Sterling Rault was executed by the State of Louisiana for the sexual assault and murder of a young woman
According to court documents Sterling Rault was working as an accountant at a gas company and was embezzling the company. Jane Ellen Francioni worked as a secretary for the same company and Sterling believed she knew about his fraud
Sterling Rault would sexually assault and then murder Jane Ellen Francioni who was both shot and stabbed
Sterling Rault would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Sterling Rault would be executed by way of the electric chair on August 24 1987
Sterling Rault Photos
Sterling Rault FAQ
When was Sterling Rault executed
Sterling Rault was executed on August 24 1987
How was Sterling Rault executed
Sterling Raul was executed by way of the electric chair
Sterling Rault Case
A lawyer for condemned rapist-killer Sterling Rault Sr. said Sunday he would not ask Gov. Edwin Edwards to stop his client’s execution, scheduled for just after midnight, in Louisiana’s electric chair.
The Supreme Court Friday rejected a last-ditch appeal for a stay of execution for Rault, 36, of New Orleans, who has escaped seven previous dates with the electric chair for the 1982 murder of a 20-year-old secretary, who was Rault’s alleged accomplice in an embezzlement scheme.
Defense attorney Dwight Doskey said Sunday that the plea turned down by the high court was his client’s third and final appeal.
‘There will be no further appeals. He’s trying to make peace with his God,’ Doskey said, adding that he would not ask Edwards to spare his client’s life.
‘He wouldn’t do it. The state Pardons Board already turned him down,’ said Doskey.
Edwards could not be reached for comment about the pardon, which the state Pardons Board rejected Friday. Since taking office in 1984, Edwards has yet to grant a stay of execution.
The execution was to take place between 12:01 and 3 a.m. Monday.
Rault would become the eighth man this year to die in Louisiana’s electric chair, the 15th to be executed in Louisiana and the 87th nationwide since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976.
On Saturday, Rault was moved to the death house at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where he visited with his parents and brother, said Warden Hilton Butler.
Rault’s relatives and his religious adviser, William Hall, arrived Sunday to be with him before the execution, Butler said.
Rault ate his last meal of T-bone steak, a dozen fried shrimp, french fries, Pepsi-Cola and strawberry shortcake about 5:30 p.m. CDT, the warden added.
‘We’re just ready, in case there should be a stay, which we don’t expect,’ Butler said.
Butler said Rault was in good spirits and ‘doing fine.’
Rault was given the death penalty for abducting, raping and fatally shooting Jane Ellen Francioni, of Slidell, who allegedly was involved with him in an embezzlement scheme at the firm where they both worked.
He also burned the woman’s body, which was found March 1, 1982, in eastern New Orleans.