After a stellar run at Memphis Mike Norvell has had a rollercoaster run in Tallahassee as the Florida State Seminoles head football coach. Norvell finished his four year stint at Memphis with a 38-15 record.
Florida
Recap: After 30 years on death row, Loran Cole executed for FSU student’s murder
The 57-year-old man sentenced to death in the murder of a Florida State University student in 1994 is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. – more than 30 years after the crime.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant for Loran K. Cole on July 29. Cole will be put to death by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Union County.
The Tallahassee Democrat’s Elena Barrera, the newspaper’s breaking and trending news reporter, is covering the execution today.
Check back here throughout the afternoon and evening for updates:
After Cole’s execution, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty released a statement calling his death by lethal injection “particularly calculated, and particularly hypocritical.”
“In Florida, the governor has the sole discretion on when, whether, and for whom to set an execution,” it said. “The process is shrouded in mystery and secrecy. We have no way of knowing how or why Loran was chosen, and no way of knowing who might be next.”
The statement also said the group tried to take more than 7,000 signed petitions to spare Cole to the governor, but its members “were told that due to construction, there is no way for the public to access the Governor’s office. Not even a makeshift reception area to allow Floridians’ voices to be heard.”
It went on: “A selection process shrouded in secrecy. No way for the public to make its voice heard. Key officials unavailable the week we are killing a human being. This is no system of orderly justice.”
The full statement is here.
Thirty years after his crime, Loran K. Cole has been executed at Florida State Prison for the 1994 murder of John Edwards, an 18-year-old Florida State University student.
His death came after a last-ditch legal effort to prevent his execution based on alleged abuse he suffered at a notorious and now-shuttered boys’ reform school, as well as health conditions, including Parkinson’s disease.
He was declared dead at 6:15 p.m. by a prison doctor. He had no last words, saying “no, sir” when asked.
Cole’s body appeared to tremble for several minutes as he lay strapped to the gurney.
There were 19 witnesses, two guards, four Corrections Department communications staff members, and seven journalists who observed Cole’s death.
Reporter Elena Barrera, who is covering tonight’s execution for the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida, spent weeks talking to loved ones and sifting through the Tallahassee Democrat’s archives and court records for a special report on the impact a savage murder and capital punishment has on those left behind.
Friends and fraternity brothers of John Edwards, who was brutally murdered, spoke about all the missed moments they would have shared together from weddings to promotions.
Barrett Atwood said he didn’t process the pain for years. But one by one, everyone started to pick up the pieces and do the one thing they wished John could do — live.
Atwood became an attorney. One brother started a wealth management practice. Another became an ordained minister. Still another became a Marine.
The tragedy “just taught me a lot about life,” Atwood said. “And I’m sorry John had to lose his life to do that.”
Barrera also spoke with convicted killer Loran Cole’s loved ones, who are still trying to separate the man from the monster portrayed in court records.
In the eyes of the state of Florida and a jury of his peers, Cole is a murderer. But to his ex-wife, he was her head-over-heels first love. To his son, he is the father he wishes he could’ve grown up with. To his prison pen pal, he is a cherished friend.
Read the two-part series here.
Cole woke up at 6 a.m. Thursday morning and has “remained compliant” since, said Florida Department of Corrections spokesman Ted Veerman.
He declined a meeting with a spiritual adviser but was joined by his son, Ryan Cole, and his pen-pal friend of 4 years, Beth Evans, for his last meal: Pizza, ice cream, M&Ms and soda.
Veerman said Cole was offered a sedative, but he “cannot confirm whether or not he took it.”
An inmate’s family members are not permitted to witness his execution.
“We’ve extended an invitation to the victim’s family,” Veerman added. “At this point, no one is slated to attend, but I’ll have a statement that I will be reading … after the execution.”
Two of the last few executions in Florida were Tallahassee-related cases:
On Oct. 3, 2023, a drifter from Tallahassee who killed two women in the Florida Panhandle during a crime spree in 1996 was executed.
Michael Duane Zack, 54, was sentenced to death in the 1996 Escambia County murder of Ravonne Smith during a crime spree that also included killing a woman, Laura Rosillo, in Okaloosa County.
