TN man convicted of rape, murder wants Thursday execution delayed as Gov. Lee refuses clemency

From Local 3 News: UPDATE: Tennessee Governor Bill Lee says that he will not grant clemency for death row inmate Harold Wayne Nichols.

“After deliberate consideration of Harold Wayne Nichols’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I am upholding the sentence of the State of Tennessee and do not plan to intervene,” Governor Lee said.


PREVIOUS STORY: Harold Wayne Nichols' appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied.
In recent years, Nichols' attorneys have tried to have him re-sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In 2018, his attorneys, along with District Attorney at the time, Neal Pinkston, were under the impression that he would be re-sentenced, but Senior Judge Don Ash rejected the agreement sending Nichols back to death row.

"It wasn't because we thought that there was some issue in the trial or some of his constitutional rights were violated. We don't think that. It's just the family had grown so tired and weary of waiting for so long. They were just, they wanted to, you know, finality," said Pinkston.
 
Pinkston says, despite the Court's decision, the jury's decision has to be respected. 
'Multiple appellate courts have looked at it. Federal courts at some point, for the citizens, for the victim's family, and for our criminal justice system, the judgment has to be respected."

Nichols is set to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday, December 11.
 
Local 3's Michelle Heron will be at the execution providing coverage.


PREVIOUS: An East Ridge man convicted of raping and killing 20-year-old Karen Pulley in 1988 is now asking for his execution to be put on hold.
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Harold Wayne Nichols is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection on Thursday, December 11. Local 3 News will attend the execution in Nashville.

He has requested that his final meal be beef brisket, coleslaw, a baked potato, onion rings, deviled eggs, cheese biscuits and fruit tea.
 
However, he is now appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court to pause his execution after the 6th District Court denied his request for a stay. Nichols wants his execution to be put on hold until the Supreme Court reviews the case, and until his ongoing legal challenges are settled.

Nichols argues that the State of Tennessee violated his Equal Protection rights, and that Tennessee's lethal injection protocol may be unconstitutional.
 
Nichols pleaded guilty to raping and murdering Pulley inside her Brainerd home when she was 20 years old. A jury sentenced him to the death penalty in 1990. At that time, life in prison was not an option in Tennessee. Following a law change in 2018, Nichols' attorney attempted to get him off death row, without success.

Nichols was also convicted in a series of 11 other rapes or attempted rapes in the Chattanooga area before confessing to raping and murdering Pulley.
 
"Although he expressed remorse at trial, he admitted that he would have continued his violent behavior had he not been arrested," the Associated Press reported.

Just days before his scheduled execution, Pulley's sister said she was "standing in Faith that justice will triumph on Thursday."