Florida executes man

STARKE, Fla. - A man who said he killed a woman to satisfy an urge to kill was executed by injection Friday.

Dan Patrick Hauser didn't say anything before his execution began. His Buddhist spiritual adviser - officials said Hauser had converted to Buddhism in prison - sat with the witnesses.

Hauser, 30, had fired his attorney and had fought attempts to spare his life. A federal judge issued a three-day reprieve on Tuesday to consider whether a mental disorder Hauser suffered since his teens made him incapable of making the decision, but the stay was lifted Thursday.

Hauser was sentenced to death for the New Year's Day 1995 murder of Melanie Rodrigues, 21. Authorities believed Hauser lured her into his apartment that night after she left her job at a Fort Walton Beach nightspot.

After Hauser was arrested in Reno, Nevada, weeks later, he confessed to the killing.

In his confession, Hauser expressed disappointment that he didn't experience the ''rush'' he anticipated when he strangled Rodrigues. He did say he was pleased ''to watch the fear in her eyes'' and that he felt no remorse.

Hauser was the fifth Florida inmate executed this year, all by lethal injection, and the 49th to die since Florida resumed executions in 1979.