Larry Lonchar was executed by the State of Georgia for a triple murder
According to court documents Larry Lonchar owed several thousands of dollars to a bookmaker however he was unable to cover the debt. Lonchar would go to the bookmaker and would murder him, his son and a friend: Wayne Smith, Steven Smith, and Margaret Sweat
Lonchar would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Larry Lonchar would be executed by way of the electric chair on November 14 1996
Larry Lonchar Photos
Larry Lonchar Case
A killer who had wanted to donate a kidney to the detective who helped put him on death row was executed early today for killing three people over a $10,000 gambling debt.
The man, Larry Grant Lonchar, 45, was electrocuted at 12:39 A.M. despite a flurry of last-minute appeals.
Twice earlier, Mr. Lonchar had won reprieves just minutes or hours before going to the electric chair, most recently by offering to donate his organs.
He said last year that he wanted to give his kidney to Melvin Ferguson, who had helped link him to the 1987 triple killing
Mr. Lonchar, who spent more than 31 years behind bars, had changed his mind often over the years on whether he wanted to be executed.
Mr. Ferguson, whose kidneys had been damaged during heart surgery, contacted Mr. Lonchar’s lawyer, saying that he knew Larry Lonchar‘s blood type from the murder investigation and that it matched his.
But the state refused to allow the necessary tests, saying that it did not want Mr. Ferguson to be disappointed and that Mr. Lonchar was too dangerous to be taken out of prison.