Samuel Lee Smithers | Florida’s Deacon of Death Unmasked

Samuel Lee Smithers, a Florida church deacon with a double life, lived in prayer by day and committed murder by night. Behind his pious smile and sermons on salvation hid a man capable of unimaginable violence – a so-called “Deacon of Death” who beat, strangled, and drowned two women before dumping their bodies in a rural pond.

Samuel Lee Smithers

American Murderer

Last updated: October 15, 2025

Samuel Lee Smithers | Deacon of Death

• Full Name: Samuel Lee Smithers
• Known Victims: 2 confirmed – Christie “Christy” Cowan and Denise Roach
• Method of Killing: Beating, axe strikes and strangulation; bodies submerged in a pond
• Location: Plant City, Hillsborough County, Florida
• Capture Date: May 28, 1996
• Convictions: Two counts of first-degree murder (1998)
• Execution Date: October 14, 2025 (Florida State Prison, Starke)

⚖️ Execution Update | Samuel Lee Smithers (Florida)

• Date: October 14, 2025
• Time: 6:15 p.m. ET (pronounced dead)
• Location: Florida State Prison, Starke (Florida execution chamber)
• Method: Lethal injection
• Crime: 1996 murders of Christy Cowan and Denise Roach (east Hillsborough County)
• Last Meal: Fried chicken, fried fish, baked potato, apple pie with vanilla ice cream, sweet tea
• Final Statement: None (responded only, “No, sir,” when asked if he had last words)
• Remains: Florida has not reported what happened to his body; under state practice, unclaimed prisoners are buried in the Florida State Prison cemetery under a simple concrete marker.

Classification & Characteristics

Samuel Lee Smithers, often called the “Deacon of Death”, is classified as a predatory double murderer with indicators of serial tendencies. Outwardly, he was a devout Baptist deacon and family man – an image of righteousness in his small Florida church. Privately, he led a depraved existence, frequenting red-light districts and luring sex workers to their deaths under false pretenses. His ability to maintain this façade for years reveals a chilling combination of charm, deceit, and control – traits common in organized, socially adept offenders.

Psychologically, Smithers demonstrated a calculated, sadistic pattern of violence. He preyed on vulnerable women, isolated them on a property he maintained for a trusting church acquaintance, and killed with brutal precision – using blunt force and strangulation before dumping the bodies in a pond. His earlier arson convictions in Tennessee for burning churches exposed an underlying contempt for the sacred long before the murders. Behind every hymn he sang in church, there echoed a darker confession – one that would only surface once the water gave up its dead.

Timeline of the Samuel Lee Smithers Case →

• 1953: Born in Tennessee.
• 1980: Convicted of arson for burning churches while serving as a volunteer firefighter.
• 1989: Linked later to the unsolved murder of sex worker Marcelle Delano (never charged).
• May 12, 1996: Murder of Denise Roach; body dumped in a pond.
• May 28, 1996: Murder of Christie Cowan; both bodies discovered on the same property.
• December 1998: Convicted on two counts of first-degree murder.
• 1999: Sentenced to death; judge cites “extremely torturous” killings.
• 2025: Execution carried out by lethal injection at age 72.

🕊️Victims of Samuel Lee Smithers

• Christy (Cristy) Cowan – Discovered in May 1996 in a pond on a rural Plant City property where Smithers worked. Medical examiner: death by strangulation combined with chop wounds. CC Frontend Template
• Denise Roach – Recovered from the same pond; body had been submerged 7–10 days. Medical examiner: death from the combined effects of strangulation, stab wounds, and blunt head trauma. CC Frontend Template

Note on spelling: Florida Supreme Court records use “Cristy Cowan,” while news reports commonly use “Christy Cowan.” Both refer to the same victim. CC Frontend Template+2apnews.com+2

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Samuel Lee Smithers | Deacon of Death

👉 The Story

The Double Life of a Church Deacon

Samuel Lee Smithers lived a disturbing double life. On Sundays he was a respected church deacon at a Baptist congregation – a quietly devout middle-aged man who volunteered in prayer groups and mingled easily with pastors and parishioners. To those around him, Smithers seemed the epitome of virtue and stability. He was a married father (his wife, Sharon, and their young son often by his side at church), and he even once served as a volunteer firefighter in his native Tennessee. But unbeknownst to his fellow worshippers, Smithers harbored a dark past and even darker impulses.

