Latest news with #KarenLane
The Sun
11-06-2025
- The Sun
Death row killer made chilling last hand gesture before being suffocated to death & left convulsing in 4 minute ordeal
A DEATH row killer was seen making a chilling last hand gesture before being executed by nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt, 65, was strapped to a chair with a blue-rimmed mask covering his entire face before he was put to death at a south Alabama prison. Hunt, who was convicted of killing a woman in 1988, did not give any final words. However, he appeared to give a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign with his fingers shortly before prison authorities blasted nitrogen at his face. The method involves forcing an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. Hunt was left convulsing for four minutes before authorities declared him dead. He briefly shook, gasped and raised his head off the chair. He then let out a moan and raised his feet. The killer took a series of gasping breaths with long pauses in between before dying. Prison authorities said the movements throughout the four-minute ordeal were expected. Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said: "What I saw has been consistent with all the other nitrogen hypoxia executions. There is involuntary body movement." But critics say they show that the execution method does not provide a quick death. Hunt killed 32-year-old Karen Lane inside her own apartment in 1988 after dating her for about a month. Louisiana puts man to death in state s first nitrogen gas execution Prosecutors said that after becoming enraged with jealousy, he broke into Lane's apartment and sexually abused her and beat her to death, inflicting 60 injuries on her body. Jurors convicted him in 1990 and recommended a death sentence by an 11-1 vote. Lane's family, who also witnessed the execution, said that the night was not about Hunt's life but rather her horrific death. They said Hunt showed her no mercy in 1988 and savagely took Lane away from them. They added: "This is also not about closure or victory. This night represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 years." Hunt was among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row. The US Supreme Court denied Hunt's request for a stay about three hours before the execution began. Hunt argued that prosecutors misled jurors about the evidence of sexual abuse, a claim the Alabama attorney general's office called meritless. On the day of his execution, he had a lunch tray that included bologna, black-eyed peas, carrots and fruit punch, prison officials said. Hunt declined to have a dinner meal. Last year, Alabama became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. The method has now been used in six executions, five in Alabama and one in Louisiana. Hunt selected nitrogen over the other options, lethal injection or the electric chair, before Alabama developed procedures for the method. Hunt's was one of two executions carried out Tuesday in the country. In Florida, Anthony Wainwright, 54, died by lethal injection for the April 1994 killing of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a nursing student and mother of two young children, in Lake City. US death penalty laws THE death penalty in the United States is governed by both federal and state laws. Its legality and application can vary depending on the jurisdiction. The federal government allows the death penalty for certain crimes such as terrorism, espionage, treason, large-scale drug trafficking, and murder of a federal official or law enforcement officer. The Federal Death Penalty Act (1994) provides the legal framework for death penalty procedures in federal cases, outlining offenses that are eligible for capital punishment and procedural protections for defendants. As of now, 24 states permit the death penalty, while 23 have abolished it or have moratoriums. Each state has its own laws regarding which crimes are punishable by death, usually limited to first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances (e.g., multiple murders, killing a police officer, or murder during a violent crime like robbery). Lethal injection is the most common method of execution across the U.S., but some states have alternative methods, such as the electric chair, gas chamber, hanging, or firing squad, as secondary options or by choice of the condemned. Some states have imposed moratoriums (temporary halts) on executions, such as California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, even though the death penalty remains legal in those states. There has been a growing trend toward abolition, as public opinion has shifted, concerns about wrongful convictions have arisen, and the costs of death penalty cases have increased. Death penalty cases involve a complex and lengthy appeals process, which includes automatic appeals to higher courts. This process is designed to ensure that convictions are accurate and that no constitutional rights were violated during the trial. Defendants in capital cases are afforded specific protections, such as the right to effective legal counsel and mental health evaluations.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Death row inmate made haunting final hand symbol before being executed for killing a woman
An Alabama man who was executed yesterday for the 1988 murder of a woman made a chilling final hand gesture before being put to death with nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt, 65, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. on Tuesday at a south Alabama prison, authorities said, one of four scheduled this week in the United States. Hunt was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Karen Lane, who was 32 when she was killed on Aug. 2, 1988, in the Cordova apartment she shared with another woman in Walker County. Strapped to a gurney with a blue-rimmed mask covering his entire face, Hunt gave no final words but appeared to give a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign with his fingers. The gas began flowing sometime after 5:55 p.m., but it was not clear exactly when. At 5:57 p.m. Hunt briefly shook, gasped and raised his head off the gurney. He let out a moan at about 5:59 p.m. and raised his feet. He took a series of four or more gasping breaths with long pauses in between, and made no visible movements after 6:05 p.m. The shaking movements and gasps were similar to previous nitrogen executions in Alabama. The execution method involves forcing an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. The state says the movements are expected, but critics say they show that the execution method does not provide a quick death. 