Florida executes man convicted of killing college student, raping victim’s sister in national forest

[Pelican Press 0]

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Florida executes man convicted of ******** college student, ******* victim’s sister in national forest

STARKE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of ******** a college freshman and ******* the ******* victim’s older sister while the siblings camped in a national forest 30 years ago was ********* Thursday.

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, 57, received a lethal injection and was pronounced ***** at 6:15 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 1994 ******** of the 18-year-old student. Cole also was serving two life sentences for *****.

Cole did not have a last statement. “No sir,” he said when asked if he had some final words.

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 *****.

Cole and a friend, William Paul, befriended the two college students in the Ocala National Forest, court records showed. After talking around a *****, the men offered to take the siblings to see a pond. While away from the campsite, Cole and Paul jumped 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 tied her up and ****** her, according to the record.

The woman was left tied to a tree overnight and ****** again the next day. She eventually managed to free herself and flagged down a driver for help. Police found her brother’s body lying face down on the ground, according to court records.

Paul and Cole were both convicted of first-degree *******. Paul was sentenced to life in prison.

Although they did not attend the **********, the parents of the victims had a statement read afterward by corrections officials. They wrote about how the ******* of their son and the ******* on their daughter had shattered their lives. But they said their daughter had gone on to become a wife, teacher and professor.

“Though invisible to others, our daughter bears internal scars that will never go away. She battled years of *****, pain and sorrow,” the statement said. “She is our hero.”

“We are void of feelings and empathy for Mr. Cole. He placed himself into this arena,” it added. “He does not deserve mercy.”

The Associated Press does not generally identify victims of ******* ******** unless they come forward publicly.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the ****** warrant for Cole last month.

The ********** was the first in Florida since Michael Zack was

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for the 1996 ******** of Ravonne Smith.

Department of Corrections officials described Cole as “compliant” in the hours before his ********** and said he had two visitors, including his son.

The U.S. Supreme Court denied Cole’s final appeal earlier Thursday.

His lawyers had raised several points in seeking a stay of **********, including the fact that Cole was an inmate at a state-run reform school where he and other boys were beaten and ******. The state has since apologized for the ****** and this year passed a law authorizing reparations for inmates at the now-shuttered

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. The lawyers also argued Cole shouldn’t be ********* because he was mentally ill and had brain damage and Parkinson’s ********.

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#Florida #executes #man #convicted #******** #college #student #******* #victims #sister #national #forest

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