In 1980, he had been convicted of setting fire to churches in Tennessee – an almost unthinkable betrayal for a man of faith. Somehow, he kept that early crime hidden as he built a new life in Florida. By the mid-1990s, Smithers had cultivated a facade of the humble handyman and godly family man. He found work as a groundskeeper, mowing lawns and tending properties, and earned the trust of people like Marian Whitehurst – an elderly teacher from church who entrusted him with the care of her vacant farmhouse land. No one in Smithers’ circle suspected that this polite, 6’4” tall churchman – often soft-spoken and eager to help – was leading a sinister second life.

Behind the pious mask, Samuel Lee Smithers indulged in activities starkly at odds with his religious persona. He began frequenting seedy motels along East Tampa’s highway strips, cruising areas known for prostitution. It was here that Smithers’ two worlds fatally collided.

While holding Bible study one week and preaching abstinence, he was also arranging secret liaisons with sex workers the next. Smithers’ role as deacon gave him a cloak of respectability – he was even dubbed the “Deacon of Death” after his crimes came to light – and he leveraged that trust to avoid suspicion. But the devout exterior concealed a mounting predatory drive.

To fulfill his illicit desires, he identified vulnerable women working on the margins of society, lured them with cash for sex, and had them accompany him to an isolated property far from prying eyes. That property, surrounded by thick woods and murky ponds, became Smithers’ personal killing ground.

The same man who stood at the church pulpit by day would transform into a remorseless murderer by night. It was a Jekyll-and-Hyde existence so extreme that when the truth finally emerged, even those closest to him struggled to reconcile the two faces of Samuel Smithers.

A Body in the Pond

On May 28, 1996, a humid Florida evening, the ordinary calm of Marian Whitehurst’s rural property gave way to a nightmare. Whitehurst drove through the gate of her Plant City farmstead – a lonely, overgrown parcel dotted with oak trees and ponds – and immediately sensed something was wrong.

There was her handyman, Sam Smithers, sitting in her carport unexpectedly. As she stepped out of her car, Whitehurst saw Smithers holding an axe with nervous intensity, its blade glinting red with what looked like blood.

Startled, she demanded to know what was going on. Smithers, the ever-polite deacon, tried to remain composed. He claimed he was just trimming tree limbs on the property and blamed the blood on a small animal someone must have killed nearby. But as he spoke, Whitehurst’s eyes fell to a sticky crimson pool spreading on the concrete floor of the carport. The metallic tang of blood hung in the air. Smithers hastily assured her he’d clean up the mess, but Whitehurst’s instincts were screaming – something was terribly amiss.

Frightened, Whitehurst left as quickly as she could and phoned the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. A deputy arrived after nightfall to meet the shaken property owner and investigate the scene. In the interim, Smithers had vanished – and so had the pool of blood. The carport floor was wet and recently scrubbed.

For a moment, it seemed the eerie incident might go unexplained. But then the deputy’s flashlight beam swept across the ground and caught an unsettling sign: drag marks in the dirt, leading away from the carport into the dark brush.

Following the trail by flashlight, the officer and Whitehurst moved toward one of the on-site ponds, its still surface cloaked in night mist. There, near the reedy bank, they found what no one ever wants to see – the floating body of a woman. She was facedown in the stagnant water, her long hair fanned out and skin ghost-pale.

Investigators carefully pulled the waterlogged corpse ashore and noted the severe injuries: the woman had been beaten, strangled, and left to drown in the shallow pond. Whitehurst was horrified; the quiet sanctity of her property had been violated by unspeakable violence.

Samuel Lee Smithers | Deacon of Death

A Second Body

The police secured the scene and summoned a dive team. As dawn broke on May 29, divers probing the murky pond made a second grim discovery. Another body lay submerged not far from the first. This victim had been dead longer- the water’s decay made identification difficult – but soon fingerprints and dental records identified both women.

The first recovered was Christie Cowan, 31, a local mother of two who had only been missing for hours. The second was Denise “New York” Roach, 24, who had disappeared over two weeks prior. The gruesome findings hit the community hard: two women, murdered in the same fashion, hidden in an unsuspecting churchgoer’s pond.

