A twisted Florida man who murdered a baby girl’s parents right in front of her nearly three decades ago will be executed today for his crimes.
Greg and Kimberly Malnory were killed by James Dennis Ford at South Florida Sod Farm in Charlotte County on April 7, 1997.
At the time, the married couple took their 23-month-old daughter, Maranda Malnory, with them on a fishing trip after Ford, Greg’s co-worker, invited them on the outing.
While they were there, Greg, 25, was shot and bludgeoned to death by Ford, while his wife was shot, beaten and raped by him, according to court documents, seen by DailyMail.com.
Investigators determined that the late mother, 26, ‘did what she could to save Maranda,’ as she strapped her in the truck before Ford, then 36, ended her life.
After her parents were brutally slaughtered, Maranda, now 29, sat alone in the vehicle for more than 18 hours, dehydrated, covered in mosquito bites, and splattered in her mother’s blood.
Following their horrific deaths, an employee at the sod farm soon found the couple’s deceased bodies ‘in the middle of the field’ and their little girl helplessly strapped into the pickup truck after Ford fled the scene, records show.
Now, after losing her parents before her very eyes, Maranda – who only remembers them from pictures and stories family members tell her – says she wants to know what reason Ford had for plucking her mom and dad from her life.
‘I would want to know why. Just because nobody has been able to pinpoint that. But, to be honest, I don’t really care anymore,’
ord, now 64, was arrested on April 17 of that year after mounting evidence and a criminal case against him found him guilty of their murders. He is set to be put to death Thursday after Governor Ron Desantis signed off on his execution in January.
Because of her young age, Maranda said she does not remember what happened that day, only found out what happened to them when she was 13.
‘I wasn’t even two yet. I have no recollection of any of what happened,’ she told the outlet.
‘I have the case files somewhere. But they’re hard to read, hard to stomach because I didn’t realize that’s what happened.’
According to court records, Greg was ‘shot in the head from behind’ with a .22 caliber rifle by Ford.
After being shot, Greg, who was not dead yet, ‘staggered out into the middle of the field.’
Ford soon caught up to him, leaving Greg with ‘at least seven blunt force injuries to the head and face.’ A medical examiner later determined that an axe was likely the weapon used to do so.
When his body was discovered in the field by the employee, Greg had ‘his throat slit nearly from ear to ear, so deeply that underlying muscle tissue was exposed,’ documents revealed.
With all of the blood found on his shirt and chest, a medical examiner determined that Ford shot his co-worker, ‘savagely’ beat him and then slit his throat while he laid on the ground.
Ford then turned his attention to Kimberly, who was injured from the initial attack on her husband.
After running to protect their daughter in the car, Ford viscously went after the mother, who was found with ‘nine blunt force injuries to her head’ near the couple’s truck.
DNA testing later revealed that Ford also raped and beat her before he stuck a bolt-action rifle in her mouth ‘and pulled the trigger,’ records show.
Two ‘oval discolorations’ were also found on Kimberley’s thighs, ‘which were suggestive of thumb prints,’ records show.
‘These marks were made by the Defendant while Kimberly Malnory was alive,’ the document said.
Ford’s semen was also found inside the late mother, as well as on her shirt. The bathing suit Kimberly was wearing at the time of her murder ‘had been sliced clean through the crotch as if with a sharp knife,’ the filing said.
On Greg and Kimberley’s headstone (pictured) a small heart says ‘Maranda’s parents,’ along with a pair of wedding rings engraved in the stone
