Louis Gaskin

Louis Bernard Gaskin (March 11, 1967 – April 12, 2023) was an American serial killer who was executed in Florida for the 1989 murders of Robert and Georgette Sturmfels in Palm Coast. He was also convicted of the attempted murders of Joseph and Mary Rector, and the murder of Charles Martin Miller in 1986. He was popularly known as the Ninja Killer because he dressed in a full black ninja outfit to avoid identification. He was executed on April 12, 2023, at the age of 56.

Murders On the night of December 20, 1989, Gaskin walked up to the Palm Coast home (at the time, unincorporated Flagler County) of 56-year-old Robert and 55-year-old Georgette Sturmfels with a .22 caliber rifle and wearing a complete black ninja outfit to avoid identification. Gaskin circled the home to the back window, where Robert was sitting in a recliner, and Georgette sat on the sofa. Gaskin fired his gun, shooting Robert five times, killing him, and shooting Georgette once.

When the murders became public, Gaskin became a suspect almost immediately after his girlfriend's cousin implicated Gaskin in the killings, saying that Gaskin came home soon after the killings and said he was wrapping some "presents." However, he later confessed to the murders and said the killings were completely random. He confessed in a taped statement to having urges to kill. He also confessed to killing Charles Martin Miller on November 20, 1986. After a search of Gaskin's home, the "presents" were determined to be from the Sturmfels' property. After a two-month trial in July 1990, Gaskin was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder, and he was given two death sentences. In 2002, Gaskin unsuccessfully tried to appeal his sentence. He was incarcerated at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida from his arrest up until his execution, 34 years later.