Man who had for 32 years denied raping and murdering student is executed

Charles Crawford told his family he loved them moments before he was given the lethal injection at the Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman, the state's oldest prison

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A man who had denied the kidnap, rape and murder of a student more than 30 years ago has been executed today.

Charles Crawford spent more than three decades on death row despite always insisting he did not sexually attack and kill Kristy Ray. However, a jury convicted Crawford after hearing he abducted the 20-year-old student from her parents’ home in Mississippi.

And, despite several attempts to overturn the death sentence, Crawford, 59, was given the lethal injection today at the Mississippi State Penitentiary, the state's oldest prison, and died within minutes.

Given the chance to make a final statement, Crawford said: "To my family, I love you. I’m at peace. I’ve got God’s peace," and added: "I’ll be in heaven." He also addressed Ray’s relatives, saying: "To the victim’s family, true closure and true peace, you cannot reach that without God." Both families present at the execution declined to talk to the press outside the jail.

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It comes after the execution of Richard Gerald Jordan, Mississippi’s longest-serving death row inmate, who kidnapped and murdered a bank loan officer's wife in a brutal ransom plot. Earlier this week, a dad who denied murdering a police officer was killed at a jail in Missouri.

Crawford's case reflects this as, during the investigation in 1993, he told police he did not remember committing either the rape or murder. He was found guilty and, over the past three decades, Crawford tried unsuccessfully to overturn his death sentence.

Krissy Nobile, the director of the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel, who represented Crawford, said: "It’s almost like he didn’t even get the chance to have innocent or guilty matter because his attorney just overrode his wishes from the outset."

In a statement released after the execution, the Mississippi Office of Capital Post-Conviction Counsel said Crawford was executed without receiving a fair trial.

"Despite a legal system that failed him, Charles Crawford ('Chuck') spent every day in prison trying to be the best person, family member, friend and Christian he could be." The statement added worked inside the prison and advocated for other inmates.

But, according to court records, Crawford broke into the Ray family home, kidnapped the young student, left a ransom note, and took her to a secluded barn in the woods. Crawford then raped and killed her. When Ray’s mother came home, her daughter’s car was gone and she found the handwritten ransom note on the table.

Crawford was arrested a day later and said he was returning from a hunting trip. He later told authorities he blacked out and did not recall killing the woman.