In his last moments on earth, 24 years removed from acts of unspeakable murderous violence, Paul Ezra Rhoades seized upon his one last chance to inflict harm upon his victims’ loved ones.

Rhoades accepted blame for his role in the killing of Susan Michelbacher, an Idaho Falls school teacher. His role, implying he did not act alone in her abduction, rape and shooting. He said police need to keep looking for the killer of Stacy Dawn Baldwin and Nolan Haddon.

Rhoades managed to say he forgave the state workers who were about to inject him with a cocktail of lethal drugs. His mercy, still, never extended to the families of his victims. Even in his final, hurtful moments.

Final moments that are given added weight, and added public attention, when we as a society choose to carry out the death penalty.

Let me first say that I don’t buy a word of Rhoades’ last-minute claims. I think the legal process has thoroughly proven Rhoades’ guilt in a killing spree that gripped eastern Idaho for three weeks. Tom Moss, the former U.S. attorney and longtime Bingham County prosecutor who tried the Baldwin case, quickly reminded reporters Friday that Rhoades pleaded guilty to killing Haddon, who was shot and left to die in an Idaho Falls convenience store.

Idaho did not kill an innocent man Friday. On that, I have no doubt. And even as one who opposes the death penalty, I can’t feel sadness for Rhoades’ death.

I do feel sadness for the platform that execution affords Rhoades.

I also don’t think you can blame the media for broadcasting Rhoades’ words. As eyewitnesses to Rhoades’ execution, the family members didn’t hear his words from us.

Wherever you stand on the death penalty — whether you condone of the execution of Rhoades or not — it’s impossible not to feel first for those who knew and loved his victims. That, it seems, is simply a prerequisite to being a member of the human race.

I cannot begin to imagine what they have endured for 24 years, nor would I ever want to. It’s no one’s place to judge whether they are feeling, to use the overused phrase, a sense of closure. I only feel sorrow for them, especially in light of what they had to hear Friday morning.