Evidence at the scene rapidly pointed to the culprit. In the carport and house, forensic teams found blood traces and a discarded condom wrapper, linking the space to sexual activity and violence. Drag marks through the grass matched the path Smithers likely used to haul his victims to the water. By the pond, investigators retrieved an axe believed to be the murder weapon – the very one Whitehurst saw Smithers cleaning.

Later autopsies would confirm the horrific details: both women had suffered severe blunt force trauma (chop wounds consistent with an axe blade) and manual strangulation, with water in their lungs indicating they were still alive when dumped into the pond.

The idyllic farm property had become a dumping ground for a predator. Samuel Lee Smithers was promptly taken into custody that same day, his bloody secret finally dragged into the light along with the bodies of his victims.

The Investigation of Samuel Lee Smithers Unfolds

Samuel Smithers’ arrest marked the end of a deadly spree and the beginning of an intensive investigation that would expose the full scope of his crimes. In the immediate aftermath of the pond discovery, Smithers was brought to the Sheriff’s office for questioning.

At first, the 43-year-old maintained a facade of innocence, sticking to his implausible story that he knew nothing of the murders. Detectives noticed dried blood on his clothing and scratches on his arms, but Smithers concocted excuses.

Over an exhausting three-hour interrogation, his lies began to crumble. The next day, investigators administered a polygraph test, which indicated deception. Confronted with the results and mounting evidence, Smithers finally confessed to both murders.

In a cold, matter-of-fact tone, Samuel Lee Smithers described how he had picked up each woman at a motel for sex, then brutally attacked them on the property. However, even in confession Smithers downplayed his culpability – he claimed Denise Roach’s death was “accidental” (saying a falling plank struck her during a scuffle) and that Christie Cowan had “provoked” him by demanding money and throwing a drink.

These self-serving accounts failed to match the forensic reality. Nonetheless, his admissions were a major breakthrough. Detectives charged Smithers with two counts of first-degree murder and he was booked into the county jail to await trial.

As news of Smithers’ arrest spread, investigators dug deeper into his background. What emerged was a chilling portrait of a potential serial killer.

Authorities in Florida and Tennessee started comparing cold cases against Smithers’ known methods. One case immediately stood out: the unsolved November 1989 murder of Marcelle Delano, a 30-year-old prostitute whose body had been found beaten and dumped in water in the same general area of Plant City.

The similarities to Smithers’ crimes were unmistakable – the victim profile, the brutality, the dumping ground. In 2014, long after Smithers had been sent to death row, Hillsborough detectives formally identified him as the likely perpetrator of the Delano murder.

Smithers, informed of the suspicion, denied any involvement, but many in law enforcement believed they had quietly resolved another case. There were other red flags in his past too: his church-arson conviction in 1980 revealed a tendency toward destructive criminal behavior and former colleagues recalled how, years earlier, a rape investigation had once swirled around Smithers (though it did not lead to charges). All of these pieces painted a picture of a man who, for decades, hid violent urges behind a veneer of normalcy.

Meanwhile, forensic experts meticulously pieced together the physical evidence against Smithers. DNA testing confirmed that bloodstains in the carport matched Denise Roach, and shoe prints by the pond matched footwear seized from Smithers’ home. Fingerprints found inside the property’s house (on a kitchen surface) were identified as Smithers’ own.

Perhaps most damning, a surveillance tape from a convenience store showed Smithers and Christie Cowan together about an hour before Whitehurst encountered him at the farm on May 28. It was a timeline that left no room for an “unknown killer” to be responsible.

By the time the case headed to trial, prosecutors had assembled a compelling narrative of how this church deacon led a double life and executed a calculated plan to prey on women he viewed as expendable. The investigation had not only secured justice for Roach and Cowan, but it also peeled back the mask of Samuel Lee Smithers – revealing a remorseless killer who might well have continued to kill if fate (and a watchful property owner) hadn’t intervened.

Samuel Lee Smithers | Deacon of Death

A Killer Revealed

Samuel Lee Smithers’ trial in late 1998 revealed the stark reality of the man behind the mask. In the courtroom, the once-respected deacon sat at the defense table in a prison jumpsuit, a far cry from the suit-and-tie churchgoer his community knew.

