Latest news with #AnthonyWainwright
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Death row inmate's strange final act of defiance before he was executed for raping and murdering young mom
A death row inmate executed for the 1994 rape and murder of a young mother declined his final meal before being put to death by lethal injection, his spiritual adviser tells the Daily Mail. Anthony Wainwright, 54, had been so terrified of dying in the days leading up to his execution that Reverend Jeff Hood flew from Arkansas to Florida to be by his side in his final hours. It was during those hours that Wainwright found 'perfect peace' with his impending fate, no longer seeing his death as a definitive end but rather as a new beginning. 'He was ready to get out of prison,' Hood told 'I kept on telling him that this was his release date.' After finding his inner peace, Wainwright decided to forgo the long-standing ritual of a last meal. In Florida, death row inmates are permitted a final feast worth up to $40, but the food must be prepared in the prison kitchen. Takeout, alcohol, and cigarettes are all forbidden. 'He just wanted to focus on pushing through and how he was feeling,' explained Hood. 'He was very much concentrating on staying in a place of peace, and he felt like anything like that would distract him; distract him from his family and the people he loved. 'It was quite beautiful that he wanted to go out that way.' Wainwright was executed at Florida State Prison in Raiford on Tuesday evening, becoming the sixth inmate to be put to death by lethal injection in the state this year. He - along with his accomplice Richard Hamilton - was convicted in 1995 of raping and murdering Carmen Gayheart, a 23-year-old nursing student and mom-of-two, after abducting her from a Winn-Dixie parking lot in April 1994. The two men committed the horrific crime days after escaping from prison in Newport, North Carolina, where Wainwright was serving 10 years for breaking and entering, and Hamilton 25 years for armed robbery. They spotted Gayheart alone as she was loading groceries in the back of her blue Ford Bronco, snuck up on her, and forced her into her own vehicle at gunpoint, before driving away. Gayheart was driven to a secluded area in Hamilton County, where she was raped by the two men, strangled, and then executed with two rifle shots to the back of her head. Wainwright and Hamilton were caught the following day, 500 miles away in Mississippi, following a shootout with police. They led investigators to Gayheart's body and were each later convicted of murder, kidnapping, robbery and rape - with the jury unanimously recommending they be sentenced to death by the electric chair. Hamilton died in prison from natural causes in 2023. But Wainwright lived long enough to be executed Tuesday just after 6pm via lethal injection. In addition to Hood, Wainwright was visited by his wife, Samantha Hill, in the hours before his death. Wainwright made a final statement, but it was inaudible from a viewing room where 27 witnesses, including members of Gayheart's family, were watching on. Hood shared Wainwright's parting remarks with Wainwright spoke directly to his wife and thanked her for her loyalty and support through all of his legal appeals. 'My beautiful wife Samantha, you are the love of my life. I'm so blessed we found each other. The years we have spent together have been beyond wonderful,' Wainwright said. 'They've been downright magical. Love is stronger than death, and I know our love will last for eternity. 'I wanted to thank everyone who has supported my wife, Samantha, and I. It has truly been overwhelming. It has meant so much to us both,' he added. He concluded with a quote from The Princess Bride, specifically a statement uttered by the character Westley, played by Cary Elwes, to his romantic interest Buttercup, played by Robin Wright. 'Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while,' the convicted murderer and rapist told his wife. Wainwright stopped short of apologizing to Gayheart's family, but said he hopes 'my death brings you peace and healing.' He also railed against what he deemed a broken court system. 'The court system is broken, especially in Florida. Please continue the fight. Because I can promise you they are not going to let up. They will continue to murder if we continue to let it happen,' Wainwright said. He thenn criticized his attorney, Baya Harrison, who has represented other death row inmates in Florida. 'I hope that nobody forgets how terrible of an attorney Baya Harrison has been to all of us guys on the row and how terrible he represented me for so many years. He might be Florida's worst attorney,' he said. None of Wainwright's friends or family were present for his death, Hood said. The execution began at 6:10pm, and witnesses noted Wainwright's shoulders visibly shuddering after the injection was administered. Hood said that 'this was not as clean of a lethal injection as the others that I've seen,' but 'it was not bad enough to say that it was botched.' Wainwright blinked and took several deep breaths before going completely still at 6:14pm. He was officially pronounced dead eight minutes later at 6:22pm. Gayheart's older sister, Maria David, sat front and center when Wainwright took his last breaths on Tuesday. Ahead of the execution, she told she hoped Wainwright was gripped by the same fear and terror he subjected her younger sibling to in her last moments of life. 