In the execution chamber, Sonnier directed his last statement to Lloyd LeBlanc, saying "I can understand the way you feel. I have no hatred in my heart. As I leave this world, I ask God to forgive...me for what I did. I also ask your forgiveness for what I did." LeBlanc nodded, and then Bourque remarked quietly "He didn't ask me." Sonnier was strapped in what was known as "Gruesome Gertie", the state's oak electric chair. After electrical currents were administered, Elmo Patrick Sonnier was pronounced dead at 12:15 a.m.