A man convicted of raping a woman and killing her brother while the two were camping in a Florida forest was executed Thursday in the southeastern US state.
Loran Cole, 57, was executed by lethal injection at 6:15 p.m. at a prison in Raiford, on the northern side of the peninsula, the local corrections department announced in a statement.
He was sentenced to death in December 1995 for the events dating back to February of the previous year: Loran Cole and an accomplice, William Paul, had pretended to befriend the two victims around a campfire, before taking them to a pond and attacking them.
The 18-year-old boy, a first-year university student, had his throat slit. His 21-year-old sister was taken back to the camp, raped and tied to a tree. Raped again the next day, she managed to free herself from her bonds and escape.
Although he was also convicted of murder, William Paul escaped the death penalty, being sentenced to life in prison.
Cole and his lawyers filed a last-minute appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to delay sentencing. He argued that, because he suffers from Parkinson’s disease, lethal injection would “most likely cause him unnecessary pain and suffering.” Instead, he asked to be put to death by firing squad or the electric chair.
But the high court rejected his request on Thursday, clearing the way for his execution, which was also supported by Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis.
This constitutes the 13e execution in the United States in 2024. The country has 23 states that have abolished the death penalty, and six others have moratoriums in effect.
