.

Jessica Lunsford

It didn't affect the outcome of the trial. Couey was sentenced to death Friday for the murder of 9-year-old Jessica in February 2005 in Homosassa.

"There are cases that scar you forever," Dawsy said. "This is one of them."

After the sentencing, Dawsy said he told Couey to look him in the face.

"If he wanted to become a man, I told him, he should defer from any appeals other than the automatic ones," Dawsy said.

Meanwhile, Couey arrived at Florida State Prison in Starke on Monday afternoon.

He will spend 23 hours a day alone in a 6-by-9-foot cell awaiting execution, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said.

Couey will have one hour in a recreation yard three days a week, and there will be no added security for Couey, Plessinger said. She said inmates are told to inform prison officials if they feel threatened or unsafe.

"If he had received a life sentence and was with the general population, there certainly would be a concern," she said. "On death row, security is so tight anyway."

Plessinger said the agency has handled other high-profile inmates, including serial killers Ted Bundy and Danny Rolling.

It's after the execution that Couey will meet his punishment for a heinous crime, Dawsy said.

"I told him, "When you meet the Almighty, it's at that time the Almighty will administer your true fate," Dawsy said.