Warning: This article contains discussion of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence that some may find disturbing.

Before a South Carolina man was sentenced to death, he looked into the eyes of his victims’ families, delivering a 3.5-minute statement where he remarked ‘forgiveness will heal’.

57-year-old Stephen Stanko became the sixth criminal to be executed via lethal injection over a six-month period in South Carolina on Friday (June 13).

The murderer, who had previously been jailed for assault and kidnapping in 1996, was convicted of strangling his live-in girlfriend, Laura Ling, 43, to death in 2005.

After Ling died, Stanko proceeded to rape her teenage daughter and slashed her neck.

Hours after the attack, the man proceeded to shoot library patron and retired Air Force master sergeant Henry Turner, 74. He then cleaned out his bank account and stole his truck.

Stephen Stanko was arrested and later convicted for two murders in 2005 (FOX NEWS)

A nationwide manhunt soon ensued, and eventually the perpetrator was arrested without incident in Augusta, Georgia, on April 12, 2005.

A Georgetown County jury later convicted Stanko and sentenced him to death for the murder of Ling.

He was the first person to be sentenced to death in Georgetown County for almost 11 years, according to a now-defunct local newspaper.

He was also sentenced to 110 years in prison for the related assault of Ling’s 15-year-old child and was later convicted of Turner’s murder. This landed him his second death sentence.

Despite various appeals to the South Carolina Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, Stanko was executed via lethal injection at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia yesterday.

It’s understood Stanko was initially toying with the idea of being killed by a firing squad. However, he opted instead for the injection.

This was after discovering autopsy results from the last inmate killed by that method showed the bullets from the three volunteers nearly missed his heart, as per the Mirror.

Prior to his death, the double-killer was granted a death row meal. This consisted of fried fish, fried shrimp, crab cakes, a baked potato, carrots, fried okra, cherry pie, banana pudding, and sweet tea, as per reports.

The execution began on Friday after a 3.5-minute final statement where Stanko reportedly apologized to his victims and asked ‘not to be judged by the worst day of his life’, ABC News wrote.

The criminal pleaded for forgiveness amid his execution (South Carolina Department of Corrections)

The publication reports that the criminal appeared to turn towards the families of the victims so they could hear his words. Then, he let out ‘several quick breaths as his lips quivered’.

13 minutes after prison officials dosed him with the first round of pentobarbital, Stanko was administered a second dose.

He was pronounced dead by medical experts at 6:34pm, 28 minutes after the execution initially began.

Amid his lengthy statement, Stanko said: “I have lived for approximately 20,973 days, but I am judged solely for one.

“Once I am gone, I hope that Christina, Laura’s family and Henry’s family can all forgive me. The execution may help them. Forgiveness will heal them,” he added.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.

You can also contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you chat online via online.rainn.org

Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.

One of the longest-serving death row inmates has been executed by way of nitrogen gas.

Gregory Hunt was convicted in 1990 of the murder of 32-year-old Karen Lane in 1988 and was handed the death sentence by an 11-1 vote after a jury found him guilty of capital murder during sexual abuse and burglary.

Hunt had been dating his victim for roughly a month when prosecutors allege that he was overcome with jealousy and broke into her Alabama home in Cordova – about a half-hour drive from Birmingham.

After entering her apartment, which she shared with another woman, he sexually abused her before beating her to death – with Lane sustaining a horrific 60 injuries to her body, according to Associated Press.

Before his execution, Hunt, acting as his own attorney, filed an appeal to stop the execution, claiming that prosecutors had misled jurors about the evidence of sexual abuse – which he denied – however, the Alabama Attorney’s Office called his claims ‘meritless’.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued a statement where she described the attack as the ‘unimaginable final hours of’ Lane’s ‘young life‘.

“Tonight, the state carried out the lawfully imposed punishment for Gregory Hunt who is undeniably guilty,” Ivey told reporters.

The 65-year-old was pronounced dead at 6.26pm yesterday (June 10), having been strapped to a gurney with a mask covering his entire face as the nitrogen gas was administered shortly before 6pm.

Before the procedure took place, he was asked whether he had any final words, to which he replied ‘no’ before giving a chilling final signal to witnesses in the auditorium – giving a thumbs up and a peace sign.

At 5.59pm, he moaned as the execution was taking place, with his feet rising, before taking four more deep breaths as he gasped for air – with long pauses in between (via NBC News).

There was no sign of movement after 6.05pm.

Alabama death row inmate Gregory Hunt has been executed (Alabama Department of Corrections)

Attorney General Steve Marshall also issued the following statement, which said: “Tonight, we pause to reflect on a long-overdue moment of justice for Karen Sanders Lane and for the family that has carried the weight of her loss for thirty-five years. Karen was a young woman whose life was stolen in the most brutal and dehumanizing way imaginable.