And on Feb. 23, 2023, Donald Dillbeck, 59, was executed for the 1990 murder of Faye Vann outside a Tallahassee mall.
Dillbeck was the first prisoner executed in Florida since 2019, after a three-and-a-half year hiatus brought on by COVID-19. He was the 100th prisoner executed since the death penalty was reinstated in Florida in 1975, according to the Department of Corrections.
Dillbeck’s last words also were aimed at DeSantis.
“I know I hurt people when I was young. I really messed up,” said Dillbeck, 59, as he was strapped to a gurney in the Florida State Prison death chamber. “But I know Ron DeSantis has done a lot worse. He’s taken a lot from a lot of people. I speak for all men, women and children. He’s put his foot on our necks.”
The Florida Department of Corrections lays out the detailed protocol for a convict’s execution day. Its guidance includes in part:
- “A food service director, or his/her designee, will personally prepare and serve the inmate’s last meal. The inmate will be allowed to request specific food and non-alcoholic drink to the extent such food and drink costs forty dollars ($40) or less, is available at the institution, and is approved by the food service director.”
- “The inmate will be escorted by one or more team members to the shower area, where a team member of the same gender will supervise the showering of the inmate. Immediately thereafter, the inmate will be returned to his/her assigned cell and issued appropriate clothing. A designated member of the execution team will obtain and deliver the clothing to the inmate.”
- “A designated execution team member will ensure that the telephone in the execution chamber is fully functional and that there is a fully-charged, fully-functional cellular telephone in the execution chamber. Telephone calls will be placed from the telephone to ensure proper operation. Additionally, a member of the team shall ensure that the two-way audio communication system and the visual monitoring equipment arc fully functional.
- “The only staff authorized to be in the execution chamber area are members of the execution team and others as approved by the team warden, including two monitors from FDLE. A designated execution team member, in the presence of one or more additional team members and an independent observer from FDLE, will prepare the lethal injection chemicals as follows, ensuring that each syringe used in the lethal injection process is appropriately labeled….”
Cole, then 27, and William Paul, then 20, befriended John Edwards and his sister, who planned to spend a weekend camping in the Ocala National Forest in February 1994. John was an 18-year-old student at FSU at the time.
Cole and Paul later attacked both siblings, according to court filings: Edwards died that night from a slashed throat and three blows to the head, causing a fractured skull. The sister was raped but got away.
“The men who committed these crimes are damnable animals,” then-Marion County Sheriff Ken Ergle said at the time, according to news reports.
In 1995, Cole and Paul were convicted of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping and two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon. Cole also was found guilty of two counts of sexual battery.
Cole was sentenced to death and Paul was sentenced to life in prison. A state Corrections Department database on Thursday showed Paul is being held at Cross City Correctional Institution in Dixie County.
By 6 p.m. ET today, Cole will be strapped to a gurney in the death chamber at Florida State Prison, where, if all goes as planned, a three-drug cocktail will enter his veins through a needle.
Florida’s lethal injection cocktail consists of three chemicals:
- The first is an injection of etomidate, an anesthetic.
- The second injection is rocuronium bromide, a paralytic muscle relaxer.
- The third is potassium acetate, which causes the heart to stop, followed by an injection of a saline solution. The executioner also injects a saline solution to ensure the drugs enter the inmate’s veins.
In 2000, then-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed legislation making lethal injection the state’s default method of execution amid controversy over the electric chair.
The last inmate Florida executed by electrocution was Allen Davis in July 1999. Witnesses described blood streaming from Davis’ nose and onto his shirt, which drew widespread attention two years after an inmate’s mask burst into flames during a different Florida electrocution.
On Thursday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court released a brief statement that it had declined Cole’s request to postpone his execution.
“The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice (Clarence) Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied,” the court said in a 10:33 a.m. email. “The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.”
A stay is a court action that stops a legal proceeding, usually temporarily.
More: ‘He wasn’t forgotten’: Friends of John Edwards reflect on Loran Cole’s impending execution
More: ‘He wasn’t forgotten’: Friends of John Edwards reflect on Loran Cole’s impending execution
Portions of this live blog contain previously reported material by staff of the USA TODAY Network – Florida.
Breaking & trending news reporter Elena Barrera can be reached at ebarrera@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @elenabarreraaa.
