Death row inmate gave chilling final signal to witnesses before execution by nitrogen gas

Warning: This article contains discussion of rape which some readers may find distressing.

One of the longest-serving death row inmates has been executed by way of nitrogen gas.

Gregory Hunt was convicted in 1990 of the murder of 32-year-old Karen Lane in 1988 and was handed the death sentence by an 11-1 vote after a jury found him guilty of capital murder during sexual abuse and burglary.

Hunt had been dating his victim for roughly a month when prosecutors allege that he was overcome with jealousy and broke into her Alabama home in Cordova - about a half-hour drive from Birmingham.

After entering her apartment, which she shared with another woman, he sexually abused her before beating her to death - with Lane sustaining a horrific 60 injuries to her body, according to Associated Press.

Before his execution, Hunt, acting as his own attorney, filed an appeal to stop the execution, claiming that prosecutors had misled jurors about the evidence of sexual abuse - which he denied - however, the Alabama Attorney's Office called his claims 'meritless'.

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued a statement where she described the attack as the 'unimaginable final hours of' Lane's 'young life'.

"Tonight, the state carried out the lawfully imposed punishment for Gregory Hunt who is undeniably guilty," Ivey told reporters.

The 65-year-old was pronounced dead at 6.26pm yesterday (June 10), having been strapped to a gurney with a mask covering his entire face as the nitrogen gas was administered shortly before 6pm.

Before the procedure took place, he was asked whether he had any final words, to which he replied 'no' before giving a chilling final signal to witnesses in the auditorium - giving a thumbs up and a peace sign.

At 5.59pm, he moaned as the execution was taking place, with his feet rising, before taking four more deep breaths as he gasped for air - with long pauses in between (via NBC News).

There was no sign of movement after 6.05pm.

Alabama death row inmate Gregory Hunt has been executed (Alabama Department of Corrections)

Attorney General Steve Marshall also issued the following statement, which said: "Tonight, we pause to reflect on a long-overdue moment of justice for Karen Sanders Lane and for the family that has carried the weight of her loss for thirty-five years. Karen was a young woman whose life was stolen in the most brutal and dehumanizing way imaginable.

"Gregory Hunt spent more time on death row than Karen spent alive. If he had any real evidence of innocence, he had more than three decades to present it. He did not. What he and his supporters offered instead was a last-minute spectacle aimed at rewriting history and distracting from the truth.

"My team never gave up. Karen deserves more than silence. She deserves to be remembered for who she was, and yet some have made this case about her killer, barely mentioning her name. That is not justice. That is a disgrace."

He added: "Karen Lane was a daughter and a sister. She was a human being. And tonight, we honor her by speaking the truth and by refusing to let it be buried under political theater."

Hunt was the sixth death row inmate to have been executed using nitrogen gas, with the first being Kenneth Eugene Smith in 2024.

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org