For his last meal, convicted murderer Loran Cole's request was rather simple.
He chose to dine on Pizza, ice cream, M&Ms and soda, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
Per Florida Department of Corrections protocol, a death row inmate's final meal prior to execution must be less than $40 and bought locally.
Cole, 57, died by lethal injection at Florida State Prison at 6 p.m. local time Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to intervene, despite a last minute filing by his lawyers to stay his execution, court records indicate.
The Supreme Court's reasoning to deny the stay is unclear.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Cole's death warrant last month, sealing his fate.
Cole was sentenced to death for the 1994 slaying of 18-year-old Florida State University student John Edwards. He was also ordered to life in prison for the rape, kidnapping and robbery of John's 21-year-old sister, Pam Edwards, during a brother-sister camping trip in Ocala National Forest in central Florida, according to court records obtained by the Lawyer Herald.
Cole, then 27, and his accomplice, William Paul, met the Edwards siblings at their campsite. After gaining their trust, the men lured the victims away and ambushed them. Cole fatally slit John's throat and raped Pam. She was able to get away days later.
The defendant's lawyers recently blamed the abuse he suffered during his time spent as a 17-year-old at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in 1984 for his "life choices" and his decision to rape and kill years later, according to a court filing last week.
People who attended Dozier and another Florida state school between 1940 and 1975, and who were "subjected to mental, physical or sexual abuse perpetrated by school personnel," are now eligible for part of $20 million settlement, however given the year Cole attended, he does not qualify.
"If Cole's jury had known about the severe abuse that happened at Dozier, and Florida's willingness to acknowledge the severe problems at Dozier to the extent that designated victims are entitled to reparations, there is a reasonable probability the newly discovered evidence would yield a less severe sentence," the lawyers stated in their filing. "There is a reasonable probability a jury presented with the newly discovered information would recommend a sentence of life for Cole."
But prosecutors argued whether or not Cole was victimized as a teen, he would've ended up a killer either way.
In 1995, Paul, now 51, pleaded no contest to murder, kidnapping and robbery, and was sentenced to life in prison.