'What I saw has been consistent with all the other nitrogen hypoxia executions. There is involuntary body movement,' Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said. Hunt had dated Lane for about a month. Prosecutors said that after becoming enraged with jealousy, he broke into Lane's apartment and sexually abused her and beat her to death, inflicting 60 injuries on her body. Jurors convicted him in 1990 and recommended a death sentence by an 11-1 vote. Several of Lane's relatives witnessed the execution, Hamm said. The family said in a statement that the night was not about Hunt's life but rather the 'horrific death of Karen Sanders Lane, whose life was so savagely taken from her.' They added that Hunt showed her no mercy in 1988. 'This is also not about closure or victory. This night represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 years,' the family said. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the execution 'a long-overdue moment of justice.' 'Karen was a young woman whose life was stolen in the most brutal and dehumanizing way imaginable,' Marshall said, adding, 'Gregory Hunt spent more time on death row than Karen spent alive.' Hunt was among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row. He told The Associated Press last month that finding religion in prison helped him get 'free of my poisons and demons' and that he tried to help other inmates. He led a weekly Bible class since 1998, he said. 'Just trying to be a light in a dark place, trying to tell people if I can change, they can too ... become people of love instead of hate,' he said. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Hunt's request for a stay about three hours before the execution began. Hunt argued that prosecutors misled jurors about the evidence of sexual abuse, a claim the Alabama attorney general's office called meritless. Hunt declined to have a dinner meal. On the day of his execution, he had a lunch tray that included bologna, black-eyed peas, carrots and fruit punch, prison officials said. The Rev. Jeff Hood, a death penalty opponent who worked with Hunt, expressed sadness over his execution. 'Greg Hunt was my friend. I am devastated that Alabama saw fit to kill him,' Hood said. Last year Alabama became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. The method has now been used in six executions — five in Alabama and one in Louisiana. Hunt selected nitrogen over the other options, lethal injection or the electric chair, before Alabama developed procedures for the method. Hunt's was o ne of two executions carried out Tuesday in the country. In Florida, Anthony Wainwright, 54, died by lethal injection for the April 1994 killing of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a nursing student and mother of two young children, in Lake City.
Al Arabiya
11-06-2025
- 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
11-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Alabama death row inmate Gregory Hunt is executed by nitrogen oxide for 1988 murder
An Alabama man convicted of killing a woman in 1988 was put to death Tuesday evening in the nation's sixth execution by nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt, 65, was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. at a south Alabama prison, authorities said, one of four scheduled this week in the United States. Hunt was convicted of capital murder for the killing of Karen Lane, who was 32 when she was killed on Aug. 2, 1988, in the Cordova apartment she shared with another woman in Walker County. The execution method involves forcing an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. Strapped to a gurney with a blue-rimmed mask covering his entire face, Hunt gave no final words but appeared to give a thumbs-up sign and a peace sign with his fingers. The gas began flowing sometime after 5:55 p.m., but it was not clear exactly when. At 5:57 p.m. Hunt briefly shook, gasped and raised his head off the gurney. He let out a moan at about 5:59 p.m. and raised his feet. He took a series of four or more gasping breaths with long pauses in between, and made no visible movements after 6:05 p.m. The shaking movements and gasps were similar to previous nitrogen executions in Alabama. The state says the movements are expected, but critics say they show that the execution method does not provide a quick death. 'What I saw has been consistent with all the other nitrogen hypoxia executions. There is involuntary body movement,' Alabama Corrections Commissioner John Hamm said. Hunt had dated Lane for about a month. Prosecutors said that after becoming enraged with jealousy, he broke into Lane's apartment and sexually abused her and beat her to death, inflicting 60 injuries on her body. Jurors convicted him in 1990 and recommended a death sentence by an 11-1 vote. Several of Lane's relatives witnessed the execution, Hamm said. The family said in a statement that the night was not about Hunt's life but rather the 'horrific death of Karen Sanders Lane, whose life was so savagely taken from her.' They added that Hunt showed her no mercy in 1988. 'This is also not about closure or victory. This night represents justice and the end of a nightmare that has coursed through our family for 37 years,' the family said. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall called the execution 'a long-overdue moment of justice.' 'Karen was a young woman whose life was stolen in the most brutal and dehumanizing way imaginable,' Marshall said, adding, 'Gregory Hunt spent more time on death row than Karen spent alive.' Hunt was among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row. He told The Associated Press last month that finding religion in prison helped him get 'free of my poisons and demons' and that he tried to help other inmates. He led a weekly Bible class since 1998, he said. 'Just trying to be a light in a dark place, trying to tell people if I can change, they can too ... become people of love instead of hate,' he said. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Hunt's request for a stay about three hours before the execution began. Hunt argued that prosecutors misled jurors about the evidence of sexual abuse, a claim the Alabama attorney general's office called meritless. Hunt declined to have a dinner meal. On the day of his execution, he had a lunch tray that included bologna, black-eyed peas, carrots and fruit punch, prison officials said. The Rev. Jeff Hood, a death penalty opponent who worked with Hunt, expressed sadness over his execution. 'Greg Hunt was my friend. I am devastated that Alabama saw fit to kill him,' Hood said. Last year Alabama became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. The method has now been used in six executions — five in Alabama and one in Louisiana. Hunt selected nitrogen over the other options, lethal injection or the electric chair, before Alabama developed procedures for the method. Hunt's was o ne of two executions carried out Tuesday in the country. In Florida, Anthony Wainwright, 54, died by lethal injection for the April 1994 killing of 23-year-old Carmen Gayheart, a nursing student and mother of two young children, in Lake City.
