Tennessee is preparing to carry out the execution of Harold Wayne Nichols on Thursday morning for the 1988 rape and murder of 20-year-old college student Karen Pulley. Nichols, now 64, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. His execution had been set for July 2020 but was postponed when the governor delayed executions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nichols admitted to killing Pulley while she slept in her family’s Brainerd home and also confessed to several other rapes during the same period. Pulley’s sister has expressed that while the execution will not fully bring closure, it is something she believes must happen. Another survivor said she hopes Nichols faces the consequences he deserves. His legal team has stated that he has spent nearly four decades in prison working to rehabilitate himself and accepting responsibility for his actions. If carried out, this will mark Tennessee’s third execution of the year and the 46th in the United States.