Friends Remember Slain FSU Fraternity Brother John Edwards

John Edwards was 18 when he was murdered while camping with his older sister, who was raped. Now that Loran Cole is set to be executed, Edwards’ friends say a chapter of his life will soon close.

In early 1994, John Edwards and his older sister, both college students, met up for a weekend camping trip in the Ocala National Forest in north-central Florida. But it turned into a nightmare.

Edwards, who was just 18, and his 21-year-old sister were victims of a surprise attack while out at the Marion County Recreation Area. Edwards was brutally murdered while his sister escaped unharmed, but not unscathed.

Two men, Loran Kenstley Cole and William Paul, were later arrested, charged and convicted of murder, kidnapping and armed robbery in connection with the brutal attacks. Cole was also convicted of sexually assaulting Edwards’ sister and sentenced to death, while Paul was sentenced to life in prison.

Cole, now 57, is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Thursday in Florida, a chapter his friends say they are eager to leave behind.

USA TODAY looks back at Edwards’ life and death, as well as his sister’s courageous escape as execution looms, to remember who they were and what their loved ones lost.

An attempt to visit a pond and a surprise attack

On February 18, 1994, Edwards and his sister were setting up camp when they encountered Cole, then 27, and William Paul, then 20. Cole introduced himself as “Kevin” and Paul as his “brother” and helped them finish setting up their site.

After chatting around a campfire, the strangers suggested the siblings go see a pond. Around 10:45 p.m., court documents show, the four went to visit a pond to take pictures of alligators.

They never succeeded.

Before reaching the pond, Cole jumped Edwards’ sister and handcuffed her. Edwards then attacked Paul, and Cole helped Paul subdue his brother and threw him to the ground next to his sister, according to court documents.

Paul took the woman further down the path and Cole was left with John Edwards, who died of a slit throat and multiple skull fractures.

Cole, Paul and Pam Edwards returned to the camp, where Cole threatened to kill her if she didn’t have sex with him. The next day, he raped her again, then gagged her and tied her between two trees with rope, according to court documents.

Cole and Paul then left the campsite in one of their cars. Edwards’ sister, who had freed herself by chewing on the rope, searched for her brother but was unable to find him.

A motorist found her and called 911. Her brother’s body was found by law enforcement later that day.

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“A good and kind soul”

John Edwards was a freshman at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

At the same time, his sister was attending Eckerd College, a private liberal arts college in St. Petersburg, Florida, about 260 miles south of her brother’s school. She was a key witness in the state’s trial against Cole.

Born in July 1975, Edwards attended high school in Japan, where his parents were military teachers.

Admitted to FSU’s honors program, Edwards studied chemical engineering as a freshman, his fraternity brother, Chris Spiers, told USA TODAY. Edwards was the youngest member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, many of whom bonded for life after his murder.

“He was a good, kind man who didn’t have a bad word to say about anybody. He was a smart, lean guy who loved baseball and basketball,” recalled Spires, now 49. “He used to run around the house pretending to dunk on Bob Sura, who was FSU’s star basketball player in 1993.”

“John was always a positive, friendly, charismatic, down-to-earth person,” Barrett Atwood, another FSU and Phi Gamma Delta alumnus, told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Spires said he and his pledge brothers learned of their friend’s murder while watching the 6 p.m. news.

“We were in shock,” Spires recalled. “We had just come back from the President’s party, that’s why they were camping. We were all losing our minds… We talked about going after the men and killing them, but our fraternity president calmed us down. We found out two days later that they had caught William and Paul, and later we found out what had happened to his sister.”

“We have not forgotten him”

Spires, a wealth adviser who now lives in Atlanta, said he and some members of his fraternity have followed the case for years.

“We stayed in touch around the fifth, 10th, 15th, 20th anniversary of his death,” he said, until after Cole’s conviction, when the case slowly began to fade from the spotlight.

Then came July 29, when Spires learned that Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis had signed Cole’s death warrant.

“I knew it would happen one day. I had planned to go down there and have a vigil for John so people would remember that someone had actually died, but when I saw the article, I had tears in my eyes,” he said. “What was pictured was an 18-year-old young man who had potential. He would probably be married and have kids who would coach his kids’ baseball teams.”

Cole, who has argued that his co-defendant was responsible for Edwards’ murder, has filed more than a dozen appeals over the years.

On Friday, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected a request by Cole’s attorneys, who argued that lethal injection would cause “unnecessary pain and suffering” due to Cole’s symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, which he has suffered from since 2017, and “cause his arms and legs to shake.”

Cole also argued that his life should be spared because of the “horrific abuse” he suffered at a notorious, closed state reform school.

Spires said he recently contacted Edwards’ mother, who lives in Florida.

“I told her I wanted her to know that we hadn’t forgotten her, even though 25 years had passed,” Spires said.

He said Edwards’ mother thanked him and added that “the family always keeps John close.”

“The brothers with whom I am in regular contact and I look forward to this chapter being closed,” Spires said.

USA TODAY has reached out to Edwards’ mother and sister. It is not yet known whether they plan to attend the execution.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.