George Robert "Bob" Dekle Sr. (born May 23, 1948) is an American lawyer who was an Assistant State Attorney in Florida's Third Judicial Circuit from 1975 through 2005. During this time, he served as lead prosecuting attorney in the 1980

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 ...

murder trial of

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 ...

Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy (; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989), known colloquially as Ted Bundy, was an American serial killer who kidnapping, abducted, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978. His ''modus ...

, which ultimately delivered the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

that was carried out in 1989. Dekle's book on the case, ''The Last Murder: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Ted Bundy'', was published in 2011. Dekle served as a Legal Skills Professor at

Levin College of Law The University of Florida Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida and second oldest overall in the stat ...

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, from 2006 through June 2016. He writes books on

trial advocacy Trial advocacy is the branch of knowledge concerned with making attorneys and other advocates more effective in trial proceedings. Trial advocacy is an essential trade skill for litigators and is taught in law schools and continuing legal educati ...

and legal history and has lectured extensively nationwide. Dekle is also a

chess variant A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways. "International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...

inventor.

Early life

Dekle was born May 23, 1948, in

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

, the eldest child of Donald James and Anne Coleman Dekle. He has one brother, William Ervin Dekle, and one sister, Lucy Dekle Daniels. Dekle lived with his family on a farm in

Lake Butler, Union County, Florida Lake Butler is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,986 at the 2020 census. History The city was founded and settled in 1859. A post office called Lake Butler has been in operation since 1 ...

. Dekle's mother was a teacher; his father was a deputy in Lake Butler and also a colonel with the Department of Corrections. Dekle's grandfather was a sheriff in Union County; his great-grandfather was a teacher and also a county judge. At the age of 9 or 10, Dekle was inspired about the possibility of a law career: while visiting a small town with his family, he saw a building with many books behind the picture window, and learned from his father that it was a law office. "Even at that age, I was a bookworm, and I thought it would be wonderful to have a job where you worked with so many books." In 7th or 8th grade, he skipped school to watch the

closing argument A closing argument, summation, or summing up is the concluding statement of each party's counsel reiterating the important arguments for the trier of fact, often the jury, in a court case. A closing argument occurs after the presentation of evi ...

s of a double

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

trial in Lake Butler. "I came away knowing that I wanted to be three things: a lawyer, a trial lawyer, and a prosecutor." In 1961 Dekle's family moved to

Lake City, Florida Lake City is a city in and the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 12,329, up from 12,046 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistica ...

, where he played defensive guard on the Lake City

Columbia High School Columbia High School may refer to: *Columbia High School (Huntsville, Alabama) *Columbia High School (Georgia) *Columbia High School (Florida) *Columbia High School (Idaho) *Columbia High School (Illinois) *Columbia High School (Mississippi), a Mis ...

(CHS) football team.

Education

After graduating from CHS in 1966, Dekle completed a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in history from the

(UF) in 1970. As a freshman in 1966 he played

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

freshmen football team, which went 4–0 that season. After completing his BA he taught history at CHS for one year. Dekle then returned to UF and completed a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1973.

Career

From 1973 to 1975, Dekle was Assistant

Public Defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

of the Third Judicial Circuit of Florida. He became Assistant State Attorney for the Third Circuit in 1975, serving 30 years until retiring in 2005. As Assistant State Attorney, Dekle investigated and prosecuted a wide variety of criminal cases. From 2006 through June 2016 he has been Legal Skills Professor at the University of Florida,

, overseeing the Prosecution Clinic. Dekle has lectured extensively to prosecutor's associations nationwide. He has also served as faculty at the National Advocacy Center in Columbia, South Carolina. In an interview in 2016, Dekle summarized the hardest lesson he learned as a trial lawyer:

..you should try your case, not fight opposing counsel. Cordiality to opposing counsel usually makes it easier to try your case. Sometimes opposing counsel won't allow you to be cordial, but whenever you can you should try your case with an air of collegial professionalism.

and a lesson that he would like to pass on to new trial lawyers:

You have a job to do as a prosecutor, and sometimes the people and incidents you deal with aren't very pretty. But you should never lose sight of the fact that a prosecutor is a minister of justice, not a vigilante avenger.

