The state executed Harold “Wayne” Nichols Thursday morning by lethal injection. Nichols, 64, was Tennessee’s third execution in seven months after a three-year hiatus in executions following a botched execution in 2022 and subsequent investigation into the Tennessee Department of Correction’s lethal injection protocol.
Nichols was sentenced to death in 1990 for the 1988 rape and murder of 20-year-old Karen Pulley. During his three decades on death row, he forged a relationship with the victim’s mother, Ann Pulley, who publicly forgave Nichols for his crimes.
Harold Nichols' attorney calls on state to pause Dec. 11 execution for review of new execution records
Nichols was pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m. Thursday at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. In the years and months leading up to his execution, Nichols unsuccessfully appealed to convert his sentence to life in prison. In one instance, TDOC’s press release mistakenly refers to Nichols as “inmate Smith,” appearing to confuse the man with Oscar Smith, who was executed in May.
“To the people I’ve harmed, I’m sorry,” reads a TDOC transcript of Nichols’ last words. “To my family, know that I love you. I know where I’m going to. I’m ready to go home.”
Gov. Bill Lee formally denied clemency to Nichols on Dec. 9. The same day, a Knox County court ordered the state to release additional information about TDOC’s lethal injection process, which the court says has been improperly shielded from public review.
Tennessee is one of 11 states that have conducted executions in 2025. The state has scheduled four additional executions in 2026: Tony Von Carruthers, Anthony Darrell Dugard Hines, Christa Gail Pike and Gary Wayne Sutton. Pike is the only woman in the state currently on death row.
