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Background

Danny was born to James Harold Rolling and Claudia Beatrice in Shreveport, Louisiana, on May 26th, 1954.

James was reportedly abusive toward his family.

Danny became a troublemaker as a teen, and things continued to escalate when he was an adult. He racked up charges in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama for robbery, voyeurism, and home invasion and spent a total of 8 years locked up.

Murders

After being fired from a restaurant on November 4th, 1989, he broke into a home in Shreveport and killed 24-year-old Julie Grissom, her 8-year-old nephew Sean, and her 55-year-old father, Tom. He provocatively posed Julie’s body afterward.

In May 1990, Danny shot his father after an argument. His father lost an eye but survived the shooting. Danny soon went to Gainesville, where he set up a campsite in the woods.

On August 24th, 1990, the 36-year-old broke into the apartment of college freshman Sonja Larson, age 18, and Christina Powell, age 17.

He saw Powell asleep on the couch downstairs. He bypassed her and went upstairs to see Larson sleeping in her bedroom. He taped her mouth shut, then stabbed her to death.

He went back downstairs, put tape over Powell’s mouth, tied her wrists together, and cut off her clothes. He violated her and then stabbed her five times in the back, killing her. He returned upstairs and violated Larson’s body. He posed the bodies, showered, and fled the scene.

The next day, he accessed the apartment of 18-year-old Sante Fe college student Christa Hoyt. She wasn’t home, so he waited, and when she walked in, he attacked her and dragged her to the bedroom. He violated her, killed her, then fled.

After he couldn’t find his wallet, he returned to Hoyt’s apartment. He cut off her head and posed her body, hoping to shock whoever would later discover her.

Two days later, he broke into the apartment of 23-year-old Tracy Paules and her roommate, Manny Taboada.

Once inside the residence, Rolling encountered a sleeping Taboada and killed him after a struggle.

Paules heard the commotion, and when she went down the hall and saw Rolling, she tried to go back to her room and close the door, but Rolling broke it down. He ripped off her clothing, violated her, and then stabbed her to death. After that, he posed her and then left the scene.

Investigation

Law enforcement had a couple of suspects, but Rolling was not one of them.

Police in Shreveport reached out to Florida investigators as they thought their triple murder from November 4th, 1989, was related to the Gainesville murders.

Detectives weren’t the only ones who saw similarities in the cases. A Shreveport woman thought Danny was involved in the Shreveport triple murder when it originally happened in 1989, but she didn’t speak up.

When she drove through Florida in August 1990 and heard about similar murders, it made her think of Danny. In November 1990, she decided to call crime stoppers and tell them to look into him.

Detectives found Danny locked up in a Marion County, Florida, jail 40 miles away from Gainesville. He had been there since September 7th, 1990, when he was arrested for robbing a supermarket in Ocala, Florida.

His history of armed robbery led investigators to believe he was involved in a robbery committed the same day Christa Hoyt’s body was discovered.

With evidence from the robbery, the murders, and Danny’s campsite, the pieces started to come together.

After a year of investigating, Danny was charged with the five Gainesville murders and several other charges in November 1991.

Legal Proceedings

His trial was supposed to begin on February 15th, 1994, but he shocked everyone by pleading guilty to all charges.

During the penalty phase, Danny’s lawyers blame his childhood and mental health issues for his unhinged murder spree. They were hoping to get him a life sentence, but it did not work. He was sentenced to death on April 20th, 1994.

After the sentence was handed down, the brother of Manny Taboada shouted that Danny would be dead in five years. Danny lived much longer than that.

Execution

During his time on death row, Danny was housed in a 6x9x9.5 foot cell at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, FL, just 45 minutes away from Gainesville. Inside his cell was a radio and a 13-inch television.

He had a consistent routine where he was served breakfast around 5 am, lunch around 11 am, and dinner at around 4 pm.

He would spend most of his time in his cell but was let out to shower, exercise, and meet his visitors.

After Florida governor Jeb Bush signed his death warrant on September 22nd, 2006, Danny was taken four minutes down the street to Florida State Prison and placed in a 12x7x8.5 foot death watch cell, where the routine remained the same.

On October 25th, 2006, Rolling knew his final hours of life were ahead of him.

That morning, corrections officers said he was “calm” and “cooperative.”

However, his attorney later stated he was “depressed.”

On October 25th, 2006, Danny spent 8 am to 11 am visiting with his younger brother, Kevin, and a minister from Kevin’s church.

Physical contact was allowed during the final hour of the visit.

Just before noon, Danny was served his last meal.

In Florida, inmates are allowed to pick specific foods and drinks, but they have to be under $40 and cannot include alcohol. That meal is then approved by the food service director, who prepares and serves it.

Danny ate lobster tail, butterfly shrimp, baked potato, strawberry cheesecake, and sweet tea.

From 12 pm to 4 pm, he met with his spiritual advisor, a pastor from his hometown.

During that meeting, which occurred through the bars of Danny’s cell, he handed over a one-page note confessing to the triple murder in Shreveport, Louisiana, saying, “It was my hand that took those precious light out of this ole dark work. With all my heart & soul would, I could bring them back.”

At around 4 pm, someone from the execution team spoke to Danny and explained the lethal injection procedure. They also offered him a sedative before the execution, but he refused to take anything.

Around 5:20 pm, his final appeals were rejected by the US Supreme Court.

30 minutes later, the execution team went to his cell and escorted him to the execution chamber.

Moments later, he was positioned on the gurney and strapped in.

Heart monitors were placed on his chest, followed by an IV line in each arm.

After that, someone from the execution team made contact with the governor to determine if there was a stay of execution, but there wasn’t.

Around 5:45 pm, corrections staff escorted the witnesses to the witness area.

Forty-seven people were on hand to watch Danny take his last breath. Reporters, his appeal attorney, and people from the Gainesville state attorney’s office were on hand, as well as sixteen relatives of Rolling’s victims.

Some people had pictures of their loved ones or pins with their loved ones’ faces.

After the drapes to the execution chambers were opened, Danny appeared to glance at the mother of his last female victim, Tracey Paules, but he quickly looked away and stared at the ceiling.

When he was given a chance to speak, he decided not to apologize or show remorse in those last moments; instead, he sang for two minutes.

“Thou art the alpha and omega. The beginning and the end. The sound of thy voice stills a mighty wind. None greater than thee oh Lord. None greater than thee,” he sang.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Jeanne Singer, who witnessed the execution, later said, “It looked like a final stage performance.”

The death chamber’s microphone was cut off at 6:01 pm, and his lips continued to move. He was injected with sodium pentothal, which rendered him unconscious by 6:07 pm.

Next, he was hit with pancuronium bromide, which paralyzed him, and, last of all, potassium chloride to stop his heart.

After he showed no signs of breathing or a pulse, he was pronounced dead at 6:13 pm.

After his death, many spoke to the media, including his attorney, who said, “I was hoping he would have repeated to them what he told me, that he was very remorseful.”

While the mother of Christa Hoyt said, “Maybe now that this is over, and we don’t have this cause to fight for, we can try and relax and live with the memories of our children.”

He was buried in the Florida State Prison Cemetery.