David Alan Gore
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David Alan Gore (August 21, 1953 – April 12, 2012) was an American
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
who committed six murders in
Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about southeast of Orlando along the ...
and Indian River County,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
, from 1981 to 1983. He was accompanied in several of the murders by his cousin, Fred Waterfield, and both have collectively been dubbed the Killing Cousins. Gore was sentenced to death and executed by
lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...
in 2012, having been on Florida's
death row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting executio ...
for twenty-eight years, while Waterfield is currently serving two consecutive
life sentence Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life imprisonment are c ...
s. In 1976, prior to the murders, police jailed and questioned both Gore and Waterfield after 20-year-old Angela Hommell Austin accused them of
raping Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person wh ...
her at gunpoint. The cousins insisted the sex was consensual, and they were not charged in her case. Gore targeted at least four additional women who escaped with their lives.


Background

David Alan Gore was born on August 21, 1953, in Florida. When he was a teenager, he was fired from his first job as a gas station attendant after his boss found a hole that allowed Gore to look into the women's bathroom. Gore was an auxiliary sheriff's deputy and used his badge to commit some of his crimes. Gore also worked as a caretaker of a citrus grove that provided a secluded area in which to rape and murder his victims. Fred Waterfield was born on September 29, 1952, in
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
. He is a former
high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...
player. Gore and Waterfield came to an arrangement, namely that Gore would spot, stalk, and secure potential victims for himself and Waterfield, in exchange for cash payments from Waterfield.


Victims


Hsiang Huang Ling and Ying Hua Ling

Gore's and Waterfield's first two murder victims were Ying Hua Ling (age 17) and her mother Hsiang Huang Ling (age 48). On February 19, 1981, Gore accosted Ying Ling and brandished his auxiliary police badge to lure the teenager into his truck, after which he drove her to her own home. Once there, he encountered Hsiang Ling and kidnapped both women. Gore later claimed that the mother, tied to a tree, slowly choked to death while he and Waterfield raped the daughter. The pair dismembered the two women and stuffed their body parts into oil drums, which they buried.


Judith Kay Daley

The pair's third victim was Judith Daley (age 35), a former
Fort Pierce Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Florida’s Atlantic Coast. It is also known as the Sunrise City. Per the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
resident visiting from
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. On July 15, 1981, Gore disabled Daley's car at the beach, and then offered her a ride to the nearest telephone. Gore drove Daley to a secluded area and met Waterfield, whereupon both men raped Daley. Gore claimed to have disposed of Daley's body in a swamp. One week after Daley's murder, Gore unsuccessfully attempted to abduct a teenage girl using his auxiliary badge. The girl's father filed a complaint, and Gore was stripped of his badge. Days later, police spotted Gore hiding in the back seat of a woman's car, carrying a police scanner, handcuffs, and a pistol. Gore was convicted of armed trespassing and sentenced to five years in prison, but was released on
parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...
in March 1983.


Barbara Ann Byer and Angelica LaVallee

On May 20, 1983, Gore and Waterfield encountered
Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...
hitchhikers Angelica LaVallee and Barbara Ann Byer (both age 14) and picked them up. Gore and Waterfield raped, killed and dismembered both girls. These are the only two crimes for which Waterfield was convicted; he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences for the two murders.


Lynn Elliott and Regan Martin

Lynn Elliott (age 17) and Regan Martin (age 14), students at
Vero Beach High School Vero Beach High School (VBHS) is a 9–12 public high school in Vero Beach, Florida, Vero Beach, Florida, United States that was established in 1925. The school is operated by the Indian River County School District, and it's similar to Keyport ...
, were hitchhiking to Wabasso Beach when Gore and Waterfield picked them up on July 26, 1983. They took both girls to a house owned by Gore's parents. Waterfield soon left, spooked by having seen his sister during the drive. Gore later told police that he bound and placed the girls in different rooms prior to raping them. As he was assaulting Martin, Lynn Elliot—nude, with her hands tied behind her back—escaped to the driveway, until she lost her footing. According to Gore, "I kept running after her then she tripped and fell and then I caught up to her". Gore told police "I started dragging her back and she was trying, like, resisting, fighting me, so I threw her to the ground. That's when I shot her in the head". Gore shot her twice at point-blank range only to realize that a neighbor's son riding his bicycle had witnessed the entire incident. The boy alerted police, which led to a 90-minute standoff between Gore and law enforcement. The police arrested Gore and rescued Martin, who was found in the attic naked, handcuffed, and with electrical cords tied around her legs. On December 7, 1983, Gore led police to the remains of three of his six murder victims. These victims were Barbara Ann Byer, Hsiang Huang Ling and her daughter, Ying Hua Ling. He also admitted to killing three girls and two women.


Case timeline

* August 10, 1983: A grand jury charged Gore with first-degree murder with two counts of kidnapping and two counts of sexual battery. * January 6, 1984: Gore's trial was moved from Vero Beach to
St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...
. Two months after on March 16, 1984, the jury convicted him of first-degree murder and after an 11–1 vote he received the death sentence. * August 22, 1985: The
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
affirmed Gore's first-degree murder conviction and death penalty. * January 21, 1985: Waterfield was convicted of the murders of Byer and LaVellee, and received two consecutive life sentences. * March 3, 1988: Governor
Bob Martinez Robert Martinez (born December 25, 1934) is an American retired politician who served as the 40th governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, Martinez was the first Hispanic American governor since colonial Flori ...
signed Gore's death warrant. * July 5, 2007: the
Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the state supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven justices—one of whom serves as Chief Justice. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geog ...
confirmed Gore's death sentence.


Death

Gore was executed by lethal injection at 6:19 p.m. on Thursday, April 12, 2012, having exhausted all legal appeals. As Gore lay strapped to a gurney in the death chamber, he said: "I'm sorry. I've had remorse ...I'm not the man I was back then. I don't fear death." Waterfield was originally imprisoned at Okeechobee Correctional Institution, but was later moved to
Hardee Correctional Institution The Hardee Correctional Institution is a state prison for men located in unincorporated Hardee County, Florida, with a Bowling Green postal address. It is owned and operated by the Florida Department of Corrections. This facility has a mix of ...
. He has maintained his innocence and his family has made efforts on his behalf to prove his innocence.


See also

*
List of people executed in Florida The following is a list of people executed by the U.S. state of Florida since capital punishment was resumed in the United States in 1976. The total amounts to 112 people. Of the 112 people executed, 44 have been executed by electrocution and 68 ...
*
List of people executed in the United States in 2012 Forty-three people, all male, were executed in the United States in 2012, all by lethal injection. Fifteen of them were in the state of Texas. Delaware conducted its last execution in 2012 before the state abolished the death penalty in 2024. Li ...
*
List of serial killers in the United States A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gore, David Alan 1953 births 2012 deaths 20th-century American criminals 21st-century executions by Florida 21st-century executions of American people American male criminals American murderers of children American people convicted of kidnapping American police officers convicted of rape American police officers executed for murder Executed American serial killers Executed serial killers who worked in law enforcement Executed people from Florida People convicted of murder by Florida People executed by Florida by lethal injection Serial killers from Florida Violence against women in Florida