'Carmen was so scared for her life in her final moments, thinking, 'This is it. I'm gonna die.' And I can only hope that fear is something he's feeling now, too,' David said, 'She died in a horrific way… it kills me what they did to my baby sister. So I'm glad this is the last time I'll ever see him, and the last time I'll ever have to think about Anthony Wainwright.' Hood said that Wainwright's execution was incredibly emotional, likening witnessing his death to being 'kicked in the nuts.' 'This is the tenth execution I've been to. It's really like being kicked in the nuts,' he said. 'I've been close with Anthony for four years now. He's not somebody I just met. He mattered a great deal to me… and then to have to watch them be murdered right in front of you... It's horrifying and it's enraging.' A last-minute request for a stay in Wainwright's execution was denied by the Supreme Court. Over the years, his lawyers have filed multiple unsuccessful appeals based on what they said were problems with his trial and evidence that he suffered from brain damage and intellectual disability. Since his execution was scheduled last month, his lawyers have argued in state and federal court filings that his death should be put on hold to allow time for courts to hear additional legal arguments in his case. In a filing with the Supreme Court, his lawyers argued that his case has been 'marred by critical, systemic failures at virtually every stage and through the signing of his death warrant.' Those failures include flawed DNA evidence that wasn't disclosed to the defense until after opening statements, erroneous jury instructions, inflammatory and inaccurate closing arguments, and missteps by court-appointed lawyers, the filing says. David called Wainwright's attempts to revise the past shameful. If anything, David said the killer should be grateful that he was being given the lethal injection, rather than the electric chair as originally prescribed. 'He's getting off easy,' David said. 'I'm sad it's not the electric chair.' 'He's going to get an injection that puts him off to sleep like you'd do for your family's sick dog, the dog you loved with all your heart. 'Carmen suffered… but he's taking the easy way out. He's had 31 years breathing, phone calls, letters, all of that - everything he robbed Carmen of.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
2 men executed on same day: Anthony Wainwright in Florida, Gregory Hunt in Alabama
Two men were executed in the U.S. on Tuesday in what is now the nation's fourth double execution of the year. Florida executed Anthony Wainwright by lethal injection just after 6 p.m. ET for the 1994 rape and murder of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a married mother of two and nursing student who was kidnapped in broad daylight in a grocery store parking lot. Less than an hour later, Alabama used the controversial nitrogen gas method to execute Gregory Hunt for the 1988 rape and murder of 32-year-old Karen Lane, a woman he had been dating for a month. "It seems to me there's enough days in the year that executions shouldn't have to be stacked on top of each other," said the Rev. Jeff Hood, a death row spiritual adviser who has witnessed nine executions and said he had to make an "unfathomable" choice between whether to be in person to support Wainwright in Florida or Hunt in Alabama. He chose to be in the death chamber with Wainwright. The double executions - meaning inmates who were put to death on the same day but in different states - mark the nation's 20th and 21st executions of 2025. They come as the U.S. is on pace to put more inmates to death this year than any other in the past decade, though the nation is still far from its busiest execution year ever: 98 in 1999. Here's what you need to know about the executions. 'A remarkable development': States expanding their execution methods to firing squad, more Alabama executed Hunt by the controversial nitrogen gas method at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, and he was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. CT. It was the fifth nitrogen gas execution in the state since January 2024, and the sixth in the nation overall. When the curtains to the death chamber opened, Hunt was strapped to a gurney, wrapped in a white sheet and had a mask over his face, according to Alex Gladden, a witness to the execution for the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network. At 5:57 p.m., Hunt began gasping and lifted his head. Then his entire body began convulsing. He lifted his head again two minutes later before his head fell back and he groaned loudly, Gladden observed. Hunt's head continued to move and he kept gasping for several minutes before he appeared to take his last breath at 6:04 p.m. His left fist remained clenched long afterward. Witness accounts from the previous four nitrogen gas executions in Alabama describe "suffering, including conscious terror for several minutes, shaking, gasping, and other evidence of distress," Louisiana Chief District Judge Shelly Dick wrote in an opinion that temporarily blocked the nitrogen gas execution of Jessie Hoffman in her state in March. That violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment, inmate advocates say. The states using the method defend it as effective and constitutional, and one official in another state considering approving the method recently said that it may very well be painful, according to reporting by the Ohio Capital Journal. 