At FSU Norvell started off slow winning only eight games in two years. Then the ‘Noles had an awakening and won 23 games from 2022-2023. And now that reality has come crashing back down with seven wins the past two seasons.
FSU will have 17 transfers in the 2-deep once again in 2026. It’s become a double-edged sword where he only way Norvell can keep his job (buyout be damned) after this year is to inject talent into the roster but he’s got a bad culture in the field house up at Doak Campbell Stadium.
Now let’s put the ‘Noles through The Goal, our 2026 Summer Scheming analysis system.
Acquisition: The ’Noles high school recruiting hasn’t been as ‘bad’ s advertised. FSU is 16th over the past three years in prep signings and 14th when it comes to the transfer portal for an average of 15th overall.
Development: Now this is the crazy part. Over the past couple of years the ‘Noles have only produced eight NFL players. Only eight have stuck it out from the 2025 and 2026 NFL Draft classes. Remember all of those drafts loaded with FSU talent like Jameis Winston and Jared Verse? Right now it’s Deuce Robinson and who else?
Deployment: This preseason Bill Connelly’s SP+ has FSU 35th in overall SP+. The Seminole offense is 45th, the defense 30th and the kicking game is 94th. So where as Mike Norvell has the 15th best players he’s producing the 35th best team. He’s revamped his coordinators once again sending Gus Malzahn off to the glue factory and promoting Tim Harris Jr to OC.
The bottleneck to success at FSU is the culture within the program. The Seminoles went hellbent on the transfer portal to improve from 5-7 to 10-3 and dipped their toe in again to move to 13-1. They were Jordan Travis’ leg away from competing for a national championship. But injuries do happen and losing your starting QB is a devastating one.
Mike Norvell has taken the Manny Diaz approach to the transfer portal and it’s killed any semblance of a culture that could possibly have been built in the FSU locker room AND he’s losing games.
The FSU strength of schedule is 45th of 138 in FBS per CFB News. Florida State faces SMU before an off week. Then they head to Tuscaloosa to play the Alabama Crimson Tide. After a cupcake, FSU hosts UVA before consecutive road trips to Louisville and Miami. The ‘Noles also face Clemson, Pitt and Florida over the back half of the schedule.
The inventory space includes returning production per Bill Connelly, the On3 top-100 list and the Athlon preseason All-Conference Team honorees. The ’Noles returning production is 48th in FBS at 57% production. FSU has two players on the On3 top-100 list in WR Deuce Robinson (74th) and DL Mandrell Desir (97th). The ‘Noles have one player on the Athlon All-ACC Team and that’s Robinson.
FSU hit the transfer portal for four of their five potential starting OL in ‘26. They also brought in QB Ashton Daniels (Auburn) and RB Quintrevion Wisner (Texas). Daniels is another FSU QB with a penchant for throwing interceptions.
Robinson averaged 19.3 yards per catch with six scores in 2025. Wisner adds over four yards per carry and three TD’s from his run at Texas. On defense M. Desir returns with 7.5 TFL’s and 6.5 sacks from a year ago.
Southern Miss transfer LB Chris Jones logged 9.5 TFL’s and 3.5 sacks a year ago. Another transfer, this one DB Nehemiah Chandler, picked up 13 PBU’s last season with two INT’s.
Mike Norvell is committing highway robbery with the past two seasons performances. After the 13-1 season and the Alabama opening with Nick Saban’s retirement, Norvell landed himself a nice raise up to $10.3M a season. The issue is they’ve only won six games per season under Norvell which adds up to $1.7M per win. That’s second to only Bill Belichick in the grand theft coaching category.
There is no chance the goal at FSU is anything short of eight wins. What a sad cry from only three seasons ago when the ‘Noles were potentially a national championship program. That’s the crux of the transfer portal, live by the transfer / die by the transfer.
Highly successful clubs have started to be extremely careful with who comes in and out of their program, think: Ohio State, Notre Dame, Indiana and even lately- Miami. The vetting process is pivotal for not bottlenecking your success by bringing in locker room cancers.
Season Prediction: I can see this winding up anywhere from 5-7 to 7-5. They’ve got the 2nd most players on the On3 top-11 than anyone else on Miami’s schedule (ND has five). They also have the 15th best grouping of talent in the country. And yet I just can’t see Daniels, four new OL, a new RB, and another dozen guys on defense gelling together under Mike Norvell and into some phoenix that rises from the ashes of the ACC cellar.
