The state executed Harold “Wayne” Nichols Thursday morning by lethal injection. Nichols, 64, was Tennessee’s third execution in seven months after a three-year hiatus in executions following a botched execution in 2022 and subsequent investigation into the Tennessee Department of Correction’s lethal injection protocol .

Nichols was sentenced to death in 1990 for the 1988 rape and murder of 20-year-old Karen Pulley. During his three decades on death row, he forged a relationship with the victim’s mother, Ann Pulley, who publicly forgave Nichols for his crimes.

Nichols was pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m. Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. In the years and months leading up to his execution, Nichols unsuccessfully appealed to convert his sentence to life

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