Death Row Inmate Who Brutally Killed Elderly Couple Dies Before Execution

A death row inmate in Ohio whose execution was delayed for the brutal killing of an elderly couple has died, prison officials have confirmed.

Charles Lorraine, 56, died at the Ohio Corrections Medical Center, in Columbus, at about 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 24.

No cause of death was stated in a press release that was obtained by NBC affiliate WFMJ.

Repeat offender Lorraine was convicted in 1986 of stabbing Raymond Montgomery, 77, and his wife Doris, 80, both of whom lived on Warren's west side.

Lorraine was 19 at the time of the double killing of the couple, according to WFMJ.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins told the network Lorraine had been an offender as a juvenile all the way into his adult life.

Watkins added: "He obtained a knife from a friend and he also wore gloves because, in his words, he 'didn't want to leave fingerprints or get blood on his hands.'"

Lorraine brutally stabbed both Raymond and Doris to death at their home and left with numerous valuables including cash and later left to meet his friends at a bar.

He then stole another woman's car to drive back to the Montgomery home in order to steal more money.

A total of 4,234 inmates died in state and federal prisons in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). This represented a 6.6 percent decrease from the 4,515 deaths the previous year.

The DOJ also reported that, in 2019, the mortality rate in state prisons was 330 per 100,000 state prisoners, while federal prisoners in facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons died at a rate of 259 per 100,000.

Almost 87 percent of the 65,027 state prisoners and 89 percent of the 7,125 federal prisoners who died in custody between 2001 to 2019 died of illness.

The DOJ added that suicide is listed as the highest cause of unnatural deaths in state prisoners, followed by drug and alcohol intoxication, homicide, and finally accidents.

It also stated that 95 percent of state prisoners who died in 2019 were male, and more than 50 percent were classed as non-Hispanic white.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine delayed the execution of three inmates, one of whom was Lorraine, in November 2022.

Lorraine was originally due to be executed on March 15 this year and was given a new execution date of May 13, 2026.

DeWine delayed the executions due to ongoing struggles to find pharmaceutical suppliers for the state of Ohio's lethal injections.

Newsweek has contacted the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections for comment via email.