Latest news with #StephenStanko
Scottish Sun
14-06-2025
- Scottish Sun
Double murderer Stephen Stanko executed after final meal of cherry pie and banana pudding
Stephen Stanko gave a three minute statement before his execution apologizing to the families of his victims JUST DESSERTS Double murderer Stephen Stanko executed after final meal of cherry pie and banana pudding Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A DOUBLE murderer was executed by injection after a final meal of cherry pie and banana pudding. One of Stephen Stanko's two death sentences was for killing Henry Turner and emptying his bank account in 2005. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 Double murdered Stephen Stanko was executed by injection 20 years after his attacks Credit: Supplied Hours earlier he had strangled girlfriend Laura Ling in her home. Stanko, 57, also raped and slit the throat of the woman's teenage daughter, who survived. In a three-minute statement in Columbia state prison, South Carolina, he apologised to his victims and asked not to be judged. He said: 'I have lived for approximately 20,973 days but I am judged solely for one. READ MORE US NEWS BOMBER'S BRAG Cybertruck bomber sent ex chilling 'Batman' text before Trump hotel blast 'Once I am gone, I hope that Laura's family and Henry's family can all forgive me. "The execution may help them. Forgiveness will heal them.' His last meal was fried fish, shrimp, crab cakes, baked potato, carrots, okra, cherry pie, banana pudding and sweet tea. He was pronounced dead at 6.34pm local time on Friday — 28 minutes after the first jab. It was South Carolina's sixth execution in nine months. Tragic final text of Taylor Swift superfan Logan Federico, 22, before being 'executed by serial criminal' as she slept The state's two previous death-row inmates chose firing squad. A third option is electric chair.
The Sun
14-06-2025
- The Sun
Double murderer Stephen Stanko executed after final meal of cherry pie and banana pudding
A DOUBLE murderer was executed by injection after a final meal of cherry pie and banana pudding. One of Stephen Stanko's two death sentences was for killing Henry Turner and emptying his bank account in 2005. 1 Hours earlier he had strangled girlfriend Laura Ling in her home. Stanko, 57, also raped and slit the throat of the woman's teenage daughter, who survived. In a three-minute statement in Columbia state prison, South Carolina, he apologised to his victims and asked not to be judged. He said: 'I have lived for approximately 20,973 days but I am judged solely for one. 'Once I am gone, I hope that Laura's family and Henry's family can all forgive me. "The execution may help them. Forgiveness will heal them.' His last meal was fried fish, shrimp, crab cakes, baked potato, carrots, okra, cherry pie, banana pudding and sweet tea. He was pronounced dead at 6.34pm local time on Friday — 28 minutes after the first jab. It was South Carolina's sixth execution in nine months. The state's two previous death-row inmates chose firing squad. A third option is electric chair.
