PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla — It's been more than 34 years since a Tampa Bay teenager was brutally murdered.
Shelly Boggio's murder is known as one of the most violent crimes in Pinellas County history. Court documents say Boggio was beaten, choked, stabbed 31 times and held underwater until she drowned.
Two men were convicted of her murder -- Jack Pearcy and James Dailey. But, only Dailey is sitting on Florida's death row.
Pearcy and Dailey were both tried by a jury in separate trials and both were convicted of first-degree murder in 1987 for Boggio’s death. Dailey got death, but Pearcy was sentenced to life in prison.
Now, attorneys and advocates say Dailey is innocent and are fighting to save him from execution before it's too late.
Gov. Ron DeSantis in September signed a death warrant for Dailey, 73. The execution was originally set for Nov. 7 at Florida State Prison. However, a Federal District Court Judge issued a temporary stay of execution that lifts on December 30.
Josh Dubin and other advocates with the Innocence Project are seeking a clemency hearing to present Mr. Dailey’s case of innocence.
"He(Pearcy) said he acted alone and James Dailey wasn’t involved because it’s the truth," Dubin said.
Dubin met Dailey face-to-face this week in prison.
"It was somber and it was emotional, yet there's this interesting resilience and a flicker of hope that the governor will listen, that the clemency board will listen," Dubin said.
Law enforcement never found any physical, forensic or eyewitness evidence connecting Dailey to Boggio's murder.
Dailey was convicted largely on testimony from three jailhouse informants who claimed Dailey shared graphic details of the murder. According to the Innocence Project, one of those informants is Paul Skalnik, a serial jailhouse "snitch," child sex offender and con man.
"The key evidence that they used to come up with that conviction was Paul Skalnik, period," Dubin said.
Dubin believes detectives went fishing for inmates that would say Dailey confessed.
"He (Skalnik) was known throughout the jail as someone who was trying to make deals for himself to get himself out of trouble," Dubin said.
Boggio's family doesn't buy it. Her cousin, Andrea Boggio, plans on traveling from Michigan to Starke, Fla., if and when Dailey is executed.
"It needs to end. We need justice. Her life needed to matter. She was only 14," Andrea Boggio said.
She says it’s a shame the majority of their other immediate family members could not live long enough to see justice in Boggio’s death.
She says she believes the inmates who claimed they overheard Dailey confessing to the crime. As for Pearcy’s confession as the lone killer, Andrea Boggio argues it’s all a game to him.
“I think that he’s trying to be some kind of Jonny bad*** in prison because he has life, he’s not getting out, he wants to claim the murder. I think they both did it,” she said.
Dailey's legal team is begging DeSantis for a clemency hearing before the December 30 extension expires. If that doesn't happen, the governor is free to sign another death warrant to execute James Dailey.
Florida has a history of wrongfully convicting innocent people and sentencing them to death. Florida currently leads the nation with the most death penalty exonerations of any state.
Nearly 25% of Florida death row inmates have been exonerated due to wrongful convictions since 1976.
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