'The Constitution doesn't guarantee a pain-free death," said Lou Tobin, executive director of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Journal reported. 'We don't want to cause them unnecessary pain. ... But whatever they experience as part of an execution pales in comparison to the pain and suffering that they've inflicted on their victims.' Hunt, 65, was convicted of the "savage" rape and murder of Karen Lane, whom he had been dating for a month on Aug. 2, 1988. Hunt acknowledged killing Lane, saying it was a crime of passion driven by jealousy, but denied raping her − a contention refuted by the Alabama Attorney General's Office. "Make no mistake, this night is not about the life of Greg Hunt," Lane's family said in a statement after witnessing the execution. "This night is about the horrific death of Karen Sanders Lane, whose life was so savagely taken from her. Karen was shown no mercy. She was not given a second chance. Karen was shown no grace." They added that the execution "also not about closure or victory" but "represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 long years." Florida executed Wainwright by lethal injection, marking the state's sixth execution this year, more than any other state. Wainwright, who was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. ET, was convicted of the rape and murder of Carmen Gayheart, a married mother of two young children who was attacked in broad daylight in a grocery store parking lot in Lake City, Florida, on April 27, 1994. "To the family of Carmen Gayheart, I hope my death brings you peace and healing," Wainwright said in his last statement, according to his spiritual adviser, the Rev. Jeff. Hood. Wainwright slammed his attorney as "Florida's worst" and the court system in Florida as "broken." "Please continue the fight. Because I can promise you they are not going to let up," he said to those fighting the death penalty. "They will continue to murder if we continue to let it happen." Wainwright spent most of his last words addressing his fiancée, Samantha Wainwright (who is using his last name). "You are the love of my life. I'm so blessed we found each other. The years we have spent together have been beyond wonderful, they've been downright magical," he said. "Love is stronger than death and I know our love will last for eternity." Gayheart's sister, Maria David, told USA TODAY that at the time of Gayheart's murder, she had just moved her family into the dream home they built themselves in the tiny northern Florida town of Fort White. "She loved animals, she loved people, she loved her children, she loved her husband," David said. "She was building something beautiful." David planned on being front and center at Wainwright's execution for "accountability" and because her heartbroken parents couldn't. Her father died in 2013, and her mother died in 2023. "I look a lot like my sister," she said ahead of the execution. "I'm hoping that he sees a glimpse of Carmen one more time before he goes to where he's going." In his appeal filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Wainwright's attorneys argued, among other points, that the Florida Supreme Court failed to consider new evidence that the 54-year-old suffered from "transgenerational exposure to Agent Orange through his father's combat service in the Vietnam War." About Wainwright's state of mind approaching his death, the Rev. Jeff Hood said that he was "very afraid of being executed. Who was Carmen Gayheart? Mom murdered after grocery store run was building a beautiful life Tuesday's double execution is far from unprecedented. It happened three times already this year and twice in 2024. May 20, 2025: Indiana executed Benjamin Ritchie for the 2000 fatal shooting of Officer Bill Tomey, who had just turned 32 the previous day and was a married father of two girls. Later that day, Texas executed Matthew Johnson for the murder of 76-year-old Nancy Judith Harris, a beloved grandmother he set on fire. March 20, 2025: Oklahoma executed Wendell Grissom for the murder of 23-year-old Amber Matthews in front of her best friend's two young daughters in 2005. About nine hours later, Florida executed Edward Thomas James for the 1993 murders of 58-year-old Elizabeth "Betty" Dick and her 8-year-old granddaughter, Toni Neuner, who was raped. Feb. 13, 2025: Florida executed James Dennis Ford for the savage murders of two young parents, Gregory and Kimberly Malnory, in front of their toddler daughter in 1997. An hour after Ford's death, Texas executed Death Row inmate Richard Lee Tabler for fatally shooting four people in what he described as a fit of rage in 2004. Sept. 26, 2004: Oklahoma executed Emmanuel Littlejohn for the 1992 shooting death of beloved convenience store owner Kenneth Meers, despite a recommendation from a clemency board that his life should be spared. Later that day, Alabama executed Alan Eugene Miller for the 1999 shooting deaths of his three coworkers, whom he believed were spreading rumors about his sexuality. Sept. 24, 2004: Missouri executed Marcellus Williams for the 1998 killing of a former newspaper reporter named Lisha Gayle despite his strong claims of innocence and over the objections of both a key prosecutor in the case, the victim's family, and three Supreme Court justices who said they would have granted him a stay. Less than an hour later, Texas executed Travis James Mullis for killing his 3-month-old son, Alijah, in 2008. Experts say the scheduling of two executions on the same day appears to be purely coincidental, largely because most executions are held between Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contributing: James Powel, USA TODAY, Alex Gladden, the Montgomery Advertiser Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Double execution: Anthony Wainwright, Gregory Hunt put to death
