Harold Wayne Nichols

Harold Wayne Nichols (December 31, 1960 – December 11, 2025) was an American serial rapist and convicted murderer who was executed in Tennessee for the 1988 rape and murder of 20-year-old Karen Pulley of Chattanooga. Nichols was also convicted of a series of rapes in the Chattanooga area between 1988 and 1989.

Early life Nichols was born on December 31, 1960, in Cleveland, Tennessee, to Mac Nichols and Nanny Lou, an abusive man and a mentally unstable woman. His childhood was marked by poverty, having to share a bedroom with his parents and older sister Deborah, while his paternal grandmother slept in the other room. The Nichols were members of the Church of God of Prophecy, and Mac did not allow any visitors to the house other than fellow churchgoers. He viciously beat Pulley, who was left bleeding on her bedroom floor until one of her friends found her alive but unconscious the next morning. She died later that day. Nichols was indicted on February 1,

Conviction, appeals, and stayed execution dates Nichols's trial for Pulley's murder began on May 7, 1990, In June 2020, the Supreme Court denied another habeas corpus petition, and an execution date for August of that year was set for Nichols. In July 2020, Governor Bill Lee granted Nichols a stay due to the "challenges and disruptions" caused by the then ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Tennessee. but Governor Lee granted him another stay, as the state was pursuing a revision on the lethal injection protocols.

Third execution date A new protocol for lethal injection was approved in December 2024 and, He was asked to select his method of execution between electrocution and lethal injection. Upon the expiration of the deadline in November 2025, lethal injection was chosen as his execution method per state law. Nichols's attorneys sued the state for allegedly violating public records acts and asked for the disclosure of the lethal injection protocol, which was granted by a Knox County judge on December 9, 2025. The defense also requested that Governor Lee commute Nichols's sentence to life in prison without parole. Governor Lee subsequently announced that he would not intervene in Nichols's execution and denied him clemency. Religious leaders in Tennessee called for the commutation of Nichols's death sentence, alleging that Nichols had shown genuine remorse and had also taken full responsibility for his actions.

For his last meal, Nichols asked for beef brisket, coleslaw, a baked potato, onion rings, deviled eggs, and cheese biscuits with fruit tea.

On December 11, 2025, 64-year-old Nichols was put to death by lethal injection at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. In his final words, he said, "To everyone I've harmed, I'm sorry. To my family, know that I love you. I know where I'm going, I'm ready to go home." Nichols was injected with a lethal dose of pentobarbital and was pronounced dead at 10:39 a.m.