End of Watch: The Murder of Escambia County, Florida Deputy Sheriff Doug Heist

May 3, 1980

By Mike Simmons

On April 23, 1938, Floyd Douglas Heist was born. Even though Doug was born in Nashville, he grew up in the Florida panhandle, including Fort Walton and Pensacola.

When he graduated high school, Doug joined the United States Air Force. He went all over the world but soon came back home to the Florida panhandle. Tan, muscular, and good-looking, Doug caught the eye of every girl in Fort Walton. And he had the personality to go with it. He was outgoing – the life of the party. When he and his buddies would go to town, he was usually the center of attention.

That was what first got Martha Phillips’ attention – his personality…plus his tan, his muscles, and his good looks. That started it. They married in 1957 and began the family. Born to the couple were Froy, Debbie, Tommy, Clay, and Robin. The first place the family lived in Pensacola was in Moreno Court. In 1971, Sheriff Untreiner hired Doug as an Escambia County Deputy.

April 29, 1980: Ernest Fitzpatrick had been planning the bank robbery for several weeks. He had a .38 caliber revolver, a wig, and a fake beard and mustache – just like in the movies. He placed a gun and tape into a paper bag. So, at 7:30 AM on April 29, 1980, He boarded the city bus bound for Warrington. He intended to grab a hostage and rob the First State Bank – free and Easy!

Deputy Doug Heist was one of the best. The call went out from the dispatcher at 9:00 AM that an armed man had hostages in Fanning Realty. Sgt. Smith, Doug, and two other deputies responded.

“Freeze,” Doug said professionally while holding his gun on Fitzpatrick. Doug had just been through specialized training, so he was aware of what to do. With everything that was in him, he wanted to talk the suspect down. He really didn’t think he would have to shoot. Fitzpatrick suddenly fired his .38, hitting Doug in the head. Doug Heist never left the hospital alive. 

May 3, 1980: Deep down inside, they knew. They didn’t want it to happen, and they were devastated when it did. Late in the morning, with his family around him, Deputy Doug Heist breathed his last. It was a new and terrible day for the Heist family. A family friend put it best when he said that the family lived out in Beulah. “Doug took care of them. Now they have no one.”

The Heist family were members of Beulah Baptist Church. Doug and the pastor, Rev. Edgar Jackson, were friends, so it was fitting that Rev. Jackson would deliver the eulogy, he spoke of the time that Doug excitedly told him – nine years earlier- that he was going to become a deputy sheriff. Doug was concerned that he wouldn’t measure up. He didn’t want to let his fellow officers or his community down. “But he measured up in every way,” said Rev. Jackson.

By Thursday, October 30, it was all over. The jury found Fitzpatrick guilty of premeditated first-degree murder. The next day, it took the jury 36 minutes to decide to recommend the death penalty for the killer. The sentencing hearing was set for December 5, and the jury was dismissed.

On December 5, Judge Blanchard asked Fitzpatrick if he had anything to say about the murder of Deputy Heist. He responded…

“I don’t think I should be sent to jail,” he said. “The only thing I planned to do that day was rob a bank, not kill anyone.” He said that he killed Heist in self-defense and that he was not a cold-blooded killer.

When he finished, Judge Blanchard, in his signature way, sat for a moment in silence. The entire courtroom waited. Finally, he sentenced Fitzpatrick to life imprisonment for three counts of kidnapping and 30 years in prison for two counts of attempted murder. Finally, he sentenced Fitzpatrick to die in the electric chair for killing Deputy Heist. Martha, Doug’s wife, simply said that she was glad for the sentence but that it wouldn’t bring her husband, and the kids’ daddy back.

Fitzpatrick’s sentence was later overturned, and he was resentenced to life. As of April 28, 2024, he is still incarcerated, but alive, which is not the case with Deputy Doug Heist.

Thank you, Sir, for your sacrifice.