Tennessee inmate Harold Wayne Nichols final words revealed as hes executed for 1988 killing of college student

A Tennessee death row inmate used his last words to apologize to the people he harmed before he was executed nearly three decades after he raped and murdered a “gentle, sweet, and innocent” college student.Harold Wayne Nichols declared he was “ready to go home” as he was administered a lethal injection of pentobarbital at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on Thursday.“To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry.To my family, know that I love you,” Nichols said, according to the Tennessee Department of Corrections.

“I know where I’m going.I’m ready to go home.”Nichols, 64, sought a stay of execution on the eve of his death sentence, but the Tennessee Supreme Court denied the request.

He was pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m.Thursday.The convicted murderer had been on death row since 1990, two years after he was found guilty of killing 20-year-old Chattanooga State University student Karen Pulley.Pulley was at her Chattanooga home on Sept.

30, 1988, when Nichols broke in through a window and found her asleep in bed, the Tennessean reported.He struck her in the head with a two-by-four, raped her, and fled.

Pulley died in the hospital the following day.Pulley was Nichols’ first known victim in a three-month crime spree spanning September 1988 to January 1989, during which he raped several other women and attempted to rape five more in the Chattanooga area.Following his arrest, Nichols confessed to raping and murdering Pulley.At trial, he also admitted to raping seven other women and pleaded guilty to Pulley’s murder.Although he expressed remorse, Nichols acknowledged he would have continued his violent behavior had he not been arrested.

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Nichols received the maximum punishment on all charges — more th...