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Two death row inmates executed in Alabama, Florida
An Alabama man who murdered his girlfriend was put to death by nitrogen gas on Tuesday, with another man executed by lethal injection in the US state of Florida. Gregory Hunt, 65, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. Central Time (2323 GMT) at the Alabama state prison in Atmore. He was executed by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate. It was the fifth execution in the southern US state using nitrogen gas, which has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane. Only one other US state, Louisiana, has used this method. Hunt was convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of 32-year-old Karen Lane, whom he had been dating for a month. In Florida, Anthony Wainwright, 54, was put to death by lethal injection at 6:22 p.m. Eastern Time (2222 GMT) at the Florida state prison in Raiford. Wainwright was convicted of the 1994 rape and murder of Carmen Gayheart, a 23-year-old nursing student and mother of two young children. Wainwright and an accomplice, Richard Hamilton, abducted Gayheart three days after escaping from a prison in North Carolina. Hamilton was also sentenced to death for Gayheart's murder but died in prison. A third execution this week is scheduled to take place on Thursday in Oklahoma, where John Hanson, 61, is to be put to death for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of Mary Bowles, 77. Hanson's execution has been temporarily put on hold by a judge amid claims his rights were violated during a clemency hearing. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has asked an appeals court to lift the stay to allow the execution to go ahead. The fourth execution this week is to be carried out in South Carolina, where Stephen Stanko, 57, is to be put to death by lethal injection. Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, 43-year-old Laura Ling, and Henry Turner, a 74-year-old friend. There have been 21 executions in the United States this year: 16 by lethal injection, two by firing squad, and three using nitrogen gas. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others—California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania—have moratoriums in place. President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use 'for the vilest crimes.'
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Murderous death row inmate's final message to his loyal wife and victim's family before execution
The last words of Florida death row inmate executed Tuesday evening for murdering a young mother in 1994 expressed his love for his wife by quoting the cult classic film, The Princess Bride. Anthony Wainwright, 54, and his accomplice Richard Hamilton kidnapped 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart from a supermarket parking lot before driving her to a wooded area, where they raped and killed her. Hamilton, while serving on Florida's death row, died in prison in 2023. But Wainwright lived long enough to be executed Tuesday at around 6pm via lethal injection. In his final statement, Wainwright spoke of 'beautiful wife' and the support the couple has enjoyed throughout his several legal appeals. 'My beautiful wife Samantha, you are the love of my life. I'm so blessed we found each other. The years we have spent together have been beyond wonderful,' Wainwright said. 'They've been downright magical. Love is stronger than death and I know our love will last for eternity.' 'I wanted to thank everyone who has supported my wife Samantha and I. It has truly been overwhelming. It has meant so much to us both,' he added. He concluded with a quote from The Princess Bride, specifically a statement uttered by the character Westley, played by Cary Elwes, to his romantic interest Buttercup, played by Robin Wright. 'Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it for a while,' the convicted murderer and rapist told his wife. Wainwright stopped short of apologizing to Gayheart's family, only telling them that he hopes 'my death brings you peace and healing.' He also railed against what he deemed a broken court system. 'The court system is broken. Especially in Florida. Please continue the fight. Because I can promise you they are not going to let up. They will continue to murder if we continue to let it happen,' Wainwright said. He then tore into his attorney, Baya Harrison, who has represented other death row inmates in Florida. 'I hope that nobody forgets how terrible of an attorney Baya Harrison has been to all of us guys on the row and how terrible he represented me for so many years. He might be Florida's worst attorney,' he said. Gayheart's older sister, Maria David, sat front and center when Wainwright took his last breaths on Tuesday. 'Carmen was so scared for her life in her final moments, thinking, 'This is it. I'm gonna die.' And I can only hope that fear is something he's feeling now, too,' David told the Daily Mail. 