Mrs. Florence Irene Honeycutt age 38, Killed by her husband John Thomas Honeycutt age 32.
he was an auto mechanic, this was his fourth marriage. she was a waitress and this was her third marriage.
In late September 1945, John Honeycutt returned to his estranged wife Florence's stepfather's restaurant, visibly intoxicated. Despite Florence's stepfather's repeated requests for him to leave, Honeycutt lingered for over an hour. Frustrated, her stepfather ultimately called the police, leading to Honeycutt's arrest for drunkenness. He pleaded guilty to the charge and spent approximately three days in jail, marking a troubling escalation in his behavior.
The following encounter between Honeycutt and Florence took place on November 12, 1945. On that day, he began drinking early, starting at 9:30 a.m. Shortly before 6 p.m., he arrived at the small frame cottage at 8879 Glen Oaks Blvd in Roscoe, California, where Florence lived with her parents. Although Florence’s mother informed him that she was not home, Florence appeared on the back porch, and the two engaged in a brief conversation in a low, normal tone. During this exchange, she handed him six or seven dollars before he left. Immediately after his departure, Florence’s stepfather took precautionary measures by barricading the front door with a chair wedged under the doorknob. Meanwhile, Honeycutt went to a bar, where he consumed "10 or 15 beers" and purchased a bottle of muscatel wine, most of which he drank, setting the stage for the tragic events that would follow.
Shortly after 7 p.m., John Honeycutt returned to the home of his estranged wife, Florence, and knocked firmly at the back door. When her stepfather refused to let him in, Honeycutt demanded that Florence return to live with him. Frustrated, he moved to the kitchen window, where the stepfather instructed him to "get away from here." Honeycutt responded with threats, declaring, "I am coming in... You big fat-bellied son of a bitch, if you don't come outside... I am coming in... I will kill you." In a fit of rage, he moved to the front porch and hurled a gallon jar containing ferns through the living room window.
In anticipation of Honeycutt's violent intentions, Florence's stepfather armed himself with a three-inch square "meat tenderizer" mallet, positioning himself inside the window. The jar struck him in the stomach as Honeycutt shattered the window, knocking glass shards from the sash with a flower pot. As he climbed through the broken window, he was met by the stepfather’s attempt to defend himself. A struggle ensued, during which Honeycutt kicked the older man, who was 62 years old and physically impaired, in the stomach, sending him crashing to the floor. The force of the fall caused the stepfather to collide with Florence's mother, also knocking her down.
Despite the stepfather’s desperate attempts to restrain him, Honeycutt managed to overpower him, kicking repeatedly and rendering him unable to defend himself. The stepfather recounted, “He grabbed me by one foot, and he kept kicking me in the stomach with the other one... I couldn’t hold him any longer, because he kept kicking me and knocked the wind out of me.” Taking advantage of the chaos, Honeycutt pushed through the living room and bathroom, ultimately making his way to the bedroom where Florence was hiding.
While the violent confrontation unfolded, Mr. Harris managed to crawl to a door, reach his car, and race away from the house to summon the police. Inside, Florence's mother, Mrs. Harris, got up and entered the bedroom, where she saw her daughter standing with Honeycutt. Although they were engaged in conversation, she could not discern their words. Honeycutt held a wine bottle that was approximately one-quarter full. Alarmed, Mrs. Harris ordered him to leave, but instead of complying, he struck her. In a desperate attempt to deter Honeycutt, she made the sign of the cross, but this religious gesture only seemed to fuel his anger further. Honeycutt declared his intentions, stating, “I am here to get Florence, and I’m going to get her.” In response, Florence asked, “Johnny, what did you do such a terrible thing for?” Her mother was unable to hear Honeycutt's reply.
