Tennessee set for third execution of 2025
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Tennessee is scheduled to execute a death row inmate Thursday morning, marking the state's third execution since May.
- Harold Wayne Nichols, 64, raped and killed 20-year-old college student Karen Pulley in 1988. He pleaded guilty later that year, and a Hamilton County jury sentenced him to death.
Gov. Bill Lee declined to intervene, and courts have rejected attempts to delay the execution while Nichols and a group of other death row inmates challenge the state's new lethal injection method.
Executions are trending upward nationwide due to a surge among a handful of states, including Tennessee. If the execution moves forward, Nichols will be the 46th person put to death this year in the U.S., per the Death Penalty Information Center.
- Tennessee set a rapid pace for executions this year after a lengthy hiatus. Four additional executions are already set for 2026.
The big picture: A legal battle over the state's method rages on.
- The Tennessee Department of Correction rewrote its execution protocol following the 2022 revelation that prison officials were not following their own rules for lethal injections.
- Executions were put on hold for years during the investigation and aftermath.
- Inmates suing the state say the new protocol remains opaque and flawed.
The latest: A team of federal public defenders is seeking details about the state's supply of pentobarbital, including expiration dates and quality-testing results.
- The Tennessee Department of Correction denied those requests, citing the state's execution secrecy law. But earlier this week a Knox County judge said the state was overreaching and must provide the documents with redactions.
Nichols' execution is set to take place at 9am at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.