Topics: Crime, Death Row, True crime, US News, South Carolina
Warning: This article contains discussion of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence that some may find disturbing.
Before a South Carolina man was sentenced to death, he looked into the eyes of his victims’ families, delivering a 3.5-minute statement where he remarked ‘forgiveness will heal’.
57-year-old Stephen Stanko became the sixth criminal to be executed via lethal injection over a six-month period in South Carolina on Friday (June 13).
The murderer, who had previously been jailed for assault and kidnapping in 1996, was convicted of strangling his live-in girlfriend, Laura Ling, 43, to death in 2005.
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After Ling died, Stanko proceeded to rape her teenage daughter and slashed her neck.
Hours after the attack, the man proceeded to shoot library patron and retired Air Force master sergeant Henry Turner, 74. He then cleaned out his bank account and stole his truck.
A nationwide manhunt soon ensued, and eventually the perpetrator was arrested without incident in Augusta, Georgia, on April 12, 2005.
A Georgetown County jury later convicted Stanko and sentenced him to death for the murder of Ling.
He was the first person to be sentenced to death in Georgetown County for almost 11 years, according to a now-defunct local newspaper.
He was also sentenced to 110 years in prison for the related assault of Ling’s 15-year-old child and was later convicted of Turner’s murder. This landed him his second death sentence.
Despite various appeals to the South Carolina Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court, Stanko was executed via lethal injection at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia yesterday.
It’s understood Stanko was initially toying with the idea of being killed by a firing squad. However, he opted instead for the injection.
This was after discovering autopsy results from the last inmate killed by that method showed the bullets from the three volunteers nearly missed his heart, as per the Mirror.
Prior to his death, the double-killer was granted a death row meal. This consisted of fried fish, fried shrimp, crab cakes, a baked potato, carrots, fried okra, cherry pie, banana pudding, and sweet tea, as per reports.
The execution began on Friday after a 3.5-minute final statement where Stanko reportedly apologized to his victims and asked ‘not to be judged by the worst day of his life’, ABC News wrote.
The publication reports that the criminal appeared to turn towards the families of the victims so they could hear his words. Then, he let out ‘several quick breaths as his lips quivered’.
13 minutes after prison officials dosed him with the first round of pentobarbital, Stanko was administered a second dose.
He was pronounced dead by medical experts at 6:34pm, 28 minutes after the execution initially began.
Amid his lengthy statement, Stanko said: “I have lived for approximately 20,973 days, but I am judged solely for one.
“Once I am gone, I hope that Christina, Laura's family and Henry's family can all forgive me. The execution may help them. Forgiveness will heal them,” he added.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline on 1.800.799.SAFE (7233) 24/7. You can find a list of local resources here.
You can also contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you chat online via online.rainn.org