USA Today
14-06-2025
- USA Today
Conman who killed 2, raped girl, then hobnobbed with Masters fans in Augusta is executed
Conman who killed 2, raped girl, then hobnobbed with Masters fans in Augusta is executed While prosecutors painted Stanko as a cold, calculated psychopath at trial, his attorneys at the time argued that he was insane when he committed the rape and murders. Show Caption Hide Caption US expands execution methods Most death row inmates faced one execution method in modern history. Now, there are many alternative ways to die. Stephen Stanko, 57, was executed in South Carolina for the murders of Henry Lee Turner and his girlfriend. Stanko was the 23rd inmate put to death in the U.S. in 2025 and the third in South Carolina. His final words expressed remorse and a hope for forgiveness from the victims' families. Stanko's attorneys argued against the execution methods, claiming they were cruel and unusual punishment. Stanko had a criminal history, including a prior conviction for kidnapping and attempted murder. South Carolina has executed a conman-turned-murderer convicted of killing two people and raping his girlfriend's 15-year-old daughter. Stephen Stanko, 57, was executed by lethal injection on Friday, June 13, for the murder of 74-year-old Henry Lee Turner, a retired Air Force master sergeant and father of three. Stanko was sentenced to death separately for the murder of his 43-year-old girlfriend, whom USA TODAY is not naming to protect her daughter's privacy as a rape survivor. He added: "Not a single day − NOT ONE SINGLE DAY − has gone by that (the victims) have not been in my thoughts and prayers. If my execution helps with closure and/or the grieving process, may they all move forward with that being completed." Stanko became the 23rd inmate put to death in the U.S. this year and the third in South Carolina. He was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. While prosecutors painted Stanko as a cold, calculated psychopath at trial, his attorneys at the time argued that he was insane when he committed the murders. His current lawyers argued that his life should have been spared because the execution methods in South Carolina amount to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution, an argument refuted by state officials and rejected by courts. Here's what else you need to know about Stanko's execution, including his last meal and more of his final words. Stanko's last meal, last words It took several minutes for Stanko's attorney to read out his extensive final words. "What I hope and pray that is known and understood about me − and every death row inmate and inmate in the world is that we are not the sum of one moment in time," wrote Stanko, who served on death row for 20 years. "We execute people in this country for moments in their life ... I have lived approximately 20,973 days but I am judged solely for one." He said that as a youth, he was an honors student, an athlete, the president of the Spanish club and was on the math team and in an engineering club. As a young adult, he said he volunteered at an orphanage, coached youth baseball and "saved a drowning child in Augusta." And on death row, he said he tutored inmates and developed a relationship with God. "I do NOT say this to brag. I say it because I was not what people see me as now − in this moment," he wrote. He added that he hopes his surviving victim and the victims' families forgive him. "The execution may help them. Forgiveness will heal them," he said. To read Stanko's complete final words, visit here. Stanko's last meal, served to him on Wednesday, consisted of: fried fish, fried shrimp, crab cakes, a baked potato, carrots, fried okra, cherry pie, banana pudding and sweet tea. Stanko's final breaths came during a busy week for the death penalty in the U.S., with four executions between Tuesday and Friday. Two were executed on the same day on June 10: Anthony Wainwright in Florida by lethal injection and Gregory Hunt in Alabama by nitrogen gas. Oklahoma executed John Hanson by lethal injection on Thursday, June 12. What did Stephen Stanko do? In the middle of the night on April 8, 2005, Stanko attacked his girlfriend's 15-year-old daughter as she slept in her bed at home in Murrells Inlet, an unincorporated seaside community just south of Myrtle Beach. The girl later sobbed and clutched a white teddy bear as she testified about the hours-long attack, which ended after Stanko pinned her body to the bed with his knee while he strangled her mother in front of her, according to coverage by the Sun-News. "I said, 'Please God, take me and not her,'" the girl testified as people in the courtroom cried, the newspaper reported. "I fought hard but she stopped making noises, and that was it." After he killed his 43-year-old girlfriend, Stanko then drove 25 miles north to the Conway home of one of her friends, Henry Lee Turner, whose