'She died in a horrific way… it kills me what they did to my baby sister. So I'm glad this is the last time I'll ever see him, and the last time I'll ever have to think about Anthony Wainwright.' Rev. Jeff Hood, Wainwright's spiritual advisor, told the Daily Mail that he was terrified of dying. Hood also advised Greg Hunt, an Alabama death row inmate who was executed the same day as Wainwright. Hood said that since Hunt appeared to be accepting of his fate, he chose to stay with Wainwright in his final moments. Wainwright skipped his last meal because he felt that it 'would distract him from his family and the people that he loved,' Hood said. 'He found a place of perfect peace. He stopped seeing his execution as an end but rather as a new beginning. He was ready to get out of prison - I kept on telling him that this was his release date,' Hood said. The Associated Press reported that the execution began at about 6:10pm. That's when Wainwright's shoulders shuddered a few times. Hood said that 'this was not as clean of a lethal injection as the others that I've seen,' adding that 'it was not bad enough to say that it was botched.' Wainwright blinked and took several deep breaths before going completely still at 6:14pm. He was officially pronounced dead at 6:22pm, according to a spokesperson for Governor Ron DeSantis. Hood told the Daily Mail that he was the only person who knew Wainwright that was present for his execution. None of his family members attended. 'This is the tenth execution I've been to. It's really like being kicked in the nuts,' he said. 'I've been close with Anthony for four years now. He's not somebody I just met. He mattered a great deal to me… and then to have to watch them be murdered right in front of you... It's horrifying and it's enraging.' Wainwright and Hamilton escaped from prison in Newport, North Carolina, on April 24, 1994. Wainwright was serving 10 years for breaking and entering, while Hamilton was to be behind bars for 25 years after he committed an armed robbery. They stole a Cadillac and burglarized a home the following morning, stealing money and guns, before heading south towards Florida. It was when the Cadillac started having mechanical issues three days and 600 miles later that the men decided to steal another car. That's when they spotted Gayheart. Gayheart was about to set off to collect her five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son from daycare when she was ambushed and abducted by the two men. Her remains would be found five days later, on May 2, 1994, off a dirt road in Hamilton County. She had been shot twice in the back of the head with a bolt-action rifle. Wainwright and Hamilton, meanwhile, continued on the lam in Gayheart's blue Bronco before they were eventually snared 520 miles away in Mississippi the day after her murder following shootout with police. Both were shot but survived. Initially, Wainwright told police that he raped Carmen and that Hamilton killed her. They led police to her body. At their trial in 1995, each attempted to point the finger of blame for the rape and murder at the other. Both men were convicted of murder, kidnapping, robbery and rape, with the jury unanimously recommending they be sentenced to death by the electric chair. Wainwright's lawyers have filed multiple unsuccessful appeals over the years based on what they said were problems with his trial and evidence that he suffered from brain damage and intellectual disability. Since his execution was scheduled last month, his lawyers have argued in state and federal court filings that his death should be put on hold to allow time for courts to hear additional legal arguments in his case. In a filing with the Supreme Court, his lawyers argued that his case has been 'marred by critical, systemic failures at virtually every stage and through the signing of his death warrant.' Those failures include flawed DNA evidence that wasn't disclosed to the defense until after opening statements, erroneous jury instructions, inflammatory and inaccurate closing arguments, and missteps by court-appointed lawyers, the filing says. David said she isn't buying Wainwright's latest revision of events. She said she heard the evidence against him first-hand and there is no doubt in her mind that he both raped and killed her younger sister. If anything, David said the killer should be grateful that he's being given the lethal injection, rather than the electric chair as was previously ordered. 'He's getting off easy,' David told the Daily Mail. 'I'm sad it's not the electric chair.' 'He's going to get an injection that puts him off to sleep like you'd do for your family's sick dog, the dog you loved with all your heart. 'Carmen suffered… but he's taking the easy way out. He's had 31 years breathing, phone calls, letters, all of that - everything he robbed Carmen of.' David said that the three decades she has been waiting to see Wainwright held 'accountable' is far too long. During that time, she lost both of her parents. Her father died in 2013, and her mother died in 2022. Both had wanted to witness Wainwright's death, she said. 'I know they're going to be with me in spirit today, for both me and Carmen, so we can see this through together,' David said. Before her sister's callous murder, David held no strong opinions about the death penalty. It was only after Gayheart was killed that she says she understood the 'need' for capital punishment. 'When you are so closely tied to the victim of a horrific crime like Carmen, you change your opinion. You want to see it happen because they deserve it,' added David. 'We didn't ask to seek the death penalty. The state came to us and told us they were going to go for it…I absolutely have to see this through,' she said prior to the execution.
