NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Thursday morning, another death row execution was carried out by the State. Harold Wayne Nichols was the third man to be executed in Tennessee in 2025.
Nichols pleaded guilty to raping and killing a 20-year-old woman named Karen Pulley in 1988.
Both Pulley's and Nichols' family members attended the execution on Thursday, as did one of our journalists, NewsChannel 5 digital producer Holly Lehren.
She shared about her experience as a media witness, starting with the complex emotions that are at play.
"For me, I just felt like this heaviness...just grow and grow," she explained. "I became very aware of the time, I kept checking the clock in 4-minute increments almost exactly...it was very strange. And other people who had done this before were trying to keep it a little more light, just help us get through it, ease some of what we were feeling."
In response to a question about the importance of the media witness role, Lehren shared that while there were some differences among the notes of the journalists in attendance — like the specifics of Nichols' last words — the general story remained the same.
"It's important to know what happened," she said. "So if seven people can line up and say this is what happened, then at least we can walk away knowing, alright, that is what happened."
She recalled Nichols' last words to be an apology to anyone he hurt, a love letter to his family and friends, and a statement that he was ready to "go home."
Some also had concerns about the method of lethal injection following the August execution of Byron Black, during which Black reportedly showed signs of discomfort and verbalized his pain. Lehren noted Nichols' execution did not seem to mirror that of Black's.
"There was a moment, less than 10 minutes, where he grunted a little bit, groaned a little bit and breathed heavily for a moment, but we weren't sure if that was an emotional response or if that was him expressing pain," said Lehren. "Unlike Byron Black, where he was expressing discomfort, that wasn't really the case here."
She added that inside the execution room with the journalists was Nichols' sister, understandably emotional.
When asked about the emotion she sensed from Pulley's family, she relayed her final thoughts.
"There's a sense of finality," she concluded. "I just walked away feeling really like this was just a new part of their healing. It wasn't the ending."
Officials say there have been requests filed to reveal the expiration date of the lethal injection drugs being used in these executions. It wasn't enough to stop Nichols' sentence on Thursday. However, Nichols' attorneys did file a motion with the Tennessee Supreme Court to review the open records request.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nikki.hauser@newschannel5.com.
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