Fort Pierce man on death row for 40 years dies awaiting execution in Frances Slater murder

A former Fort Pierce man, sentenced three times to death for the 1982 murder of a Stuart convenience store clerk, died in prison this month after spending 40 years on Florida’s death row, state officials confirmed.

What happened: Alphonso Cave was 64 when he died in custody on Aug. 3, according to Florida Department of Corrections records. He’d been living at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, awaiting execution since Dec. 17, 1982.

In 2020, the Florida Supreme Court denied Cave’s renewed bid to undergo a new sentencing hearing.

The crime: Cave was 23 on April 27, 1982 when he and three other men drove to a Stuart convenience store where 18-year-old Frances Julia Slater was the lone clerk inside, sweeping the floor. Slater was the granddaughter of outboard motor magnate Ralph Evinrude and singer Frances Langford, both deceased.

Cave held Slater at gunpoint and stole $134 from the store.

The murder: Cave and accomplices J.B. “Pig” Parker, Terry Wayne "Bo Gator" Johnson and John Earl Bush abducted Slater, took her to a rural area, where Bush stabbed her in the stomach, and then Parker shot her in the back of the head, according to court records.

The men dumped Slater’s body on a remote roadway.

The punishment: All four men were convicted of kidnapping, murder and other charges. Bush was executed in 1996.

In March, Parker, 60, who had twice been sentenced to death, was ordered to serve life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. State prosecutors opted not to seek the death penalty a third time after time had ravaged their case and the evidence they could present to a jury.

Johnson, 66, was released from a life prison sentence in 2008 and was under community supervision before being arrested in November 2022 on drug possession charges in St. Lucie County. That case is pending.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of "Uncertain Terms," a true-crime podcast. Reach her at  melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com. If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Alphonso Cave, sentenced to death in 1982, died in prison Aug. 3.