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Topics: True crime, US News, Crime
Emily Brown
Footage filmed just hours before the execution of serial killer Oscar Ray Bolin Jr. shows the death row inmate sharing his thoughts on his imminent death.
Bolin was executed in January 2016 after being tried and found guilty 10 separate times, by 10 separate juries, for three murders in 1986.
The killer was found to have taken the lives of Natalie Blanche Holley, 25; Stephanie Collins, 17; and Teri Lynn Matthews, 26, in in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. Governor Rick Scott signed Bolin's first death warrant in October 2015, and he was executed in front of 36 witnesses by lethal injection at Florida State Prison.
Just hours before his death, Bolin was recorded saying that he felt 'a little numb' at the idea of having his life end:
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"I mean, I don't know how you would expect someone to feel - if they told you tomorrow you'd die, how would you feel? We all die but knowing the exact date and time that's hard to deal with," Bolin said.
The convicted killer went on to say he was 'at peace' with himself in spite of the crimes he'd committed, and described the execution as his 'release', when his punishment would be 'over'.
"I been here 28 years now," he continued, "I'm tired."
When Bolin was led to the execution chamber and asked whether he had any last words, he simply responded: "No sir."
On the day of his death, Bolin woke up at 6am, according to prison officials, before spending three hours with his wife, Rosalie Bolin. He then met with his spiritual adviser, with an official saying the killer was 'calm and in good spirits' despite the fact he would not live to see another day.
His last meal comprised of a ribeye steak cooked medium rare, a baked potato with butter and sour cream and baked garlic bread, followed by lemon meringue pie. He washed it down with a bottle of Coca-Cola.
Following Bolin's death, one of the victim's mothers, Kathleen Reeves, thanked Bolin's half-brother, Phillip, for offering up key evidence in the cast.
Phillip had testified that in 1986 he saw Bolin brutally beat a woman wrapped in a sheet. She was later identified as Teri Lynn Matthews, Reeves' daughter.
"God bless you Phillip for your courage," Reeves said, "and for doing the right thing."
The US Supreme Court spent four hours considering Bolin's final appeal on the day of his death, but ultimately denied it just before 10pm.
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