The prosecution meticulously laid out their case, turning the spotlight on Smithers’ monstrous deeds. Jurors listened in horror as medical examiners described the victims’ injuries in graphic detail – Christie Cowan’s skull had been cleaved by an axe blade and her neck bruised from strangulation; Denise Roach’s face was smashed and punctured, her body decomposed from days in the pond.

Crime scene analysts and detectives testified how the evidence trail led straight to Smithers, from the blood in the carport to the video footage of Cowan with him on the night of her murder.

Perhaps most powerful was Smithers’ own taped confession, which jurors heard in his flat, emotionless voice. It was abundantly clear that the kindly church volunteer had methodically killed these women. The media dubbed him a “deacon turned serial predator,” and the community, especially members of his church, struggled to comprehend how they had been so deceived.

When it was the defense’s turn, they faced an uphill battle. Smithers’ attorneys argued that he had been under mental and emotional duress, painting a picture of an abusive childhood and claiming he suffered from undiagnosed disorders. They even brought Smithers himself to the stand as their star witness.

In a dramatic move, Smithers retracted his confession and spun a fantastical tale: he claimed an unknown transient had killed the women and that he’d merely been present at the wrong time. He blamed an imaginary “other man” for Christie Cowan’s murder, alleging this stranger forced him at gunpoint to help dispose of the body – a story so outlandish that it elicited gasps and head-shakes in court.

Under cross-examination, Smithers faltered; prosecutors confronted him with his prior admissions and the physical evidence. Observers noted that he often spoke about the victims with cold detachment, showing no remorse.

The façade of the genteel deacon crumbled completely when his ex-wife, Sharon, took the stand. She described a 23-year marriage in which Smithers had been, by all appearances, a good husband and father – a man who prayed at dinner and never raised his voice. Her voice trembled with confusion and disbelief. “I cannot believe he could do this,” she said tearfully, encapsulating the sentiment of everyone who once trusted Samuel Smithers.

The verdict, delivered on December 19, 1998, came as no surprise. The jury needed only 90 minutes to find Smithers guilty of first-degree murder for both Roach and Cowan.

In that moment, the full truth was laid bare: a wolf in sheep’s clothing had been unmasked. The man who had led prayers for others would now be praying for his own soul.

In post-trial interviews, some jurors admitted that Smithers’ deceit – using his church standing to hide such heinous acts – disturbed them almost as much as the murders themselves.

The community recoiled at the revelations; attendance at Smithers’ former church dwindled out of morbid curiosity and mistrust. Many asked how a killer had moved among them undetected. Yet, amid the shock and anger, there were also glimmers of grace: John Cowan, Christie’s grieving father, publicly forgave Smithers and even argued against seeking Smithers’ execution. “I don’t want to see another life taken,” he told reporters, in a remarkable display of compassion.

But the system would not be so lenient. The depth of Smithers’ betrayal and brutality had been laid plain for the world to see, and now justice demanded its due.

Trial, Sentence and Final Days

The penalty phase of Smithers’ trial was as dramatic as the guilt phase. After the guilty verdict, prosecutors pressed for the ultimate punishment, emphasizing the heinous, premeditated nature of the crimes and Smithers’ clear lack of remorse.

The defense pleaded for mercy, citing Smithers’ otherwise clean record since moving to Florida and calling a psychologist to testify that Smithers might be mentally ill. But these arguments did little to sway the jury.

In April 1999, they returned a unanimous recommendation: death for Samuel Lee Smithers on each count. When it came time for formal sentencing in June 1999, Judge William Fuente concurred wholeheartedly. In a packed Tampa courtroom, Judge Fuente pronounced two death sentences and lambasted Smithers for the “extremely torturous” manner of the killings. He listed the aggravating factors: the murders were committed during a sexual assault, were especially heinous and cruel, and were part of a common scheme.

The judge noted that Smithers had abused the trust given to him – by the victims who went with him expecting a transaction, and by the church friend who gave him access to her property.

As the judge spoke, Smithers stood motionless, clutching a Bible. When asked if he had anything to say, Smithers quietly replied that he was “sorry for what happened” – a vague statement that convinced few of his sincerity.

Moments later, he was led away in shackles, officially becoming Inmate 521256 on Florida’s Death Row.