The Independent
10-06-2025
- The Independent
Alabama to execute a long-serving death row inmate for the 1988 beating death of a woman he dated
A man convicted of beating a woman to death nearly 37 years ago is scheduled to be executed Tuesday in Alabama in what will be the nation's sixth execution with nitrogen gas. Gregory Hunt is scheduled to be put to death Tuesday night at a south Alabama prison. Hunt was convicted of killing Karen Lane, a woman he had been dating for about a month, according to court records. The Alabama execution is one of four that had been scheduled this week in the United States. Executions are also scheduled in Florida and South Carolina. A judge in Oklahoma on Monday issued a temporary stay for an execution in that state, but the state attorney general is seeking to get it lifted. Lane was 32 when she was murdered Aug. 2, 1988, in the Cordova apartment she shared with a woman who was Hunt's cousin. Prosecutors said Hunt broke into her apartment and killed her after sexually abusing her. A physician who performed an autopsy testified that she died from blunt force trauma and that Lane had sustained some 60 injuries, including 20 to the head. A jury on June 19, 1990, found Hunt guilty of capital murder during sexual abuse and burglary. Jurors recommended by a vote of 11-1 that he receive a death sentence, which a judge imposed. Hunt's final request for a stay of execution, which he filed himself, focused on claims that prosecutors made false statements to jurors about evidence of sexual abuse. The element of sexual abuse is what elevated the crime to a death penalty offense. In a filing to the U.S. Supreme Court, Hunt, acting as his own attorney, wrote that a prosecutor told jurors that cervical mucus was on a broomstick near Hunt's body. However, the victim did not have a cervix because of an earlier hysterectomy. The Alabama attorney general's office called the claim meritless and said even if the prosecutor erred in that statement, it did not throw the conviction into doubt. Hunt, speaking by telephone last month from prison, did not dispute killing Lane but maintained he did not sexually assault her. He also described himself as someone who was changed by prison. 'Karen didn't deserve what happened to her,' Hunt said. Hunt said he had been drinking and doing drugs on the night of the crime and became jealous when he saw Lane in a car with another man. 'You have your come-to-Jesus moment. Of course, after the fact, you can't believe what has happened. You can't believe you were part of it and did it,' Hunt said. Hunt, who was born in 1960 and came to death row in 1990, is now among the longest-serving inmates on Alabama's death row. He said prison became his 'hospital' to heal his broken mind. He said since 1988, he has been leading a Bible class attended by two dozen or more inmates. 'Just trying to be a light in a dark place, trying to tell people if I can change, they can too. ... become people of love instead of hate," he said. Lane's sister declined to comment when reached by telephone. The family is expected to give a written statement Tuesday night. 'The way she was killed is just devastating,' Denise Gurganus, Lane's sister, told TV station WBRC at a 2014 vigil for crime victims. 'It's hard enough to lose a family member to death, but when it's this gruesome.' The Alabama attorney general's office, in asking justices to reject Hunt's request for a stay of execution, wrote that Hunt has now been on death row longer than Lane was alive. Alabama last year became the first state to carry out an execution with nitrogen gas. Nitrogen has now been used in five executions — four in Alabama and one in Louisiana. The method involves using a gas mask to force an inmate to breathe pure nitrogen gas, depriving them of the oxygen needed to stay alive. Hunt had named nitrogen as his preferred execution method. He made the selection before Alabama had developed procedures for using gas. Alabama also allows inmates to choose lethal injection or the electric chair.
