NASHVILLE, TN– Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday he would not intervene to stop an execution Harold Wayne Nichols.
Nichols, 64, is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday for the 1988 rape and murder of Karen Polley, a 20-year-old student at Chattanooga State University.
Nichols admitted to killing Polly as well as raping several other women in the Chattanooga area. Although he expressed remorse during the trial, he admitted that he would have continued his violent behavior had he not been arrested. He was sentenced to death in 1990.
Nichols’ lawyers sought to have his sentence reduced to life imprisonment, noting that he had accepted responsibility for his crimes and pleaded guilty. His clemency application stated that he “would be the first person to be executed for a crime he admitted to since Tennessee reinstated the death penalty in 1978.”
In an emailed statement late Tuesday, Lee said: “After careful consideration of Harold Wayne Nichols’ request for clemency, and after a thorough review of the case, I support Tennessee’s ruling and do not plan to intervene.”
In a The last interviewPolly’s sister, Lisette Munro, said waiting for Nichols’ execution had been “37 years of hell”. She described her sister as “sweet, kind and innocent” and said she hoped that after the execution she could focus on Polly’s happy memories rather than killing her.
Nichols’ attorneys issued a statement saying they were “deeply saddened and deeply disappointed” by Lee’s decision to deny pardon.
“Wayne spent decades taking responsibility for his actions, working to change his life, and was an extraordinary person loved and trusted by correctional officers, religious leaders, and many in his community,” they wrote.
Nichols broke into Polly’s home, raped her, and hit her in the head with a 2-by-4 board. Polly suffered serious brain injuries and died the next day.
Nichols was arrested several months after Polley’s murder on unrelated rape and robbery charges in the Chattanooga area. He admitted to raping several victims in Chattanooga over a two-month period before Polly was killed. He pleaded guilty to raping two victims, but went on to have two others tried in front of the jury and were found guilty.