After nearly three decades awaiting execution, Gregory Hunt was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. on June 10, 2025, following the first use of nitrogen gas in Alabama this year. The 65-year-old inmate was executed for the 1988 capital murder of Karen Lane, a crime of such brutality that it haunted investigators for generations.
Hunt chose nitrogen hypoxia as his method of execution, becoming the fifth Alabama inmate to die by the gas. The procedure, which began just after 5:55 p.m., was witnessed by officials and media as the state carried out its judicial sentence. His death marks the end of one of Alabama’s longest-standing death row cases.
The crime that condemned him occurred in the early hours of August 2, 1988, in Cordova. Paramedics discovered 29-year-old Karen Lane lifeless on her kitchen floor, her body bearing the evidence of an unimaginable assault. The scene was so violent that it caused seasoned first responders to freeze in the doorway.
Hunt, who had been dating Lane for only a few weeks, quickly became the prime suspect. Friends described a relationship that rapidly deteriorated, marked by Hunt’s jealousy, controlling behavior, and angry outbursts. Lane had expressed her desire to end the relationship just days before her murder.
On the night of August 1, Hunt’s rage escalated. He threatened Lane’s life to a friend, stating, “She makes me so mad. I could kill that bitch.” After a series of frantic phone calls where he threatened Karen’s roommate and mother, Hunt began hunting for Lane across town.
His search turned destructive when, unable to find her at a vacant house she owned, he doused the property in gasoline and set it ablaze. He confessed to the arson later that night, telling a friend he was “sick of her crap” and had taken “the only thing she had.”
Undeterred, Hunt continued his pursuit. A witness reported seeing his van chasing a car matching Lane’s through Cordova around midnight. Lane initially evaded him and returned to her apartment, believing the danger had passed. That decision would prove fatal.
Around 2:00 a.m., a neighbor heard glass shattering and saw Hunt climbing through a broken window into Lane’s apartment. Just thirty minutes later, Hunt called Lane’s roommate, Tina Gilland Cook, and coldly stated, “Karen’s lying here on the kitchen floor. Someone should get her to a hospital.”
What officers found upon arrival was a scene of profound horror. Lane had been beaten with such force that nearly every bone in her chest was fractured, including all 24 ribs. Her sternum was cracked, her heart and lungs bruised, and her liver torn. Her aorta was ripped open.
The autopsy would later document 60 separate injuries. Evidence at the scene included a blood-slicked bar stool with strands of Lane’s hair stuck to it and a broken broomstick between her legs, which forensic analysis confirmed had been used to assault her. Hunt’s DNA was found in her mouth.
Hunt fled to Coleman, Alabama, where he made a dazed call to family in Florida. Days later, during a jailhouse visit, his sister asked directly if he had killed Karen Lane. Hunt did not flinch. “Yes,” he replied, claiming he had been drinking, was high and angry, and had simply lost control.
Physical evidence cemented his guilt. His fingerprints were found throughout the apartment, on stairwells, walls, and the broken window screen. A bloody palm print at the scene matched him exactly. Multiple witnesses provided testimony detailing his threats and movements that night.
On June 19, 1990, a jury found Gregory Hunt guilty of capital murder on three counts: murder during a burglary, murder through forcible abuse, and murder of a woman who, by law, could not consent. The jury vote was 11-1, sufficient under Alabama law to impose a death sentence.
For 29 years, Hunt resided on death row while his legal team filed appeals. His attorneys argued he received inadequate defense, pointing to Alabama’s underfunded and overburdened capital defense system. They contended the jury never heard about Hunt’s traumatic childhood, marked by violence and foster care.
During his incarceration, Hunt underwent a significant personal transformation. He described becoming more spiritual, spending his time reading the Bible, writing gospel songs, and sharing his faith with other inmates. He viewed prison not as punishment but as a place of healing.
“It was just me, God, Bible, and worship,” Hunt said in an interview. “The Holy Spirit helped me get a right mind that took years to get rid of the insanity.” He expressed a lack of fear about his impending execution, stating, “I don’t know why people cry at funerals if they’re going to heaven.”
In a consequential decision, Hunt elected to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia, a method Alabama had yet to fully protocolize at the time of his choice. State law allowed inmates to choose between gas, lethal injection, or the electric chair, and Hunt opted for the novel method.
His choice reignited a national debate about execution methods. While some states have considered nitrogen gas a more humane alternative, witnesses to previous executions described them as slow, unsettling, and potentially painful. Critics demanded Alabama pause executions for review, but the state proceeded.
On his final day, Hunt declined a traditional last dinner the night before his execution. For his last meal at lunch, he requested a simple tray of baloney, black-eyed peas, carrots, and fruit punch. He spent his remaining hours in prayer and reflection.
As the execution chamber curtain opened at 5:52 p.m., Hunt lay strapped to a gurney, wrapped in a white sheet with the nitrogen mask secured over his face. After the death warrant was read aloud, he declined to make a formal final statement to witnesses.
Instead, Hunt offered a thumbs-up gesture and what appeared to be a peace sign. In a final phone call earlier, he had been more vocal, insisting he was not a typical death row inmate. “I don’t have a pity party,” he stated, adding, “I’m just battling until I get a break or they snuff my light out.”
When asked about Karen Lane, his tone shifted. “I can’t explain what happened,” he said quietly. “All I can say is that she didn’t deserve what happened to her.” These words stood as his closest approximation to an apology for the crime that ended two lives.
The nitrogen gas began flowing shortly after 5:55 p.m. At 5:57, Hunt briefly shook, gasped, and raised his head from the gurney. Two minutes later, he let out a moan and raised his feet. He then took a series of four or more gasping breaths with long pauses between them.
By 6:05 p.m., all movement had ceased. Witnesses noted his left fist remained clenched for an extended period afterward. The attending physician pronounced Gregory Hunt dead at 6:26 p.m., concluding a 37-year legal journey that began with one of Alabama’s most brutal murders.
The execution proceeded despite ongoing legal challenges to Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol. State officials maintain the method is humane and effective, while death penalty opponents cite witness accounts of distress and argue it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Karen Lane’s family, who have waited 37 years for this outcome, declined to speak with the media following the execution. In previous statements, they described a vibrant young woman whose life was cut short by unimaginable violence, and a decades-long struggle for justice that has now reached its conclusion.
With Hunt’s execution, Alabama has carried out its first death sentence of 2025. The case highlights enduring questions about capital punishment, the evolution of execution methods, and the long shadow cast by acts of violence that forever alter countless lives.