Inmate who murdered student and raped victim's sister is executed

An inmate sentenced to death for the murder of a college student and the rape of the deceased's sister, was executed Thursday in the state of Florida.

The execution of Loran Cole, 57, by lethal injection was carried out at 6:15 p.m. at the Florida state prison in Raiford, the state's corrections department said in a statement.

Cole was sentenced to death in December 1995 for the February 1994 murder of an 18-year-old Florida State University student who was camping with his sister in the Ocala National Forest.

The man had also been convicted of raping the murdered boy's older sister, who was tied to a tree and escaped the next day.

An accomplice of Cole's, William Paul, was sentenced to life in prison.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday afternoon denied without comment Cole's appeal for a stay of execution on the grounds that he suffered from Parkinson's.

This year in the United States, there have been 13 executions.