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May 3, 2005, 11:08PM 'Forgiven' killer executed after final appeal rejectedAssociated Press
HUNTSVILLE - An apologetic convicted killer Lonnie Wayne Pursley was executed Tuesday for the robbery and fatal beating of an East Texas man while he was on parole for a third time.
In a final statement, Pursley thanked relatives of his victim for a statement delivered to him shortly before he was taken to the death chamber in which they offered their forgiveness. "I'm very grateful for your forgiveness," he said. His victim's sister, between sobs, replied, "We forgive you." "I'm going to miss you all. Give everybody my love. I'll see you all on the other side," he said. Pursley thanked fellow death row inmates for their support, adding, "I'm saved and I'm going home." "I've got Jesus in my heart. I'm sorry for any pain I've caused," he said. Pursley, 43, then turned toward his own witnesses and expressed love to them. He gasped and snored as the drugs took effect. Pursley was pronounced dead at 6:23 p.m., eight minutes after the drugs began flowing. His daughter, who was among the witnesses, became very emotional and was escorted from the chamber prematurely. Pursley became the sixth Texas prisoner executed this year. Two more are scheduled to die this month. The former cook and laborer was a ninth-grade dropout who authorities said used rings he took from the slaying victim, 47-year-old Robert Earl Cook, of Livingston, to buy drugs. The execution was carried out moments after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request by Pursley's attorneys to postpone the punishment.
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