''State of Florida v. Theodore Robert Bundy''

The trial of

in Orlando was the second murder trial of serial killer Bundy, who had previously been convicted and received two death sentences for two homicides in the

Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is an American women's collegiate fraternity. It was established in 1895 at the University of Arkansas. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapters. Since its founding in 18 ...

proceedings in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

in June 1979. The Orlando trial, for the February 9, 1978, abduction and

first degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

in Lake City of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, the youngest and last Bundy victim, occurred six months later, from January to February 1980. Dekle led the prosecution team. Bundy was found guilty on all counts and was sentenced with death for a third time. After multiple stays of execution by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and being upheld on appeal, the sentence was carried out nearly nine years later on January 24, 1989, by

electrocution Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death. The term "electrocution" was coined ...

Florida State Prison Florida State Prison (FSP), otherwise known as Raiford Prison, is an American correctional institution located in unincorporated Bradford County, Florida, with a Raiford postal address. It was formerly known as the "Florida State Prison-East U ...

. The Bundy case was Dekle's first Murder I prosecution. At age 30 and with three years experience as a prosecutor, he worked intensely on trial preparation from 1978 to 1980. He said, "That's where I learned to be a lawyer—prosecuting that case... It was such a vast-sprawling case that I had an opportunity to learn all kinds of aspects of criminal trial practice and all aspects of forensic science that probably would've taken years to learn about otherwise." Of the more than 350 jury trials in which Dekle had been lead counsel, the Bundy case was his most memorable. Fibers with an unusual manufacturing flaw allowed Dekle to connect Bundy's jacket to Bundy's van and to Kimberly Leach's body. The presentation of fiber evidence was the most memorable moment in Dekle's career as trial lawyer.

''The Last Murder''

In his book ''The Last Murder: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Ted Bundy'', published May 2011, Dekle conveys that a successful third conviction in the circumstantial evidence case was anything but certain. He documents the enormous amount of work and preparation needed for the high-profile case, including the intricacies and complexities of investigation and prosecution, often across multiple states and jurisdictions. According to Hon. Michael D. Marcus (ret.), author of ''Trial Preparation for Prosecutors'':

Dekle takes the reader "behind the scenes" to show that homicide investigations are arduous, unglamorous processes that can be sidetracked by both dead end leads and bureaucratic pettiness and that the resulting trials often experience unexpected legal and evidentiary potholes. Bundy's eventual conviction is a testament to dogged hard work by Dekle, his fellow prosecutors and assisting law enforcement.

Dekle's first objective for his book was to tell a Lake City story that "needed to be told". The book is an "easy read" according to ''

Lake City Reporter ''Lake City Reporter'' is a daily newspaper founded in 1875 and based in Lake City, Florida. History The origins of the ''Lake City Reporter'' first began with C. A. Finley in 1875 when he initially began the publication as a county weekly. F ...

'' publisher Todd Wilson, while also a detailed historical chronicle of events. Dekle credits numerous law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and investigators who worked closely on the case for contributing to its success. His second objective was "to offer guidance to any young prosecutor". The book is classified as a textbook. The 1980 case did not have the benefit of

DNA testing Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

, which was developed later. Dekle: "It is a case that would have been a slam dunk today because of DNA, but it is also a look at how to proceed with a capital case." Dekle dedicated his book "."

Other cases

Dekle was also successful as lead prosecutor in other significant Murder I cases in Florida: *''State of Florida v.

Marshall Lee Gore Marshall Lee Gore (August 17, 1963 – October 1, 2013) was an American convicted murderer and rapist who was executed by the state of Florida for the 1988 murders of two women. He also raped and attempted to murder a third woman before kidnappi ...

