State officials executed Harold Wayne Nichols Thursday morning. He was pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m. at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Nichols’ execution marked the third execution by state officials this year after a five-year hiatus to review the state’s execution protocol.
He was sentenced to death in 1990 after being convicted of raping and murdering Karen Pulley, a 21-year-old student at Chattanooga State University.
Nichols declined to choose his execution method — between the electric chair and lethal injection — by a November 11 deadline. Under state law, the method defaulted to lethal injection using the state’s newest protocol, a single dose of pentobarbital.
Medical professionals and faith leaders urged Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee to stay the execution for reasons physical and spiritual.
In the wake of the execution, Nichols’ legal defense team urged Tennesseans to consider why “today we forcibly ended 35 years of remorse and accountability.”
That team, consisting of Justyna Scalpone and Deborah Drew of the Tennessee Office of the Post-Conviction Defender; and Stephen Ferrell, Susanne Bale, and Luke Ihnen of the Federal Defender Services of Eastern Tennessee, issued the following statement:
“In this moment, we should not attempt to take solace in the hollow excuse that executing Wayne somehow delivered justice when we all know it did not. Instead, our state sent the message that no one can rise beyond the crimes they committed decades earlier and that redemption deserves no mercy. Executing Wayne served but one goal: retribution.
“Our legal team, although devastated by the state’s actions, is so very grateful to have had the opportunity to know Wayne and be inspired by his incredible spirit. Through years of difficult self-work and coming to terms with his own trauma and the pain he caused others, Wayne became, against all odds, a trustworthy, responsible, and compassionate person, greatly respected and loved by many. He transformed into the man that Ann Pulley, Karen Pulley’s mother, had challenged him to become 35 years ago.
“Wayne, you will forever remain in our hearts.”
Stacy Rector, executive director of Tennesseans for the Alternative to the Death Penalty asked in a statement yesterday what had changed with Nichols’ execution.
“Nothing,” she said, “only more violence, more victims, more death.”