📚 Additional Resources

• Samuel Lee Smithers – wikipedia
• Samuel Lee Smithers – wesh.com
• Samuel Lee Smithers – yahoo.com/news/

📚 Further Reading / Watching

• AP News – Florida man convicted of killing 2 women whose bodies were found in a pond is set to be executed (Oct 14, 2025)
• Murderpedia – Samuel Smithers
• WUSF News – Attorneys argue 72-year-old convicted of Hillsborough murders is too old to execute (Oct 9, 2025)
• Florida Supreme Court: Smithers v. State (2002)

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👉 This page is part of the WickedWe True Crime Archive – a resource for researchers, students, and true crime enthusiasts seeking verified facts, case records, and deeper historical context. [Disclaimer→ WickedWe.com is an educational/entertainment column only. No graphic imagery. Victim-respect policy. Nothing herein is legal advice.]

• “State to execute Plant City’s ‘Deacon of Death’ for murders of 2 women” – Tampa Bay Times
  • https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2025/10/14/samuel-lee-smithers-execution-hillsborough-plant-city-desantis-death-penalty/ Tampa Bay Times
• “Attorneys argue 72-year-old convicted of Hillsborough murders is too old to execute” – WUSF / News Service of Florida
  • https://www.wusf.org/courts-law/2025-10-09/attorneys-argue-72-year-old-convicted-hillsborugh-murders-is-too-old-execute WUSF
• “Smithers v. State – Florida Supreme Court Decisions” (Justia case summary and court opinion)
  • https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/2025/sc2025-1507.html Justia Law

Roll Card – Samuel Lee Smithers (FL)

• Status: Executed Oct 14, 2025, 6:15 p.m. ET (lethal injection) at Florida State Prison near Starke. AP News+1
• Warrant: Governor’s death warrant set the execution for Oct 14, 2025 at 6:00 p.m. ET; Florida Supreme Court expedited related filings. acis.flcourts.gov
• U.S. Supreme Court: Application for stay denied Oct 14, 2025; cert petition denied the same day. Supreme Court
• Method / Site: Lethal injection in FSP’s execution chamber; men on Florida Death Row are housed at Union Correctional Institution and moved to FSP for death watch and execution. Florida Department of Corrections+1

Docket Map – Key Filings & Decisions

• Direct appeal (Fla. 2002): Smithers v. State, convictions and death sentences affirmed. FSU Law Library
• Post-conviction (Fla. 2018): Relief denied (Rule 3.851). Justia Law
• Successive post-conviction (Fla. 2025): Age-based Eighth Amendment claim denied Oct 7, 2025. CC Frontend Template
• SCOTUS emergency (25A406): Stay denied Oct 14, 2025; linked case 25-5829 cert denied. Supreme Court
• Death-warrant tracker (Fla. Sup. Ct.): Shows SC2025-1507 with warrant scheduling info. CC Frontend Template

Execution Window Monitor

• Outcome: Carried out on Tuesday, Oct 14, 2025, 6:15 p.m. ET (curtain up 6:00 p.m.; no final statement). AP News
• Protocol: Florida’s current lethal-injection procedures (DOC manual). Florida Department of Corrections
• Context: News outlets confirm the execution and note Florida’s record pace in 2025. AP News+1

Case File Extras – Forensic Highlights (from the record)

• Victims: Christy (Christie) Cowan and Denise Roach (1996), bodies recovered from a rural pond in east Hillsborough County near Plant City. Tampa Bay Times
• Cause & manner: Medical testimony-strangulation plus sharp-force injuries; jury unanimous for death on both counts. Justia Law
• Nickname / background: Former church deacon; often referred to as the “Deacon of Death” in local coverage. Tampa Bay Times

Source Pack

• AP News (Oct 14, 2025) – Execution carried out; time and case recap. AP News
• Florida DOC (Oct 14, 2025) – Media briefing update confirming 6:15 p.m. completion. Florida Department of Corrections
• Florida Supreme Court (Oct 7, 2025) – Opinion denying age-based claim (SC2025-1507). CC Frontend Template
• SCOTUS Docket – 25A406 – Stay denied Oct 14, 2025; cert denied. Supreme Court
• Direct Appeal (2002)– Smithers v. State, convictions and death sentences affirmed. FSU Law Library
• Tampa Bay Times (Oct 14, 2025) – Local execution coverage & case background. Tampa Bay Times
• Case View Samuel Smithers v. State of Florida

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