TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — A man convicted of raping and murdering a Texas teen became the eighth federal inmate to be executed this year, after a nearly two-decade hiatus.
Orlando Hall died at 11:47 p.m. Thursday at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind. after a five-and-a-half hour delay due to the appeals process.
According to WTWO’s Dana Winklepleck, chosen to be one of the media witnesses to the execution, when Hall was asked if he had any final words, he said what appeared to be a prayer but it was not in English. He invited everyone to join Islam.
He looked to the room where the people he chose to witness his execution were and said to tell his children he loved them. His voice was too low to hear all of his final statement, but he did say, “I want to thank everyone who supported me and my loved ones.”
He told his witnesses he loved them and it appeared, Winklepleck reported, that at one point he reassured them he would be OK.
Hall, 49, was among five accomplices convicted in the abduction, repeated rape and death of Lisa Rene in 1994.
Pearl Rene, sister of the victim, released a statement:
“Today marks the day of a very long and painful chapter in our lives. My family and I are very relieved this is over. We have been dealing with this for 26 years and now we’re having to relive the tragic nightmare that our beloved Lisa went through. Ending this painful process will be a major goal for our family. This is only the end of the legal aftermath. The execution of Orlando Hall will never stop the suffering we continue to endure. Please pray for our family as well as his.”
Following the execution, MyWabashValley.com spoke with Hall’s spiritual advisor, Yusuf Ahmed Nur, who said that while Hall did not apologize for his crimes publicly, he was sorry for what he did.
“To me he’s very remorseful. He knows exactly what he did was wrong,” Nur said. “We talked about that. It’s really hard to satisfy. I don’t blame them. Anybody who loses their loved one. She was 16, I mean my heart goes out to her.”
Hall, who practiced Islam, was the father of six and the grandfather of 13, Nur said.
