Kidney-Donor Plan Dies With Killer

A killer who had said he wanted to donate a kidney to the retired detective who helped put him on death row was executed for murdering three people over a gambling debt. Larry Grant Lonchar, 45, was electrocuted at the state prison in Jackson, Ga. Smiling as he was strapped into the chair, his last statement was: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Lonchar said he wanted to give his kidney to Melvin Ferguson, who helped tie him to the slayings. But the state refused to allow necessary tests, saying it didn’t want Ferguson, whose kidneys were damaged during heart surgery, to be disappointed and that Lonchar was too dangerous to be taken out of prison.