In Columbia, S.C., Doyle Cecil Lucas, 41, said he wanted to die and was ''filled with remorse'' for the 1983 murders of a Rock Hill, S.C., couple during a burglary, Mr. Lucas's lawyer said. But in his final statement, Mr. Lucas criticized the state for bringing ''itself down to a level of the people who have, themselves, killed.''

Mickey Rayfield, a son of the victims, watched the Lucas execution. ''Justice has been served,'' said Mr. Rayfield, who, along with his brother, found their parents' bodies.

The 41-year-old inmate was pronounced dead at 1:28 a.m., said state Corrections Department spokesman John Barkley.

Attorney Dottie Fort read Mr. Lucas' final statement, in which he apologized to the victims' family and his own mother and thanked his lawyers.

In the statement, Mr. Lucas said people should not feel superior, because the state, though his execution, committed the same act for which he was condemned.

"I know that I gave these appeals up on my own, but it doesn't change the fact that an organized, civilized society has brought itself down to a level of the people who have, themselves, killed,'' he said.

Mr. Lucas was the last of a recent group of killers on South Carolina's Death Row who voluntarily gave up appeals to hasten their executions at the Broad River Correctional Institution.

He was convicted of the 1983 robbery and killing of Bill Rayfield 65, and Mr. Rayfield's 64-year-old wife, Evelyn, at their Rock Hill home. One of their sons, Mickey Rayfield, witnessed Mr. Lucas' execution.

"I feel by seeing him die, it will provide some sort of emotional closure for us,'' Mr. Rayfield said before the sentence was carried out.

Mr. Lucas was the third inmate executed in South Carolina this year who relinquished appeals despite defense lawyers' objections. The others were triple murderer Michael Torrence and cop-killer Robert South.

"He's very filled with remorse, and ashamed,'' said attorney David Bruck, who visited Mr. Lucas this week. ``He hopes his dying will help the Rayfields deal in some way with what he did to them.''

Last week, Mr. Lucas' 75-year-old mother, Frances Lucas, said she talked to him and he looked forward to his death.

"He's tired of being in prison and they're taking away so many of their rights and becoming so strict about things. He just wants it to be over now,'' she said.

South Carolina has executed four other inmates this year. The last time the state executed five inmates in a year was 1961, the Corrections Department says. A sixth, Frank Middleton, is scheduled to die Friday.

said people should not feel superior because they, though his execution, committed the same act for which he was condemned.

"I know that I gave these appeals up on my own, but it doesn't change the fact that an organized, civilized society has brought itself down to a level of the people who have themselves killed,'' he said.

Mr. Lucas was the third inmate executed in South Carolina this year who relinquished appeals despite defense lawyers' objections. The others were triple murderer Michael Torrence and cop-killer Robert South.

Double killer is executed after giving up his appeals

DeseretNews.com

Friday, Nov. 15, 1996

A man who gave up appeals to hasten his execution was put to death by injection early Friday for murdering a couple in their home just two days after he was paroled.

Doyle Cecil Lucas, 41, wanted to die and was "filled with remorse" for the 1983 murders of Bill and Evelyn Rayfield during a burglary, Lucas' lawyer said. But in his final statement, Lucas criticized the state for bringing "itself down to a level of the people who have, themselves, killed."Moments before the execution, Lucas - through a thick glass window - told his wife of six months that he loved her. One of the Rayfields' grown sons also watched.

After shooting the couple, Lucas carried out a blood-spattered pillowcase stuffed with money and costume jewelry, and drove away in the couple's car. Lucas, wearing a blood-stained shirt and Rayfield's watch, was arrested soon after when the car was spotted.