A Florida man convicted of killing a college freshman and raping the student’s sister while the siblings camped in a national forest 30 years ago is scheduled to be executed Thursday.
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Loran Cole is set to be put to death just after 6 p.m. at Florida State Prison for the 1994 killing. Cole is also serving two life sentences for rape. The U.S. Supreme Court denied Cole’s final appeal earlier Thursday.
According to court records, Cole and a friend, William Paul, befriended the two college students in the Ocala National Forest. After talking around a fire, the men offered to take the siblings to see a pond. While away from the campsite, Cole and Paul jumped the victims and robbed them.
The brother, 18, who was a student at Florida State University, was beaten, had his throat slit and left in the forest. His sister, who was 21 and a senior at Eckerd College, was taken back to the campsite, where Cole tied her up and raped her.