'' ( Columbia County, 1980) *''State of Florida v. Richard Hamilton and Anthony Wainwright'' ( Hamilton County, 1990) *''State of Florida v. Roger Harris'' (Columbia County, 2000) *''State of Florida v. Charles Globe'' (Columbia County, 2002)

Recognitions

Dekle received awards of recognition from the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association (FPAA): *Gene Berry Memorial Outstanding Prosecutor Award in Florida (1986) *Distinguished Faculty Award (1996) *Distinguished Faculty Award (2003) *Lifetime Achievement Award for Distinguished Educational Service in Continuing Education for Prosecutors (2005)

Civic and personal life

Dekle coached football in 1970 at his alma mater Columbia High School (CHS). He coached football for the Lake City Columbia County Boys' Club, Youth league. He also was President of CHS Wrestling Boosters Association. Dekle has served on Florida Advisory Council on Emergency Medical Services, as well as on LCCC Advisory Committee on Emergency Medical Services, for which he was also Chairperson. Dekle was Sunday School Director for Eastside Baptist Church in Lake City, as well as budget committee Chairperson. He has also served as Chairperson of Deacons, and Trustee for the Lake City First Baptist Church. Dekle married Lane Dicks in June 1971. Lane was a nursing instructor at Lake City Community College. Together they have one daughter, Laura (born 1972); and two sons, George (born 1975) and John Thomas (born 1978). John Thomas Dekle is a lawyer.

Chess

Dekle began playing chess at age 5. He became a member of the Lake City Chess Club, as well as a certified USCF tournament director, and directed a few local tournaments. He became an avid international postal chess player, including games of

shogi , also known as Japanese chess, is a Strategy game, strategy board game for two players. It is one of the most popular board games in Japan and is in the same family of games as chess, Western chess, chaturanga, xiangqi, Indian chess, and janggi. ...

, and was an active member of NOST. Dekle has invented a number of

chess variants A chess variant is a game related to, derived from, or inspired by chess. Such variants can differ from chess in many different ways. "International" or "Western" chess itself is one of a family of games which have related origins and could be co ...

and

shogi variants A shogi variant is a game related to or derived from shogi (Japanese chess). Many shogi variants have been developed over the centuries, ranging from some of the largest chess-type games ever played to some of the smallest. A few of these variant ...

which were published in D. B. Pritchard's two chess variant encyclopedias and included in Michael Keller's ''World Game Review''. Many of his variants involve adaptations of chess or shogi to novel gameboards or board cell geometries. Dekle has also researched and written about chess history. Chess variants * Cross Chess (1982) * Masonic Chess (1983) * Three-Man Chess (1984) * Chesquerque (1986) *Chivalry Chess (1986) *Coordinator Chess (1986) *Custodian Chess (1986) *Immobilizer Chess (1986) *Lilliputian Chess (1986) * Quatrochess (1986) * Triangular Chess (1986) * Tri-Chess (1986) 2-player * Tri-Chess (1986) 3-player *Withdrawer Chess (1986) *Microchess (1987) Shogi variants *

Hexshogi Hexshogi is a shogi variant for two players created by George R. Dekle Sr. in 1986. The gameboard comprises 85 hexagonal cells. The game is in all respects the same as shogi, except that piece moves have been transfigured for the hexagonal board- ...

(1986) * Masonic Shogi (1987) *

Space Shogi Space shogi is a three-dimensional shogi variant invented by George R. Dekle Sr. in 1987. The gamespace comprises nine 9×9 shogi boards stacked vertically. Each player controls a standard set of shogi pieces. Space shogi was included in ''Wor ...

(1987) *

Trishogi Trishogi is a shogi variant for two players created by George R. Dekle Sr. in 1987. The gameboard comprises 9×10 interlocking triangular cells. The game is in all respects the same as shogi, except that piece moves have been transfigured for the ...

(1987) *Spherical Shogi (1988)

Published works

*''Successful Trial Strategies for Prosecutors'' (contributor; 2005) National District Attorneys Association. *''Prosecution Principles: A Clinical Handbook'' (2007) West Academic Publishing. ASIN B00RWRYA9Q *''Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques'' (coauthor with Ronald H. Clark and William S. Bailey; 2010 pap/com edition)

Aspen Publishers Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a Dutch information services company. The company serves legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and healthcare markets. Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a merger bet ...

