A convicted killer who slit the throat of a Florida State University freshman and raped his older sister at a Florida campsite was executed Thursday evening after his legal team unsuccessfully argued his Parkinson’s diagnosis should spare his life.
Loran Cole, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. inside Florida State Prison from a lethal injection 30 years after he murdered the 18-year-old by ruthlessly beating him and cutting his throat.
When asked if he had any final words, all Cole muttered was, “No sir.”
His last meal was pizza, M&M’s, ice cream and soda, USA Today reported.
Loran Cole had nothing to say just before he was executed. Florida Department of Corrections/AFP via Getty Images
Cole and his buddy William Paul made friends with murder victim and his sister, 21, at Ocala National Forest while talking around the campfire in 1994, records show. The men then offered to take the siblings to see a pond away from the campsite where they jumped and robbed them.
The student’s lifeless body was left there following the assault and his sister, then a senior at Eckerd College, was dragged back to the campsite where Cole tied her up and raped her.
She was left tied to a tree overnight and then raped the following day before she freed herself and found help.
Both men were convicted of first-degree murder; Paul is serving life in prison.
Cole’s execution was set in motion after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant last month.
His legal team made a last-ditch effort to delay the execution, arguing he had Parkinson’s disease, was mentally ill and had brain damage.
He was pronounced dead inside the prison at 6:15 p.m. Alan Youngblood/Tallahassee Democrat / USA TODAY NETWORK
His lawyers also noted Cole was an inmate at a state-run reform school where he and other boys were beaten and raped. The state has since apologized for the abuse and passed a law giving reparations to inmates that stayed there.
But the US Supreme Court was unmoved and denied Cole’s final appeal earlier Thursday.
The parents of the two victimized siblings said in a statement read by correction officers following Cole’s execution that the crimes against their son and daughter shattered their lives. They made clear Cole didn’t deserve mercy.
“We are void of feelings and empathy for Mr. Cole. He placed himself into this arena,” part of the statement read, noting their daughter went on to become a teacher, wife and professor.
“Though invisible to others, our daughter bears internal scars that will never go away. She battled years of fear, pain and sorrow,” the parents stated. “She is our hero.”
Cole had two visitors the hours before he was killed, including his son and a pen pal of four years, USA Today reported.
His body trembled when he was administered the fatal dose and about five minutes into the procedure, the warden shook him and shouted his name before he was pronounced dead.
With Post wires
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