A convicted killer who slit the throat of a Florida State University freshman and raped the student's sister at a Florida campsite was executed Thursday night after his defense lawyers refused to allow him to live based on a Parkinson's disease diagnosis.
57-year-old Loran Cole was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 6:15pm inside the Florida State Prison, 30 years after he brutally beat and killed the 18-year-old by slashing his throat.
When asked if he had any final words, Cole simply muttered, “No.”
His last meal was pizza, M&Ms, ice cream and soda. USA Today reported.
According to records, Cole and a friend, William Paul, befriended the murder victim and his 21-year-old sister while talking around a campfire in Ocala National Forest in 1994. The two then offered to take them to a pond away from the campground, where they jumped and robbed them.
After the assault, the student's body was left there and his sister, then a senior at Eckerd College, was dragged back to the campsite where Cole bound her and raped her.
She was left tied to a tree overnight and raped the next day before managing to free herself and call for help.
Both were convicted of first-degree murder and Paul is serving a life sentence.
Cole's execution was carried out after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed his death warrant last month.
The defense team made a final effort to delay the execution, arguing that the condemned man had Parkinson's disease and suffered from mental illness and brain damage.
The lawyers also noted that Cole was an inmate at a state juvenile detention center where other boys were assaulted and raped. The state has since passed a law apologizing for the abuse and paying restitution to former inmates there.
But the U.S. Supreme Court remained unmoved, rejecting Cole's final appeal early Thursday.
In a statement read by a prison officer after Cole's execution, the parents of the two victims said the crimes against their sons and daughters had destroyed their lives. They made it clear that Cole does not deserve mercy.
“We have no feelings or sympathy for Mr. Cole. He chose to pursue this field himself,” the statement said, noting that his daughter has gone on to become a teacher, wife and professor.
“Even though others may not see it, the scars in our daughter's heart will never fade. She has dealt with fear, pain and grief for years,” her parents said. “She is our hero.”
According to USA Today, in the hours before he was killed, Cole had two visitors, including his son and a pen pal of four years.
His body shook as the lethal dose of drugs was administered, and about five minutes into the procedure, the warden shook him and shouted his name before he was pronounced dead.
With post wire