. *''The Last Murder: The Investigation, Prosecution, and Execution of Ted Bundy'' (2011) Praeger Publishers. *''The Case against Christ: A Critique of the Prosecution of Jesus'' (2011) Cambridge Scholars Publishing. *:Dekle explained the background about writing this book:

When I retired as a prosecutor back in 2005 and began my second career as a legal skills professor at the University of Florida, Levin College of Law, I began casting about looking for historical trials to use as illustrations of various points concerning the principles of good prosecution. One salient point that every prosecutor should know is that sometimes justice is better served by declining to prosecute an accused who is obviously guilty. The trial of Jesus appeared to be a prime example of this point. A fair reading of the Gospels seemed to indicate that Jesus was clearly guilty of violating the '' lex iulia maiestas'', a minor form of treason, but just as clearly unworthy of punishment.

and:

I read every account of criminal trials of the first century that I could find. Jesus was basically charged with treason and there were about 40 of these types of trials documented, so I studied the details of these and read descriptions of 127 other similar ancient trials. I went all the way back to the trial of Socrates, around 300 B.C. and started there because his trial was very similar to the trial of Jesus.

*''The Killing of Jorm Pelorvis'' (2013 Kindle Edition) ASIN B00EVHH150 *''The Evolution of Chess'' (2013 Kindle Edition) ASIN B00EXCQDT8 *''Cross-Examination Handbook: Persuasion, Strategies, and Techniques'' (coauthor with Ronald H. Clark and William S. Bailey; 2014 2nd Edition)

Wolters Kluwer Law & Business Wolters Kluwer N.V. is a Dutch information services company. The company serves legal, business, tax, accounting, finance, audit, risk, compliance, and healthcare markets. Wolters Kluwer in its current form was founded in 1987 with a merger bet ...

. *''Abraham Lincoln's Most Famous Case: The Almanac Trial'' (2014) Praeger Publishers. *''Ted Bundy, Celebrity Slayer'' (2014 Kindle Edition) ASIN B00LZD5QR8 *''The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case: A Critical Analysis of the Trial of Bruno Richard Hauptmann'' (coauthor with James M. Dedman III; 2016) The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. *''Chronicles of Crime and Criminals: Thirty Two Years in the Courtroom'' (2017) Independently published. *''Prairie Defender: The Murder Trials of Abraham Lincoln'' (2017)

Southern Illinois University Press Southern Illinois University Press or SIU Press, founded in 1956, is a university press located in Carbondale, Illinois, owned and operated by Southern Illinois University. The press publishes approximately 50 titles annually, among its more th ...

*''The Annotated Chancellor Chess'' (author Ben R. Foster, with annotations and an appendix by Dekle; 2017) Independenty published. *''Six Capsules: The Gilded Age Murder of Helen Potts'' (2019)

Kent State University Press Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Ashtabula, Burton, East Liverpool, Jackson Township, New Philadelphia ...

. *''The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case: What the Lawyers Said'' (editor; 2020) Independently published. *''The East River Ripper: The Mysterious 1891 Murder of Old Shakespeare'' (2021)

. *''A Retired Prosecutor's Random Thoughts'' (2021) Independently published. *''Variations on the Theme of Chess'' (2023) Independently published. *''Canada's Greatest Murder Case: The 1891 Prosecution of the Hyams Twins'' (2024) Independently published. *''100 More Variations on the Theme of Chess'' (2024) Independently published. *''Modern Chess Eccentricities and Where to Play Them'' (2025) Independently published.

Notes

References

University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida, United States. Established in 1963 as a member institution of the State University System of Florida, the University of West Florida is a comprehe ...

, February 2016
Inside The Mind of Ted Bundy (Part 1)
Dekle interview (continued in Parts 2–5), October 2011,

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dekle, George 1948 births Living people American legal writers University of Florida alumni Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni American lawyers Trial lawyers University of Florida faculty People from Lake City, Florida People from Gainesville, Florida People from Lake Butler, Florida Ted Bundy Chess variant inventors