During the day, Harold Wayne Nichols appeared to be a loving husband beloved by his wife. He was a serial predator who attacked and raped women at night when they were most vulnerable.
Tennessee death row inmate scheduled to be executed in December
Harold Wayne Nichols, who was convicted of murdering 20-year-old Karen Pooley, is scheduled to be executed on December 11, 2025.
Tennessee plans to execute a serial rapist known as the “Red-Headed Stranger” for brutally attacking and murdering one of his victims, a promising young college girl, in her bed.
Harold Wayne Nichols, 64, is scheduled to be executed on Thursday, Dec. 11, for the rape and murder of 20-year-old Karen Pooley, who he beat, raped and left for dead in 1988.
Nichols was living a double life in Chattanooga at the time of his arrest. By all accounts he was a loving husband, and his wife loved and doted on him during the day. He was a serial predator who would relentlessly attack women at night when they were most vulnerable, including his own wedding anniversary.
According to an archived Associated Press article, Nichols admitted to attacking the woman, saying he felt a “strange energy-filled feeling” when he attacked her.
One of his surviving victims said his execution is long overdue, nearly 40 years after Pulley’s crimes terrorized the community, devastated his family and left at least a dozen women with lifelong trauma.
“I hope he gets everything that’s coming,” she told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. The Tennessean declined to be named because he is the victim of a sex crime.
When and where will Harold Wayne Nichols be executed?
Harold Wayne Nichols is scheduled to be executed at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, Dec. 11, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institute in Nashville.
It was the third execution in the state this year and the 46th in the United States, a figure not reached since 2010. Death penalty experts blame the rising political climate under pro-death penalty President Donald Trump and a more conservative U.S. Supreme Court.
What was Harold Wayne Nichols convicted of?
On September 30, 1988, 20-year-old Karen Pooley was in bed when Nichols climbed through her bathroom window, hit her over the head with a 2-by-4-inch piece of wood, and then raped her.
“Mr. Nichols then struck her several more times in the head with the two-by-four, shattering her skull and leaving her on the floor bleeding and unconscious,” the federal appellate opinion said.
Pulley’s roommate found him the next morning lying in a pool of blood, but still alive. She died later that day at a nearby hospital.
This was the first of at least a dozen attacks by Nichols in Chattanooga from September 1988 to early 1989. Police said Nichols stalked women who were single or simply home alone.
About a month after Pulley’s murder, Nichols struck again, attacking a 23-year-old woman who had left her door unlocked for her husband at night. Nichols came and hit her over the head with a candlestick and raped her.
On November 1, 1988, his second wedding anniversary with his wife, Nichols attacked another woman, forced her to wear clothes of his own choosing, then raped her at knifepoint.
On January 3, 1989, he raped three women separately, including two single mothers who threatened their children, and attempted to rape a fourth woman, all within four hours of each other, according to court records.
Prosecutors charged Nichols with murder, rape, robbery and assault. He was sentenced to death for Pulley’s murder and 200 years in prison for other crimes.
Killer’s wife says she knew nothing about the attack
Nichols’ wife said she was “obsessed” with her husband before his arrest, according to court records.
She said Nichols, an assistant manager at Godfather’s Pizza, began staying up all night in the summer of 1988 and suspected he was having an affair.
When police questioned her, she initially said there was no way she could have committed the rape on Memorial Day because Nichols was with her. “However, she later discovered that he had left in the middle of the night,” according to the federal appellate opinion.
According to court records, Nichols gave various excuses for his absence, including telling his wife he was going to buy hamburgers.
His wife testified for the defense and said Nichols eventually confessed his guilt to her. He admitted to her that he was dangerous and “shouldn’t be on the streets,” according to court records.
Nichols testified that she knew the rape was wrong but felt she had no choice. “Under cross-examination, Nichols acknowledged that had he not been arrested, he would have continued to prowl at night and continue to rape women,” the federal judge wrote.
Who is Karen Pooley?
Karen Pulley’s sister, Lisette Monroe, told The Tennessean that the past 37 years have been filled with sadness for her, who was Pulley’s last living relative. The girls’ father died in February 1995, and their mother died on Christmas Day 2012.
Monroe was 23 years old and living in Colorado with her husband, Jeff, when her sister was murdered. The couple had planned a trip to Chattanooga to introduce their 18-month-old daughter to her aunt.
“She was a young, innocent, good Christian woman,” Monroe said. “A girl who would never hurt anyone.”
Monroe recalls that as girls, the sisters often fought over makeup and hairbrushes, but they were always close. Growing up, they exchanged dozens of handwritten letters while Monroe and Jeff were stationed in the Philippines in the Air Force. Pooley discussed the boy she was dating and the early stages of studying to become a paralegal at Chattanooga State Community College.
If she could write another letter to her sister, she said, she would start with “I love you.”
“And I miss you more than I know how to express,” she continued. “I wish I had been here to see your nieces grow up and follow in her footsteps and see what beautiful and strong women they have become.”
Monroe said the process to bring Nichols to justice has been slow with numerous appeals over the decades, adding that an execution would help heal deep wounds.
“We’ve been trying to heal for 37 years, but there’s no cure. It’s never been better than this,” said Monroe, who now lives in Washington. “Our lives will be interrupted and we won’t be blaming the victim again every time it happens, and there will be healing on that front.”
That way, the family can “focus on their memories of Karen and their love for her,” she said.