As the tense situation escalated, Honeycutt and Florence moved into an adjoining room. He took hold of her wrist, prompting her to plead, “Don’t, Johnny, you are hurting me.” They walked toward the door leading to the kitchen, but suddenly Florence stopped. In a shocking turn, Honeycutt struck her on the head with the wine bottle. She staggered and fell to the floor, lying motionless. In a horrifying display of violence, Honeycutt choked her and then jumped on her head and body multiple times. Mrs. Harris, witnessing the attack, tried to intervene by scratching his face and pulling his hair. He threatened her, saying, “Get out of my way, or I will kill you and throw your body on top of hers.”
After leaving the bedroom, Honeycutt moved into the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers in a frantic search. When Mrs. Harris inquired about what he was looking for, he curtly dismissed her with the words, “Never mind.” Paralyzed by fear and sensing the escalating violence, she made the decision to flee the house, desperate to escape the turmoil that had engulfed her home.
In a signed statement later, Honeycutt recounted the brutal attack on his wife. He admitted to using a heavy sausage grinder, which he had retrieved from the kitchen, to repeatedly strike Florence on the head. He inflicted severe blows to her skull and face, knocking out three of her teeth in the process. He continued the assault relentlessly, expressing frustration that she wouldn’t succumb to his violence: “I hit her over the head with the meat grinder, and she wouldn’t die. I hit her again, and she wouldn’t die. I hit her and hit her, and she wouldn’t die!” His chilling admission revealed the depths of his rage and the extent of the brutality he unleashed upon her.
As Florence continued to moan, Honeycutt became increasingly agitated. Determined to finish the gruesome act he had begun, he systematically searched through the kitchen drawers for a knife. In a fit of rage, he found a bone-handled carving knife and unleashed a torrent of violence upon her. In a final, desperate attempt to end her life, he cut her throat five times, then tore open her clothing. With chilling brutality, he slashed her from the pubic symphysis to just below her breasts, declaring, “I got the butcher knife and ripped her open, but still she would not die.”
In a horrific display of violence, he disemboweled her, pulling her intestines out with his bare hands. He also inflicted deep cuts on her thighs while her elderly mother, Mrs. Harris, looked on in horror, paralyzed by the scene unfolding before her. Crouched near her daughter's mutilated body, she was helpless to intervene. Overcome with fear, Mrs. Harris attempted to escape to the telephone to call for help, but by the time the police arrived, Florence's body had been horrifically torn apart by the butcher knife.
The officers, along with Florence's stepfather, returned to the residence around 7:25 p.m. As they approached the house, they glimpsed through the glass of the door a chilling sight: Honeycutt rising from the spot where, they would later determine, Florence's dismembered body lay in the living room. Body parts were scattered throughout the kitchen, and beside the gruesome scene, her mother knelt on the floor, hysterical with fear, praying in despair for the salvation of her daughter.
As the officers opened the door, they found Honeycutt walking into the kitchen, calmly carrying the meat grinder. He began to wash the grinder and his bloodied hands at the sink when they apprehended him. The scene was grotesque: a bent and bloodied butcher knife lay partially concealed beneath a pile of clothing on the floor near Florence’s dismembered body. Fragments of a broken wine bottle, marked with the label “Muscatel,” were scattered on the floor. Although Honeycutt had clearly been drinking, he did not appear to be intoxicated. A superficial cut, approximately half an inch long, adorned his head, likely a nick he had sustained during his violent frenzy.
On both the night of November 12 and the following day, November 13, Honeycutt made multiple statements to the police, admitting that the murder was premeditated. He expressed a chilling hope that he would receive the death penalty for his actions. When questioned about his motives, he refused to provide a rationale, stating, “I've been intending to kill her for weeks. I'm a murderer. I killed my wife, and it’s no business of yours why I did it. Sure I killed her. I’m not insane or even excited; it’s nobody’s business but ours. I’m ready to take the consequences for killing her.” He recounted an encounter from the previous day when Florence had given him $7 and told him to leave. He took the money, spent it on "a few beers and a bottle of Muscatel wine" at a local bar, and, emboldened by alcohol, returned to confront her again. “I bought a few beers and came back to her house,” he remarked.
