The state of Florida has executed a man convicted of killing a college freshman and raping her older sister in 1994.
Loran Cole, 57, was given a lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday for the crime that took place 30 years ago. Before he went home, he was joined by his son, Ryan, and a pen pal for a last meal of pizza, ice cream and M&Ms. To drink, he chose soda, said officials who oversaw the event.
Cole was convicted in 1995 of murdering 18-year-old John Edwards and his wife, Pam Edwards, 21, in the Ocala National Forest in February 1994. The couple were camping when Cole and an accomplice beat John before slitting his throat.
As he lay dying, Cole raped his sister and raped her again the next morning. After being tied up, she managed to free herself and flag down a driver.
Cole, then 27, and his friend William Paul, 20, were later convicted of first-degree murder. Cole was sentenced to death and two life sentences. Paul, 50, was sentenced to life in prison and remains at Cross City Correctional Facility.
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Loran Cole, 57, was given a lethal injection at 6 p.m. Thursday for the crime that occurred 30 years ago.
Cole was convicted in 1995 of murdering John Edwards, 18, and Pam Edwards, 21, in the Ocala National Forest in February 1994. John is pictured shortly before he was killed. His sister, who was raped by Cole twice, is not pictured.
Cole, who had argued that being executed would cause “unnecessary pain and suffering” because he already suffered from Parkinson’s disease, was pronounced dead at 6:15 p.m., authorities said.
He died in Florida state prison after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute request to halt proceedings following three appeals and split further motions.
His lawyers had argued that his symptoms would “make it impossible” for his execution to be carried out humanely, with the legal experts writing that “his involuntary bodily movements will affect the placement of the intravenous lines necessary to carry out” the procedure.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody responded that Cole had waited too long to raise the issue, noting that concerns only arose in recent weeks.
He also pointed to how Florida uses restraints during lethal injection to prevent prisoners’ movement, and called claims that their symptoms would make it difficult for executioners to inject the drugs “both speculative and legally insufficient.”
The attorney general also rejected requests for clemency in connection with his stay at the Dozier School for Boys, a boarding school where the suspect was subjected to “tortuous treatment” as a teenager.
Lawyers previously argued that his punishment should be reduced because of such abuses, as they ended up contributing to his depraved behavior, they said.
As a precedent, they pointed to a Florida law enacted to compensate school victims, seeing it as evidence that the state had already assumed some responsibility.
The murder occurred in the Ocala National Forest, north of Orlando, where Cole and Paul befriended the two college students while sitting around a campfire. The camp is seen here
They concluded that jurors might have decided differently if they had known about his experiences at the school in 2011, after 111 years of operation.
Over the years, investigators have found the remains of dozens of former students buried there, lending credence to rumors of abuse, beatings, rape, torture and even murder by staff over the decades.
Despite several investigations, the allegations of cruelty and abuse remained unsubstantiated until nearly two decades after the crime in question, and even more so since Cole’s time at school.
The murder occurred in the Ocala National Forest, north of Orlando, where Cole and Paul befriended the two college students while sitting around a campfire.
After talking for a bit, the men offered to take the brothers to see a pond, police said.
After luring them away from the camp, Cole and Paul jumped on the victims and robbed them, investigators discovered.
The brother, who was a student at Florida State University, was beaten, had his throat slit and was left in the woods to bleed to death.
The sister, then 21 and a senior at Eckerd College, was taken back to the location to be tied up and raped by Cole, according to the file.
Cole (left), then 27, is seen being arrested on February 21, 1994, days after the crime.
Appeals in 1996, 2000 and 2003 delayed the execution of his sentence for the murder, which was added to two life sentences. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant last month
The woman was tied to a tree overnight and Cole raped her again the next day. She eventually managed to free herself and was rescued by a passing motorcyclist.
Police would later find her brother’s mangled body, left face down on the ground.
Paul and Cole were arrested in the following days, both convicted of first-degree murder.
Appeals in 1996, 2000 and 2003 delayed the execution of his sentence for murder, which was added to two life sentences for rape. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Cole’s death warrant last month.
As the proceedings began, the convicted killer reportedly looked at the witness who was standing in the front row gathered to watch justice being done.
After three minutes, he began to breathe deeply and for a brief moment, his body shook. Five minutes later, the director shook him and called out his name. At that point, he appeared unresponsive, no longer breathing. He was then declared dead.
The victims’ parents did not attend, nor did Pam, who has since become a wife, teacher and professor.
“Although it is invisible to others, our daughter has internal scars that will never go away. She fought for years against fear, pain and sadness,” reads a statement from the family. “She is our heroine.”
She added: “We have no feelings or empathy for Mr Cole. He got himself into this situation. He deserves no mercy.”
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