New York Post
2 days ago
- New York Post
2 death row inmates executed in Florida, Alabama minutes apart for grisly murders
Two death row inmates were executed by a pair of southern states for their twisted murders minutes apart Tuesday evening. Anthony Wainwright was put to death in Florida and Gregory Hunt was killed in Alabama four minutes later Tuesday evening. It's the fourth time this year there have been double-executions, according to USA Today. 3 Anthony Wainwright is scheduled to be killed in Florida. AP Wainwright, 54, was killed by lethal injection 30 years after he raped and fatally shot mother of two Carmen Gayheart, 23, in Lake City. He was pronounced dead at 6:22 p.m. shortly after the execution got underway. His final words weren't inaudible from the witness room. Wainwright and his co-defendant Richard Hamilton, broke out of North Carolina prison and while they were on the run carjacked Gayheart's blue Ford Bronco in April 1994. The two men forced her into the car at gunpoint and then raped her in the backseat as they drove off. Wainwright and Hamilton, who died on death row, then dragged her from the car and shot her twice in the back of the head. 3 Gregory Hunt will be executed in Alabama. Alabama Department of Corrections/AFP via Getty Images They were captured the next day and convicted in 1995. Gayheart's sister, Maria David, has kept track of every court hearing and appeal since her loved one's murder. 'I'm looking forward to getting the last pieces of paperwork that say he's been executed to put into the book and never having to think about Anthony Wainwright ever again,' she said recently. Wainwright's legal team tried to convince the US Supreme Court to stop his execution — to no avail — by arguing that his exposure to Agent Orange before he was born led to cognitive and behavioral problems throughout his life, according to CBS Miami. Wainwright's father, who fought in the Vietnam War, was exposed to the herbicide and Wainwright was conceived six months after he came back from the war, his lawyers argued. 'Although Mr. Wainwright did not serve in the Vietnam War, and was not even a viable life at that point, he was catastrophically and immutably cognitively damaged from it,' part of the petition states, according to the station. 'Unlike veterans, who make knowing sacrifices for our country in the face of grave risks, Mr. Wainwright had no such choice.' The argument was one of several appeals the Supreme Court shot down Monday. The highest court also rejected a final plea Tuesday morning. 3 One of the two men will be killed by lethal injection. AP Meanwhile Hunt's execution was by nitrogen gas about 35 years after he was convicted of bludgeoning a woman he had been dating, Karen Lane, to death inside an Cordova apartment she shared with Hunt's female cousin in 1988. He was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. Lane, 32, was so badly beaten that she had 60 injuries, including 20 to the head. She was also sexually abused by Hunt leading up to the fatal attack. He was convicted in June 1990 of capital murder, as well as sexual abuse and burglary. Jurors then voted 11-1 that he be sentenced to death, which the judge signed off on. Hunt claimed in an interview last month he was a changed man, and that the killing was fueled by booze, drugs and overwhelming jealousy after he saw Lane in a car with another man, 'Karen didn't deserve what happened to her,' Hunt said. 'You have your come-to-Jesus moment,' he added. 'Of course, after the fact, you can't believe what has happened. You can't believe you were part of it and did it.' This was the sixth time a state has killed an inmate with nitrogen gas. With Post wires.
