(The Center Square) – Tennessee convicted murderer Harold Wayne Nichols is scheduled to be executed on Thursday barring any last minute reprieves.
Nichols, 64, was convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of 20 year-old Karen Pulley in Chattanooga, as well as four other rapes.
A search of Tennessee court records shows a long list of appeals and reprieves. Nichols’ 2020 execution date was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. His execution order was issued by the courts in March.
Gov. Bill Lee issued a moratorium on executions in 2022 while the state studied its execution protocols. Nichols will be the third person executed in Tennessee this year.
Oscar Franklin Smith, who was put to death in May for killing a his wife and her two sons in 1989, was the first inmate executed in five years.
Byron Lewis Black was executed in August for the 1988 murders of his girlfriend and her two young children.