An Iranian-made drone displayed at the Biltmore Hotel served as a stark warning from national security advocates and South Florida officials who say Cuba’s growing military ties with Iran could pose a threat to the United States.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, chairman of the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, joined U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez, R-Florida, to highlight concerns about what they say are roughly 300 Iranian drones that have been delivered to Cuba.
Standing alongside one of the drones, Bush described the weapon as among the deadliest battlefield threats faced by American forces in recent years.
“Most loss of life of the U.S. military than any single weapon that exists over the last 15 years,” Bush said.
Gimenez warned that the drones’ capabilities make them particularly concerning because of their ability to carry significant explosive payloads over long distances.
“This particular model, there is about over 100 pounds of explosives,” Gimenez said. “That’s a pretty big bang. That’s why they call them kamikaze drones — they crash into their target and they explode.”
According to Gimenez, the drones can reach speeds of about 115 miles per hour and travel more than 1,000 miles, placing South Florida well within range. He said the aircraft could also reach the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay and other cities throughout the southeastern United States, including Tallahassee and Atlanta.
The congressman said one of the primary concerns is the potential for Iran-style drone warfare tactics, in which large numbers of drones are launched simultaneously to overwhelm air defense systems.
While the United States has sophisticated defense systems capable of intercepting incoming drones, Gimenez noted that a successful strike may require only one, or a handful of aircraft to penetrate those defenses.
The event was organized by United Against Nuclear Iran, which has sought to draw attention to expanding military and strategic cooperation between Iran and countries aligned with its interests, including Cuba.
Supporters of the group’s effort say the growing presence of Iranian military technology in the Western Hemisphere warrants increased attention from policymakers and defense officials.
For South Florida residents, the warning underscores the region’s proximity to Cuba and the continuing role the island nation plays in broader geopolitical tensions involving the United States and its adversaries.
Body camera video shows a man fighting with Florida deputies who were trying to rescue him from a snake-and-alligator-infested canal, authorities said.
The incident happened July 3 when Flagler County Sheriff’s Office deputies found a man lying on the ground shirtless in front of an elementary school.
The man, 47-year-old Ryan McMinn, who had been then subject of a previous welfare check, fled on foot, the sheriff’s office said.
A short time later, authorities received a call about a man trying to climb on the side of a house in Palm Coast.
Deputies responded and found McMinn near the canal behind the house and when he spotted the deputies, McMinn ran into the canal and started swimming, authorities said.
“What’s your name?” a deputy asks him in the bodycam footage, as McMinn is seen swimming backwards. “You getting tired?”
Officials said McMinn was ordered to get out of the water multiple times but refused, and when he started to show signs of exhaustion, two deputies went into the canal to pull him out.
The video released by the sheriff’s office on Monday shows the deputies wading into the water before a struggle ensues.
Authorities said McMinn tried to grab one deputy’s head to push it under the water, before he tried to grab the neck of the other deputy.
The deputies were able to get control of McMinn and get him safely to shore.
He was hospitalized before he was arrested and booked into jail on two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.
“Battering a Deputy Sheriff will guarantee you the loss of your freedom and a trip to jail,” Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said. “These deputies went into the water to rescue this guy, and he responded by fighting them. I commend our deputies for their willingness to get in a canal that usually have snakes and gators and pull this guy to safety before he drowned.”
-
Los Angeles, Ca1 hour agoHeat advisory, beach hazards in effect as Southern California sizzles
-
Detroit, MI1 hour agoTeen on moped hit by car after cruising through stop sign in Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoFlight of fancy: San Francisco moves to build private luxury airport terminal
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas’ digital creator economy is booming. Burnout is too.
-
Miami, FL2 hours ago
I went to 2 famous Miami restaurants, a flashy steakhouse and a Cuban hot spot. Here’s how they compared.
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoPedestrian struck and killed in Roxbury – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoSanta Fe Drive in Denver closed this weekend for pedestrian bridge construction
-
Seattle, WA2 hours agoPolice video shows West Seattle Bridge copper wire theft suspect’s arrest
