Inmate's Name	Execution Date
John Eldon Smith	Dec 15, 1983
John Eldon Smith and his wife were charged in two counts with the murder of Joseph Ronald Akins and his wife Juanita Knight Akins. At separate trials both were convicted and sentenced to death on each count. Joseph Ronald Akins and his wife of twenty days, Juanita Knight Akins, were killed in a secluded area of a new housing development in Bibb County, Georgia, on August 31, 1974, by shotgun blasts fired at close range. According to the state's evidence, Joseph Akins' former wife, Rebecca Akins Smith Machetti, together with her husband, John Eldon Smith, (a/k/a Anthony Isalldo Machetti, a/k/a Tony Machetti), and John Maree plotted the death of Joseph Akins with the intent of redeeming the proceeds of Akins' insurance policies, and other benefits, the beneficiaries of which were Mrs. Machetti and her three daughters by her marriage to Akins. They were living in North Miami Beach, Florida at the time. According to the testimony of accomplice John Maree, he was to be paid $ 1,000 for his participation. He testified that he and Tony Machetti (Smith) drove to Macon, Georgia, where they contacted Ronald Akins and lured him into the area of the crime, ostensibly to install a television antenna, and that when he and his wife arrived at the appointed time Tony Machetti (Smith) killed both of them with a shotgun, after which he and Maree returned to North Miami Beach, Florida.
Ivon Ray Stanley	Jul 12, 1984
On April 12, 1976, Clifford Floyd, the victim, was making his regular Monday afternoon rounds through the Fowlstown area of Bainbridge, Georgia, collecting weekly insurance premiums. Five weeks earlier Joseph Thomas and Ivon Stanley had been overheard talking about robbing the insurance man because they needed some money. About one month prior to the murder they were again overheard by a different person discussing the planned robbery. The two agreed that after the robbery they would "have to get rid of him because he will tell who we are." Subsequent events are described from Thomas' statements. On April 12 Floyd came by Thomas' house to collect a premium. When he left, Thomas sent a friend over to Stanley's house "to tell Ivon to come over to my house." Stanley "came straight on over. And I told him, I asked him, I said 'you can get the insurance man if you want him ....'" Stanley ran from Thomas' house and caught up with Floyd. On a pretext he persuaded Floyd to return to the Thomas residence. Stanley was armed with a .22 caliber pistol which Thomas had just given him. When Thomas came out of the house Stanley had already pulled the gun on Floyd, emptied his pockets and told him not to move and not to say anything. Stanley, armed with the pistol, and Thomas, carrying a hammer, forced Floyd to go with them to the woods near the Thomas house. As they were walking, Floyd and Thomas exchanged some words. Angered, Thomas struck Floyd on the forehead with the hammer. Thomas walked back up to the hog pens near his house, got a length of rope, and returned to the woods where the other two were. Again leaving Stanley and Floyd alone, Thomas went back to where Floyd had parked his car and drove it away in search of a hiding place. He rifled the car, broke into the glove compartment and removed a .22 caliber pistol. Leaving the car he walked back to where he had left the other two men. When Thomas returned, he found Floyd tied to a tree. Stanley said, "You know, you know, we gonna have to, you know he knows." Thomas responded, "Yeah." "You know, we are gonna have to get rid of him," said Stanley. Thomas said nothing, then went back to his house, got his mother's shovel and returned. With the shovel, Thomas began digging a shallow grave perhaps 11 inches in depth. Tiring, he gave the shovel to Stanley who finished "digging that insurance man's grave."  When they had completed the grave, Stanley went over and untied Floyd from the tree but left his hands bound. Considerable blood was flowing from Floyd's forehead. Thomas ripped part of the shirt from the man's back and stuffed it into his mouth to silence him. As they approached the grave, Stanley handed the gun to Thomas and told him, "You gonna do the rest ..." Taking the gun, Thomas turned his head away and fired five times at Floyd's head. Stanley then took the shovel that had been used to dig the grave and hit Floyd with it twice. He handed the shovel to Thomas who beat the man with the shovel. He hit him once in the stomach, twice in the head and one time in the chest. Floyd was still alive. Stanley then began to shovel dirt over the lower part of Floyd's body. When he had partially buried the man, he handed the shovel to Thomas who then began to shovel dirt over Floyd's head. Through all of this, Floyd was not only struggling for breath but, as the dirt began to cover his head, he attempted to say something. Twice, according to Thomas, the insurance man had pleaded for his life. When Floyd, still breathing, was completely covered in his shallow grave, the two men left, Thomas returning to his home. At around 6 p.m as Thomas was finishing supper, Stanley came over to his house and said that they had "better go move that car." They drove the car down an old logging road where they eventually bogged down. The car was ultimately discovered by law enforcement officials.  