William Emmett LeCroy Jr. became the sixth person to be executed by the United States government this year, following his 2004 death sentence for the murder of Blue Ridge nurse practitioner Joann Tiesler.
“Today justice was finally served,” Tiesler’s father, Tom Tiesler, said in a statement following the execution. “William LeCroy died a peaceful death in stark contrast to the horror he imposed on my daughter Joann.
“I am unaware that he ever showed any remorse for his evil actions, his life of crime or for the horrific burden he caused Joann’s loved ones.”
Follwing lethal injection, LeCroy was pronounced dead Tuesday, September 22 at 9:06 p.m. following lethal injection at at the U.S. Penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Tiesler, a 30-year-old Cherry Log resident, worked at Mountain Medical with Dr. Ray Tidman at the time of her murder, which took place October 7, 2001.
LeCroy was convicted of breaking into her Cherry Lake subdivision residence, raping and murdering her. Following the murder, LeCroy stole Tiesler’s 1996 Ford Explorer and fled the state. He was apprehended two days later in Grand Marais, Minnesota, while attempting to cross the Canadian border.
Tiesler’s autopsy report stated she had died as a result of multiple stab wounds. The federal indictment charged that LeCroy “committed the offense in an especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner in that it involved torture and serious physical abuse.”
LeCroy chose not to read his final statement prior to his execution, but instead stated that he had mailed it to his spiritual advisor, Sister Barbara Battista. Battista was present during his execution and read from a prayer book.
Three days after LeCroy’s execution, Sister Battista shared his final words during a press conference.
A portion of the letter read, “Without carefully considering the consequences of our actions, we did things that we were unable to take back, harmed another human being, ourselves and so many others who loved us and who loved that human being too.”