Tennessee sets execution date for Harold Wayne Nichols

NASHVILLE (WDEF) – The Tennessee Supreme Court today set two execution dates, including a notorious murder case from Chattanooga.

Harold Wayne Nichols is now scheduled to die on August fourth.

He got the death penalty for the rape and murder of 21 year old Karen Pulley.

In September of 1988, Nichols broke into her home in Brainerd, raping her and then hitting her in the head with a board several times.

She survived the attack, but died the next day.

After his arrest, Nichols was also charged with a string of rapes in the East Ridge and Chattanooga areas before and after the Karen Pulley case.

He was called “The Red-Headed Stranger” based on descriptions of his victims.

Tennessee officials also set a June execution date for Oscar Franklin Smith, who was convicted of killing his estranged wife and her children in the Nashville area.

Since Tennessee resumed executions in 2018, the state only trails Texas in the number they have carried out.

Nichols at his trial in 1990