TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man convicted of killing a college freshman and raping the student’s sister while the brother and sister were camping in a national forest 30 years ago is scheduled to be executed Thursday.
Laurent Cole is scheduled to be put to death just after 6 p.m. in a Florida prison for a 1994 murder. Cole is also serving two life sentences for rape. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Cole’s final appeal early Thursday.
According to court records, Cole and a friend, William Paul, befriended the two college students in Ocala National Forest. After talking around a campfire, the pair offered to take the siblings to a pond. While away from the campground, Cole and Paul attacked and robbed the victims.
Her 18-year-old brother, a student at Florida State University, was beaten, his throat slit and left in the woods, while her 21-year-old sister, a senior at Eckerd College, was taken back to the campsite, tied up and raped by Cole.
The woman was left tied to a tree overnight and raped again the next day. She eventually managed to free herself and called the driver for help. Police found her brother’s body lying face down on the ground, according to court records.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Cole’s death warrant last month.
In their appeal, lawyers for Cole, 57, pointed to several points, including the fact that he was an inmate at a state juvenile facility where he was assaulted and raped along with other boys. The state has since apologized for the abuse and passed a law this year allowing compensation to inmates at now-closed juvenile facilities.
Cole’s lawyers also argued that he should not be executed because he suffers from brain damage, mental disabilities and Parkinson’s disease.
The state Supreme Court rejected the defense’s arguments.
Paul and Cole were convicted of first-degree murder. Paul was sentenced to life in prison.
The execution will be the first in Florida since Michael Zack was put to death last October for the 1996 murder of Lavonne Smith.