“Gregory Hunt spent more time on death row than Karen spent alive. If he had any real evidence of innocence, he had more than three decades to present it. He did not. What he and his supporters offered instead was a last-minute spectacle aimed at rewriting history and distracting from the truth.

“My team never gave up. Karen deserves more than silence. She deserves to be remembered for who she was, and yet some have made this case about her killer, barely mentioning her name. That is not justice. That is a disgrace.”

He added: “Karen Lane was a daughter and a sister. She was a human being. And tonight, we honor her by speaking the truth and by refusing to let it be buried under political theater.”

Hunt was the sixth death row inmate to have been executed using nitrogen gas, with the first being Kenneth Eugene Smith in 2024.

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org

Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault and description of violence which some readers may find distressing.

A death row inmate issued a chilling final statement to his victim’s family before he was executed by lethal injection on Thursday (April 24).

James Osgood, 55, was convicted of murder for the 2010 killing of Tracy Lynn Wilemon in Chilton County.

Prosecutors said Osgood sliced Brown’s throat after he and his girlfriend, Tonya Vandyke, sexually assaulted the 44-year-old recent divorcée, who was trying to get her life back on track.

Wilemon was reportedly Vandyke’s cousin, according to a report from The Associated Press.

Governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, said in a statement: “The murder of Tracy Wilemon was premeditated, gruesome and disturbing, and tonight, the state carried out the death sentence of James Osgood.

The inmate was executed by lethal injection (Getty Stock Photo)

“Both Mr. Osgood and his accomplice, who will never see the light of day, from the moment they were inspired by a Hollywood torture scene, set out to commit this heinous crime against Ms. Wilemon and are now paying the price.

“And let’s be clear: At the end of all of this, Mr. Osgood robbed Ms. Wilemon of her life, something that can never be reversed for her or her family. I pray that her loved ones can feel some sense of closure today.”

Osgood was executed after receiving a lethal injection at a south Alabama prison on Thursday and was pronounced dead at 6:35pm.

Ivey, who has the power to exercise her clemency powers and announce a postponement on the execution, instructed Commissioner John Hamm to proceed with the death sentence.

Osgood did not appeal the sentence before being injected by lethal injection, and he used his final words for a chilling statement seemingly directed at Wilemon’s family.

The death row inmate was convicted of murder (Alabama Department of Corrections)

He told AP: “I’m a firm believer in, like I said in court, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. I took a life, so mine was forfeited. I don’t believe in sitting here and wasting everybody’s time and everybody’s money.

“I’m not going to ask their forgiveness because I know they can’t give it. I regret taking her from them. I regret cutting her life short. I regret that I took one of God’s children. And I regret the pain and suffering that I caused, not only for the victim and her family, but to mine.”

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org

After more than two decades on death row, a remorseful Richard Moore enjoyed a huge meal in his final days.

In 2001, the then 36-year-old was controversially handed the death penalty in South Carolina for the murder of convenience store clerk James Mahoney following an altercation that Moore himself claims was over 12 cents.

It happened two years prior to his sentence, in September 1999. Moore had entered the shop unarmed and did not intend to kill anyone, when he got into a row over 12 cents, at which point Mahoney is believed to have pulled a gun on him.

Moore’s legal team claimed that he attempted to wrestle the gun out of his hand, at which point the worker pulled a second firearm out and shot Moore, hitting him in the arm before returning fire himself and hitting him in the chest.

The then 34-year-old grabbed roughly $1,400 from the till and fled.

However, prosecutors claim that he had entered the store with the intention to rob it despite being unarmed.

Moore was 59-years-old at the time he was executed by way of lethal injection on Friday (1 November).

Richard Moore was 59 years old when he was executed this week (NBC)

Prison spokesperson Chrysti Shain read out his final words following his execution at a press conference. They were: “To the family of Mr James Mahoney, I am deeply sorry for the pain and sorrow I caused you all.

“To my children and granddaughters, I love you and am so proud of you. Thank you for the joy you have brought to my life. To all of my family and friends, new and old, thank you for your love and support.”

So how did Moore push the limit with a 10-part meal?

Well, for his last supper he ordered fried catfish, a medium cooked steak, shrimp, cheesy broccoli, scalloped potatoes, peas, sweet potato pie, a German chocolate cake, and to wash it all down, he asked for grape juice.

As last meals go, it’s not a bad one.

Speaking prior to his death, Moore’s attorney Lindsey Vann said: “He’s very remorseful and sorry for the horrible, tragic decisions he made in his life. But he spent the past 20 years really trying to make up for that by loving the people he still has in his life.

“I’m really struck by the image that I’ve had of Richard’s trial where there’s a white prosecutor, white judge, white defence attorneys, an all-white jury and he’s the only person in the room who is African American and he’s being judged by a jury who has no one who looks like him.”