At the time of Floyd's last known collection he would have collected approximately $234. Beginning the next day, four anonymous telephone calls were made to police telling them where they could find the car and giving misleading information about the victim. Through a telephone tap, one of these calls was traced to Thomas' home. When police arrived, he was the only one at home. He subsequently admitted making the call. An autopsy, performed by James Dawson, Assistant Director of the Georgia Crime Laboratory, disclosed a gunshot wound through the victim's upper lip; numerous lacerations to the scalp, head, and body, apparently inflicted by the leading edge of a shovel; a depressed skull fracture pushed into the brain consistent with a blow from a hammer; brain hemorrhage; a broken sternum; and "a rather striking accumulation of both blood and dirt which was found in the bronchi of both lungs, scattered up and down the trachea and in the larynx and also in the upper-most part of the stomach ..." Based upon the autopsy, death was caused by swallowing a mixture of blood and dirt, vomiting it up, then inhaling the regurgitated mixture into the lungs. In sum, Clifford Floyd either strangled or suffocated on his own blood within about thirty minutes as he lay buried in the shallow grave. Thomas was arrested two days after the murder and confessed in intricate detail to this crime. His confession was tape-recorded seven days after the murder and was introduced at the trial. He took the stand and testified that he had no memory of the incident after ingesting two pills given or sold to him by "some dude" in Macon. He also claimed no memory of the telephone calls or of the confession given seven days later.
Alpha Otis O'Daniel Stephens	Dec 12, 1984
Alpha Otis O'Daniel Stephens was convicted of murder in the Superior Court of Bleckley County on January 20-21, 1975, and sentenced to death. Stephens escaped from the Houston County, Georgia, jail and sometime thereafter on August 21, 1974, went to the home of Charles Asbell in Twiggs County allegedly accompanied by another man. Charles Asbell was not at home at the time and Stephens broke into the house wherein he located a .357 magnum pistol, which he loaded, and a number of other weapons, which he placed in a 1972 Dodge. While the burglary was proceeding, Roy Asbell, Charles Asbell's father, drove up in his Ford Ranchero. Stephens' later statement to officers was that Asbell said, "What are you ******* doing in my house?", and seeing rifles in Stephens' automobile, pulled his gun. Stephens ran to Asbell's car, jerked Asbell out of the car, and hit him in the face several times. Asbell begged not to be hit any more. Stephens is 6 feet, 2 inches tall, while Asbell was 5 feet, 6 inches, and at that time Asbell was crippled as the result of a tractor accident. Asbell usually carried several hundred dollars on his person, and when he offered Stephens money in exchange for his life, Stephens took the offered money and kicked Asbell again. Stephens hit Asbell with the pistol, knocking him back into the Ranchero and told his alleged partner to kill him if he moved. They drove approximately three miles to a pasture, where they stopped and Asbell got out of the car and tried to escape. He hobbled to an abandoned building being used as a barn, but Stephens took the .357 magnum and ran after him. He took more money from Mr. Asbell and then placed the pistol in his ear and fired twice. Both bullets passed through Asbell's skull and exited at his right temple, causing his death. An autopsy showed that he sustained a broken jaw and several skull fractures. A trail of evidence connected Stephens to the crime. In pre-trial statements to police, he confessed this crime fully, as well as a string of other serious crimes which he committed after his escape and before the Asbell murder. He presented no defense at trial. During the hearing on sentence, however, he testified that his partner fired the fatal shots.
