for murder, Tafero had been convicted of attempted robbery and "crimes against nature" when he was 20 years old. Rhodes entered into a plea agreement for a reduced sentence of second degree murder in exchange for his testimony against Tafero and Jacobs. At their trial, he testified that Jacobs fired first from the back seat, then Tafero took the gun from her and shot the two officers. Rhodes later recanted his testimony on three occasions, in 1977, 1979 and 1982, stating that he shot the policemen, but ultimately reverted to his original testimony. Tafero and Jacobs were convicted of capital murder and were sentenced to death while Rhodes was sentenced to three life terms. He was released in 1994 following parole for good behavior. The children were placed in the care of Sunny Jacobs's parents until their deaths in a 1982 plane crash. The children were then separated and Sunny's younger child, Christina, was placed into foster care with a friend of Jacobs. Tafero and Jacobs continued their relationship through letters while serving time in the prison. Because there was no death row for women in Florida, Jacobs was put into solitary confinement for the first five years of her imprisonment and let out only once or twice a week for exercise. She learned yoga to pass the time, and after being moved to the general prison population, began teaching yoga to other prisoners. Although the jury had recommended a life sentence for Jacobs, Judge Daniel Futch, known as "Maximum Dan" for his reputation for tough sentences, imposed the death sentence. In 1981, the Florida Supreme Court commuted Jacobs' sentence to life in prison, holding that Futch lacked sufficient basis to override the jury's sentencing recommendation. Tafero was to be executed by electrocution. The machine, dubbed "Old Sparky", malfunctioned, causing six-inch flames to shoot out of Tafero's head. A member of the execution team had used a synthetic sponge rather than a sea sponge, which is necessary to provide greater conductivity and a quick death. In all, three jolts of electricity were required to execute Tafero, a process that took seven minutes. Prison inmates later claimed that Old Sparky was "fixed" and tampered with to make Tafero's execution more like torture. It has been rumored that Tafero's death served as inspiration for author Stephen King when he wrote the execution of Eduard Delacroix in his novel The Green Mile. Aftermath