US EditionTennessee executes Harold Wayne Nichols by lethal injection for killing college student in 1988
Harold Wayne Nichols spent 35 years on death row after confessing to raping 12 women and murdering Karen Pulley, before his lethal injection execution by Tennessee authorities.
- On Dec. 11, 2025, Harold Wayne Nichols, a Tennessee death row inmate, was executed by lethal injection at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution and pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m. after administration of pentobarbital.
- Nichols attacked Karen Pulley in Chattanooga's Brainerd community on Sept. 30, 1988; Pulley, a 20-year-old Chattanooga State student, died the next day and Nichols confessed, leading to a 1990 death sentence.
- Legal teams sought court orders for drug inventories and expiration dates in an October 2024 lawsuit, while Nichols challenged Tennessee's single-drug pentobarbital protocol but courts dismissed his case.
- Pulley's family said they supported the execution, describing the day as painful yet hopeful, while Nichols' attorneys claimed his transformation meant the execution 'sent the message that no one can rise beyond the crimes they committed.'
- The U.S. Supreme Court declined to issue a stay, Gov. Bill Lee did not intervene, and Nichols was the third inmate executed under Tennessee's new lethal injection protocol this year.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Inmate Who Declined to Choose Method Executed
Tennessee executed Harold Wayne Nichols by lethal injection Thursday for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Pulley, a 20-year-old student at Chattanooga State University. Nichols, 64, had confessed to killing Pulley as well as raping several other women in the Chattanooga area, the AP reports. Although he expressed remorse...
Harold Wayne Nichols dies in third Tennessee execution of ...
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Independent EspañolBy TRAVIS LOLLER NASHVILLE, Tennessee, USA (AP) — Tennessee carried out on Thursday the execution of Harold Wayne Nichols by lethal injection for the rape and murder of Karen Pulley, a 20-year-old student at Chattanooga State University, in 1988. Nichols, 64, confessed to murdering Pulley, in addition to raping several other women in the Chattanooga area. Although during the trial he expressed remorse, he also admitted that if he had not been ar…
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