body was found fatally shot about 24 hours later. Stanko fled scene, went to Augusta during Masters week Stanko fled the scene, setting off a nationwide manhunt that made national headlines. Four days after the murders, federal authorities tracked Stanko down about 200 miles west to Augusta, where he was hobnobbing with Masters golf fans, introducing himself as Stephen Christopher, and lying about his wealth. Stanko had also already wooed a woman, moved in with her and had even gone to church with her on the Sunday before he was captured, authorities said at the time. "She said he was the nicest, most courteous young man," the woman's grandmother told Knight Ridder at the time. "You would never know he was a fraud." Charles Grose, Stanko's attorney, said that experts have diagnosed the inmate with brain damage, 'likely from numerous brain injuries including from a troubled birth, a blow to the back of the head as a teen while shielding a classmate from an assault, and repeated traumas from serious sports-related head injuries.' He said that problems resulting from the brain damage were manageable in a controlled environment like prison and that he "productively used his years on death row to repent of his crimes and seek God's forgiveness, help other inmates and write about his experiences.' Grose added: 'While nothing excuses Stephen's terrible crimes, his execution will not make South Carolina safer.' Stanko described as conman, psychopath Archived news reports citing courtroom testimony and interviews describe Stanko as a con artist who had a knack for reeling in women. Stanko's various lies included, according to archived news accounts: that he was a millionaire, he owned multiple hamburger restaurants, he had an engineering degree from a prestigious university, and he made big-time deals in oil and real estate. "He has a need for grandiosity," one forensic psychologist observed on the witness stand, according to a 2006 report in the Myrtle Beach Sun-News. Another one simply said: "Mr. Stanko is a psychopath." Although Stanko was adept at charming some, others didn't buy his act. "He was smooth and he was slick," John Gaumer, a colleague of Stanko's slain girlfriend, told the Sun-News. "It's a puzzle to everyone I know what it was that he had − that he was able to exercise so much control over her was a mystery.' Her ex-husband told the paper that he met Stanko at her home. "I didn't like him. He knew that I knew what he was,' he said. 'When we looked at each other, I just could sense that there wasn't something right here. But at the same time, you are being told that he is OK, and you want to believe that." He said that Stanko had admitted to having a criminal past, likely as part of a plan to gain her trust. "The snowing ... obviously it drew her in. It was all part of the barrage, the seduction," he said. Stephen Stanko had criminal past, helped write a book from prison It's unclear just how much of his criminal past Stanko shared with his girlfriend. He had served more than eight years in prison for kidnapping and trying to kill another girlfriend in 1996. He had been living with the woman in Goose Creek when they got into an argument about his involvement in theft and fraud, and she told him he had to move out, according to police reports obtained by Knight Ridder in 2005. The next morning, they fought again, and Stanko soaked a washcloth with bleach, put it over her mouth, and tied up her wrists and ankles before he left. The woman, who told police that Stanko had tried to suffocate her, was able to break free and get help, Knight Ridder reported. Stanko pleaded guilty to charges of assault and battery with intent to kill and kidnapping, and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, according to online court records reviewed by USA TODAY. During Stanko's time in prison for that case, he became an author and co-wrote a book called "Living in Prison: A History of the Correctional System with an Insider's View." On Amazon, the book is described as "a rigorous exploration of our correctional system" from Stanko's perspective "on the harsh realities of prison life." Who were Stephen Stanko's victims? USA TODAY was unable to reach family members of either of Stanko's murder victims. Archived news reports about who they were are limited, but both Stanko's girlfriend and Henry Lee Turner were described as trusting and caring people. Her ex-husband told the Sun-News that the mother of three had a great sense of humor. "She was a vivacious, intelligent, compassionate woman who was a very good mother," he told the newspaper. Turner's daughter, Debbie Turner Gallogly, told the Sun-News that her dad met Stanko when he and his girlfriend went to Turner's house to help him with computer problems. "He's a very trusting person, a very welcoming person," she said. "He loved inviting people into his home for meals."
