Florida set to execute Loran Cole in FSU student's murder, sister's rape: What to know

Florida is set to execute a man on Thursday in the kidnapping and murder of an 18-year-old college student who was on a camping trip with his big sister in Ocala National Forest in north central Florida.

If all goes as the state plans with the lethal injection, 57-year-old Loran Cole will become the first inmate executed in Florida this year and the 13th in the nation.

Cole was convicted of first-degree murder in the Feb. 18, 1994, killing of Florida State University freshman John Edwards, as well as sexual assault for raping Edward's 21-year-old sister at the time.

If Cole is put to death, it will mark the seventh time Florida has executed a man since Aug. 8, 2019. The most recent execution in The Sunshine State was in October, when the state put to death Michael Zach for a woman's 1996 slaying.

Here's what to know about Cole's case and his execution:

Death row:Inmate says he endured 'horrific abuse' at state-run school

How many people are on death row in Florida?

On Wednesday, Cole was one of 279 people including two women on Florida's death row and among 2,241 men and women on state or federal death rows across the United States.

Just one day earlier, a Lee County, Florida judge sentenced 30-year-old Wade Wilson to death in the brutal 2019 murders of Kristine Melton and Diane Ruiz.

Those sentenced to death in Florida may choose between two execution methods. By default, the inmates are executed by lethal injection, but the condemned can choose death by electrocution.

If the Florida Supreme Court affirms Wilson's conviction, he'll have 30 days to decide which method.

Death penalty in the US:Which states still execute inmates, who has executed the most?

When is Cole set to die by lethal injection?

Cole is slated to be executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison anytime after 6 p.m. Thursday.

The method is the most common in the nation. The first drug administered in a three-drug cocktail for Florida’s execution process is the sedative Etomidate. The second drug injected into to the condemned inmate is rocuronium bromide, a paralytic. The last drug administered potassium acetate used to stop the inmate's heart.

Under Florida execution guidelines, Cole is allowed to request a last meal so long as it doesn't exceed $40.

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What was Loran Cole convicted of?

On Feb, 18, 1994, the Edwards siblings were setting up camp when they met Cole, then 27, and another man, William Paul, then 20. Cole introduced himself as "Kevin" and Paul as his "brother" and helped them finish setting up their site. 

That night, the Edwardses set off to visit a pond to take photos of alligators with the men. They never made it.

Before reaching the pond, court records say, Cole jumped Edwards’ sister and handcuffed her. Her brother tried to intervene but was subdued by both men.

Paul took the woman farther up the path and Cole stayed behind with John Edwards, who died from a slashed throat and multiple skull fractures. Edwards’ sister was raped and tied between two trees the next morning before freeing herself. A driver found her and called 911. Law enforcement found Edwards' body covered with pine needles, sand, and palm fronds.

Three days later, police arrested Cole and Paul.

In 1995, the men were convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and robbery with a deadly weapon. Cole was also convicted of sexual battery and sentenced to death. Paul pleaded guilty to his felony charges and was sentenced to life in prison.

Ten days before the scheduled execution, Colleen Kucler, who shares a 36-year-old adult son with Cole, told USA TODAY that she visited the condemned inmate on death row and was "praying for a miracle" in his case.

What have Cole's defense attorneys argued?

Cole, who maintains that Paul is responsible for Edwards’ murder, has filed more than a dozen appeals over the years.

"He maintains that he did not kill Edwards and that the murder weapon was found with Paul’s possessions and with his fingerprints on it," Gerod Hooper, the chief assistant at the Capital Collateral Regional Counsel, told USA TODAY. The state agency represents indigent Florida death row inmates.

Cole's attorneys recently argued that lethal injection would cause "needless pain and suffering" because of Cole's symptoms from Parkinson’s disease, which he has had since 2017, and "causes his arms and legs to shake.”

Cole also contended his life should be spared because of "horrific abuse" he suffered at a shuttered notorious, state-run reform school, Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, an hour west of Tallahassee.

The Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected to halt Cole's execution on Friday.

If Cole is put to death, it will mark Florida's 106th execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.