Honeycutt explained that he repeatedly attacked Florence in various brutal ways because “she was still breathing and moaning... she still seemed to be alive. ... She wouldn’t die.” After his arrest, he inquired "ten or twelve times on the way to the station" whether the police were certain that she was dead. When they confirmed that she was indeed dead, he remarked, “Well, I did a good job, didn’t I?” This chilling statement revealed his complete lack of remorse and the twisted satisfaction he derived from his heinous act.
Upon arriving at the police station, Honeycutt unexpectedly expressed a desire to make a statement, indicating that he would like representatives from the press to be present to share his story. Although he had previously recounted the details of the killing twice, he had consistently refused to reveal any motivations behind his actions, insisting that the reason was "a secret that I will take to my grave."
However, at the station, Honeycutt not only reiterated his account of the murder but also provided additional information in a written statement. After reviewing and signing this document, he disclosed that one of the motivations for his premeditated actions was his belief that his wife had been intimate with her stepfather. This revelation added a layer of complexity to the crime, illustrating the underlying emotions and betrayals that may have fueled his violent outburst.
In his signed statement, Honeycutt was asked whether the killing was influenced by his previous arrest for drunkenness, to which he replied, “It was the arrest and by him being intimate with her. It was both.” He recounted a conversation with the stepfather, asserting, “I even told him that the next time I was arrested I would be arrested for a good charge. I kept my word. Too bad I didn't kill him too.” He indicated that his thoughts had been building up to this moment, stating, “Last week I thought it over, but tonight it came to the climax.”
The interrogation included a series of questions and answers that further clarified his intentions. When asked if he had planned to kill his wife before drinking, he responded, “Definitely,” and confirmed that he began drinking that morning at 9:30. “Yes, absolutely, when I was sober,” he reiterated when asked if his plan predated his drinking. The officer then inquired if there was anything else he wanted to add, to which Honeycutt remarked, “I don't know; I don't see anything that would help me, because I'm going. I know that.” The officer clarified that his statement was made freely, to which Honeycutt acknowledged, “Yes, I asked to make the statement, didn't I?” He expressed his willingness to sign the document, saying, “Yes, if everything is there that I brought up, yes. Why shouldn't I? I'm gone anyway.”
During his testimony, Honeycutt did not dispute the details of his earlier statements. However, he claimed to have little recollection of specific events from that night, stating that he could not recall why he returned to Florence's family home. He also indicated he did not remember communicating with her stepfather through the kitchen window but recalled breaking the front window with the jar and flower pot. His memory became hazy after that moment, as he described feeling as though he had been struck on the head before seeing his wife lying there, wounded and cut.
In response to specific inquiries, Honeycutt claimed he did not remember striking Florence or “doing anything to her.” However, when confronted with his signed statement detailing the violence inflicted upon her with a sausage grinder, his fists, and his feet—stamping on her ribs, face, and stomach—he offered an explanation. He acknowledged, “I remember very well making a statement to that effect,” attributing his recollection to the presence of the meat grinder and butcher knife at the scene. He reasoned that anyone who saw those weapons could infer how brutally the body had been mistreated.
Honeycutt further explained that he concluded he must have jumped on her body because his feet were sore and he noticed blood on his shoes and the lower portions of his trouser legs. Regarding his earlier assertion that the killing was “planned and premeditated, move by move,” he clarified, “after realizing what I had done, I wanted to die. ... As far as planning it, I never had.” During cross-examination, he maintained that he had never accused Florence's stepfather of being intimate with her and insisted he did not harbor any ill will towards him on any account. This contradiction raised questions about his motives and the validity of his claims during his testimony.
The courtroom sat in stunned silence, hanging on every word as the grim story of the slaying was revealed. The jury, visibly shaken, deliberated for only three minutes before returning with a homicide verdict and recommending that Honeycutt be held accountable for his actions. On November 15, 1945, he was formally charged with the murder of his wife.
