When the 35-year-old officer opened the package and looked to see what was in the microwave oven, the bomb exploded.
The blast was so strong that it left a depression in the roadway.
Had the blast occurred in Tammie Bailey's apartment—the woman who was supposed to have received the bomb—it would have been powerful enough to blow out doors and walls, potentially killing anyone in the apartment as well as neighbors, according to court documents.
Fulford's death prompted a state and federal investigation that broke apart a drug ring and led to the indictment of 28 people.
Howell was sentenced to life on federal drug charges.
His lawyers had filed an unsuccessful appeal Tuesday to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that a new drug Florida uses for executions wasn't tested for that purpose. This was the fifth execution in the state using the new drug, midazolam hydrochloride, as part of a three-drug mix.
Howell's brother Patrick, who helped him build the bomb, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life.
