Victim's Daughter Waits for Killer's Execution

Raleigh, N.C. — The daughter of a Wake County woman slain a decade ago said she will wait out the ongoing debate over the state's death penalty so she can witness the killer's execution.

"It won't bring my mom back, but it's justice," Deborah Hartless said.

Hartless' mother, Linda Holman, was chased and gunned down by her husband, Allen Holman, in July 1997.

Holman is on death row awaiting execution, and he told WRAL in a March 8 interview that he wants to die, regardless of the dispute between state prison officials and the North Carolina Medical Board that has put all executions on hold.

"I want closure for the victim's family. I want closure for my family. I want closure for myself," Holman said in the interview.

Hartless hasn't weighed in on the state's death penalty debate, but she said she doesn't understand the delay in Holman's execution, which was originally set for March 9.

"It's been going on for years. What makes this case so different is that he wants to die, he's ready," she said. "It's been almost 10 years, and it's just like something that hangs over your shoulder."

Holman said he believes he will eventually be executed.