Willie Jasper Darden Jr. (June 1, 1933 – March 15, 1988) was an American man who was executed in Florida for murder during the course of a robbery.

After being discharged, Darden had trouble finding work and was eventually rearrested for cashing a bad check.

Until the murder in 1973, Darden was repeatedly in and out of prison for a variety of crimes, including assault, forgery, theft, and attempted rape.

[1][2] On September 8, 1973, at a time police estimated to be between 6:00 and 6:30 p.m., there was a robbery of a Carl's Furniture Store, located in Lakeland, Florida.

While he was in jail for the traffic violation, investigators tied Darden to the murder of Turman as well as a string of similar robberies and assaults in the area.

[4] The state had intentionally excluded black people from serving on the jury, a practice that was later declared unconstitutional in 1986, and a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Harry Blackmun, would later declare that the jury selection in Darden's case was improper and violated his constitutional rights.

Both the victim's minister and Bass gave affidavits that would have helped Darden with constructing his alibi.

[3] Nevertheless, on January 23, 1974, Willie Darden was convicted of the murder and robbery of James Carl Turman.

Darden had his first execution date set for Wednesday, May 23, 1979, on the same day as fellow death row inmate John Spenkelink.

Another death warrant scheduled Darden's execution for September 2, 1985, and even though the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his request for a stay of execution that evening, they later agreed to grant Darden a petition for writ of certiorari six hours before he was scheduled to be electrocuted.

However, newly elected Florida governor Bob Martinez signed Darden's seventh death warrant in early 1988.

Kershaw told radio presenter Simon Mayo in 1989, "For reasons she didn't really understand, Elisabeth began to write to him in prison and he wrote back.