Execution Report: Lonnie Pursley

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A jury convicted Pursley of capital murder in January 1999 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in January 2001. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied.

On an anti-death-penalty web site, Pursley claimed that the witnesses' testimony against him was perjured and that the evidence against him was "fabricated, botched, tainted, and yes, even planted!"

Shortly before being led into the death chamber, Pursley was handed a statement from his victim's relatives, in which they offered their forgiveness.

"I received your poem, and I am very grateful for your forgiveness," Pursley said to Cook's relatives in his last statement. "I still want to ask you for it anyway. I have Jesus in my heart, and I am sorry for any pain I caused you all. Thank you for your forgiveness." Cook's sister, sobbing, replied, "We forgive you." Pursley also thanked his friends and expressed love to them. His daughter became so overwrought that she was escorted from the viewing chamber. The lethal injection was then begun, and Pursley was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m.

By David Carson. Posted on 4 May 2005. Typographical error corrected on 24 September 2014.
Sources: Texas Attorney General's office, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Associated Press, Huntsville Item, court documents, www.ccadp.org.