Deputy District Attorney Don Avery introduced Honeycutt’s signed confession as evidence, which included the accusation against Harris for having him arrested on a drunkenness charge. Detective Lieutenant E.T. Johnstone testified that Harris had been questioned thoroughly about Honeycutt’s allegations of inappropriate relations with his stepdaughter. Harris vehemently denied the accusations, dismissing them as baseless lies.
The preliminary hearing for John Honeycutt was scheduled for November 21, 1945, by Municipal Judge Robert Clifton in the San Fernando Valley court. Honeycutt informed the court that he had no means to hire a lawyer, prompting the judge to appoint public defender James J. Sresovich to represent him. After the brief proceedings, Honeycutt, shackled and under heavy guard, was returned to the county jail to await the hearing.
During the hearing, Florence’s stepfather, Frank Harris, took the stand as a key witness. He became visibly emotional and broke down in tears when presented with a photograph of his stepdaughter’s mutilated body. Harris, overwhelmed by grief, struggled to speak and revealed that he couldn’t bring himself to repeat the cruel words Honeycutt had uttered to him before the attack.
Honeycutt’s defense attorney, Sresovich, raised the issue of his client’s mental state, questioning both Harris and responding officer R.V. Williams. He inquired whether they were aware that Honeycutt had been confined to mental institutions on two separate occasions. Sresovich also highlighted Honeycutt’s past convictions for burglary and grand larceny, which had led to his confinement in hospitals for mental cases in Washington and Nevada.
Although John Honeycutt's arraignment before the Superior Court was initially scheduled for December 7, 1945, it was delayed until December 12. During this hearing, he appeared before Superior Judge William R. McKay and entered a dual plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity for the murder of his wife.
In February 1946, an insanity hearing was held with Superior Court Judge Walter S. Gates presiding. The jury, composed of seven women and five men, deliberated for only 20 minutes before returning a guilty verdict. They determined that Honeycutt was sane at the time of the murder. Since the jury did not recommend clemency, the law mandated a death sentence. In October 1946, Judge Gates formally sentenced Honeycutt to die in the San Quentin gas chamber on January 3, 1947. Honeycutt, showing no visible emotion as his sentence was read, quietly thanked Judge Gates for sentencing him to death. He simply said, "Thank you," as sheriff's deputies led him back to his cell.
On September 20, Honeycutt's conviction was upheld by the State Supreme Court. Reflecting on his actions during the trial, Honeycutt stated, "When I realized that I killed the only thing I ever loved, I only wanted to die."
While on death row, John Honeycutt wrote to Judge Gates, requesting that his execution date be set as soon as possible. However, on December 30, 1946, Governor Earl Warren extended his reprieve from January 3 to February 7. This action came at the request of Richard A. McGee, the state director of corrections, who stated that additional time was needed to conduct a test of Honeycutt's sanity. Honeycutt had been held in the psychiatric ward at San Quentin for observation but had refused to submit to an examination by state psychiatrists.
On February 7, 1947, Honeycutt was executed in San Quentin's lethal gas chamber, becoming the first person to die there that year. He also became the first man in six years at San Quentin to request a blindfold before his execution. Despite going to his death, Honeycutt never revealed the exact reason for killing his wife, maintaining his resolve with the statement, "I'll never tell why I did it." At 10:02 a.m., cyanide pellets were dropped into the gas chamber, and Honeycutt was pronounced dead at 10:12 a.m. According to Warden Clinton Duffy, Honeycutt remained calm throughout the process. He had eaten a light breakfast of eggs and coffee after a restless night with little sleep. Before his execution, he received spiritual consolation from the Catholic chaplain, Reverend Dan McAllister.
11/13/1945 - Roscoe, California.
Honeycutt - ex-convict found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to death in the San Quentin Lethal Gas Chamber 2/14/1946. He was executed 2/7/1947 in San Quentin.
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