New Straits Times
14-06-2025
- New Straits Times
Convicted murderer put to death in fourth US execution this week
WASHINGTON: A South Carolina man convicted of a 2005 double murder was put to death by lethal injection on Friday, the fourth execution in the United States this week. Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 6.34pm (2234 GMT) at the state prison in Columbia, the South Carolina Department of Corrections said in a statement. Stanko had a choice between his method of execution – firing squad, electric chair or lethal injection. He chose lethal injection. Stanko was convicted of the 2005 murders of his girlfriend, Laura Ling, 43, and Henry Turner, a 74-year-old friend. He also raped Ling's teenage daughter and slit her throat but she survived and testified against him at trial. In a final statement read by his attorney, Stanko said he was "truly sorry for the pain and loss that I caused. "Sorry is never enough but that does not mean it should not be said." Stanko was the fourth Death Row inmate executed in the United States this week. President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and called on his first day in office for an expansion of its use "for the vilest crimes." John Hanson, 61, was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on Thursday for carjacking and kidnapping Mary Bowles, 77, from a mall in the city of Tulsa and then shooting her to death along with a witness, Jerald Thurman. Hanson had been serving a life sentence for bank robbery in a federal prison in the state of Louisiana but the Trump administration approved his transfer to Oklahoma so he could face the death penalty. Anthony Wainwright, 54, convicted of the 1994 murder of Carmen Gayheart, 23, a nursing student and mother of two young children, was put to death by lethal injection in Florida on Tuesday. Gregory Hunt, 65, convicted of the 1988 rape and murder of his girlfriend, Karen Lane, 32, was executed by nitrogen gas in Alabama that same day. There have been 23 executions in the United States this year: 18 by lethal injection, two by firing squad and three by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a facemask, causing the prisoner to suffocate. The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method has been denounced by UN experts as cruel and inhumane. The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others – California, Oregon and Pennsylvania – have moratoriums in place.--AFP
CNN
14-06-2025
- CNN
South Carolina executes a man serving death sentences in 2 separate murders
CrimeFacebookTweetLink Follow A South Carolina man sent to death row twice for separate murders was put to death Friday by lethal injection in the state's sixth execution in nine months. Stephen Stanko, 57, was pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. He was executed for shooting a friend and then cleaning out his bank account in Horry County in 2005. Stanko also was serving a death sentence for killing his live-in girlfriend in her Georgetown County home hours earlier, strangling her as he raped her teenage daughter. Stanko slit the teen's throat, but she survived. The execution began after a 3 1/2 minute final statement where Stanko apologized to his victims and asked not to be judged by the worst day of his life. Witnesses could hear prison officials asking for the first dose of the powerful sedative pentobarbital which was different from previous executions. Stanko appeared to be saying words, turned toward the families of the victims and then let out several quick breaths as his lips quivered. Stanko appeared to stop breathing after a minute. His ruddy complexion quickly disappeared and the color drained from his face and hands. A prison employee asked for a second dose of pentobarbital about 13 minutes later. He was announced dead about 28 minutes after the execution started. Three family members of his victims stared at Stanko and didn't look away until well after he stopped breathing. Stanko's brother and his lawyer also watched. Attorney Lindsey Vann, who watched her second inmate client die in seven months rubbed rosary beads in her hands. Stanko was leaning toward dying by South Carolina's new firing squad, like the past two inmates before him. But after autopsy results from the last inmate killed by that method showed the bullets from the three volunteers nearly missed his heart, Stanko went with lethal injection. Stanko was the last of four executions scheduled around the country this week. Florida and Alabama each put an inmate to death on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Oklahoma executed a man transferred from federal to state custody to allow his death. The federal courts rejected Stanko's last-ditch effort to spare his life as his lawyers argued the state isn't carrying out lethal injection properly after autopsy results found fluid in the lungs of other inmates killed that way. Also South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster refused clemency in a phone call to prison officials minutes before the execution began. A governor has not spared a death row inmate's life in the previous 48 executions since South Carolina reinstated the death penalty about 50 years ago. Stanko is the sixth inmate executed in South Carolina in nine months after the state went 13 years without putting an inmate to death because it could not obtain lethal injection drugs. The South Carolina General Assembly approved a firing squad and passed a shield law bill which allowed the suppliers of the drugs to stay secret. In his final statement, Stanko talked about how he was an honor student and athlete and a volunteer and asked several times not to be judged by the night he killed two people. 'I have live for approximately 20,973 days, but I am judged solely for one,' Stanko said in his final statement read by his lawyer. Stanko apologized several times to his victims and their families. '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.' Stanko ate his last meal on Wednesday as prison officials give inmates a chance to enjoy their special food before their execution day. He ate fried fish, fried shrimp, crab cakes, a baked potato, carrots, fried okra, cherry pie, banana pudding and sweet tea.
