David Mitchell was born in the Bahamas in 1972. Not much is publicly available about his early life, background, or upbringing.

David Mitchell was convicted of fatally stabbing two German tourists while they were visiting the Bahamas, reportedly during an altercation that turned violent. Though the specific details of the crime such as the motive, location, or method of confrontation have not been widely documented, Mitchell was swiftly apprehended by Bahamian authorities.

In 1999, he was convicted of the murders and sentenced to death by hanging, which was the mandatory sentence for murder under Bahamian law at the time. His initial execution date was set for August 10, 1999, but was postponed to allow the Bahamian appellate courts to hear a constitutional challenge to the death penalty itself.

After exhausting all legal options within the country, Mitchell appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, the highest court of appeal for many Caribbean nations, including the Bahamas. The Privy Council rejected his appeal, upholding the legality of his conviction and sentence.

His final hope rested with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, where he had filed a petition appealing for clemency and raising concerns about the fairness of his trial and the imposition of the death penalty. However, despite this active appeal, Bahamian authorities proceeded with the execution.

On the morning of January 6, 2000, David Mitchell was executed by hanging at Fox Hill Prison in Nassau. The event was controversial due to the pending status of his appeal before an international human rights body, and it drew condemnation from organizations like Amnesty International, who alleged that the execution may have violated the Bahamas’ treaty obligations as a member of the Organization of American States (OAS).

Adding further complexity, the son of the German victims had publicly requested clemency for Mitchell, hoping his death sentence would be commuted. His appeal for mercy, however, went unheeded by the Bahamian government.