A man from Florida, USA convicted of ki!!ing a college freshman and rap!ng the murder victim’s older sister while the siblings camped in a national forest 30 years ago was executed Thursday, August 29.
Loran Cole, 57, received a lethal injection and was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 1994 killing of the 18-year-old student. Cole also was serving two life sentences for rape.
After the procedure began about 6 p.m. Cole briefly looked up at a witness in the front row. After three minutes, he began taking deep breaths, his cheeks puffing out. For a brief moment, his entire body trembled. Five minutes into the procedure, the warden shook him and shouted his name. Cole then appeared to stop breathing and then was declared dead.
Department of Corrections officials described Cole as “compliant” in the hours before his execution and said he had two visitors, including his son.
The US Supreme Court denied Cole’s final appeal earlier Thursday.
Cole and a friend, William Paul, befriended the two college students in the Ocala National Forest, court records showed. After talking around a fire, the men offered to take the siblings to see a pond. While away from the campsite, Cole and Paul jumped on the victims and robbed them, according to the records.
The brother, 18, who was a student at Florida State University, was beaten and had his throat slit and left in the forest. His sister, then a 21-year-old senior at Eckerd College, was taken back to the campsite, where Cole raped her and tied her up, according to the record.
Paul and Cole were both convicted of first-degree murder. Paul was sentenced to life in prison.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant for Cole last month.
The execution was the first in Florida since Michael Zack was put to death last October for the 1996 killing of Ravonne Smith.