Roosevelt Green	Jan 9, 1985
At approximately 3 p.m. on December 12, 1976, 18-year-old Teresa Carol Allen arrived at her place of part-time employment, the Majik Market in Cochran, Georgia. Shortly before 7 p.m. the store was found to be empty. The cash register and the safe were open and empty and Miss Allen's automobile, a late model Pontiac Grand Prix, was missing. The Majik Market area supervisor determined that $466 was missing from the store. On December 14, 1976, Miss Allen's body was discovered lying in a wooded grassy area just off a dirt  road near Highway 41 in Monroe County, Georgia. Footprints, two 30.06 cartridge hulls, a 30.06 metal jacket of a bullet, parts of Miss Allen's flesh, teeth and bone, tire tracks and a nylon stocking were found near the body. The cause of her death was determined to be loss of blood from bullet wounds. Examination of the body disclosed bruising on the inside of one thigh, a laceration of the vagina, and blood and mucous like matter in the vaginal canal. A pathologist testified that the wounds in the abdomen, arms and face were caused by a high-powered missile, and that the location and nature of the wounds were consistent with the theory that Miss Allen had her arms crossed across her stomach and was shot with a high-powered bullet which passed through both arms and the abdomen. Miss Allen was also shot by a high-powered bullet entering the left side of the neck, penetrating the lower face and exiting the right side of the head. In the early evening of the day of the robbery, Carzell Moore and Roosevelt Green were let off at Moore's house. Moore's house was four blocks from the location of the Majik Market. Green was wearing high-heeled shoes. In early January, 1977, Thomas Pasby accompanied Moore to check out an automobile that Moore intended to purchase. At that time, the Moore asked Pasby how Pasby felt about killing when Pasby was in Viet Nam. During their discussion, Moore told Pasby, "Well, I killed somebody, too," and then related the following: Moore said that he and Green went to the Majik Market in Cochran. Moore told Green to go in and take Miss Allen to the meat counter in order to attract her attention so that Moore could come in the front of the store with a rifle. This was done, and Green and Moore robbed the Majik Market. When they left the store, they took Miss Allen with them forcibly. They left in her car with Moore driving. Shortly after leaving the store Green turned to Miss Allen and said, "Bitch, take off your clothes." Miss Allen told Green that she was a virgin and pleaded with him not to rape her. Green raped her anyway. Green then changed places with Moore, and Green drove. Carzell Moore then raped Miss Allen. After driving further, Moore told Green to stop the car. Moore then told Miss Allen to get out. Miss Allen and Moore then got out of the car. Moore told Green to drive to a gas station to get gas for the car. After Green left, Miss Allen begged Moore not to kill her. Miss Allen crossed her arms over her stomach to protect herself. Moore shot her in the abdomen with the rifle. He then shot her in the face. Moore stated that he shot Miss Allen in the face in an attempt to disfigure her so as to make it difficult to identify her. When Green returned, the two of them picked up Miss Allen and threw her into the bushes. Moore told Pasby that one of her hands was so mangled by the rifle blast that he thought it was going to fall off. One of Miss Allen's hands was almost severed from her body. The attendant at a nearby gas station recalled selling gas for an automobile like that of the victim with a Georgia county tag that showed only the letters RENS from Laurens. The tag on the victim's car was in a similar condition. Green later arrived in South Carolina in possession of the car with a large amount of change and a roll of bills, asked a friend to burn the car for him (which request the friend refused), and traded the 30.06 rifle for a .25 caliber automatic. A Cochran florist testified the rifle was stolen from him about the time and in the vicinity Moore was seen with it. When Moore was informed while in jail that Green had been arrested with the Allen car in South Carolina he stated, "Damn, I told Green to get rid of that car and that rifle." Later, Moore stated to Pasby again, "You know, Green was supposed to have gotten rid of that rifle and the car." A plaster cast of a footprint found near Miss Allen's body was of similar size and impression as a flat Hushpuppy shoe taken from Moore's room. Tire tracks found near her body were similar in size and tread design to the tires found on Miss Allen's car. There was other forensic evidence that circumstantially connected Moore to the crimes. Moore testified in his own behalf that he met Green in an Alabama prison in 1975. On December 11, 1976, he saw Green in Cochran looking for him. Green, out on escape, was using the name Jerome Miller. Moore loaned Green some of his clothes and shoes. They went to various places on December 11, and on the day of the robbery, they went to Rosa Crawford's house to watch the  football game. Rosa's parents drove Moore and Green to Moore's house, where Green borrowed the Hushpuppy shoes from Moore. Green left and Moore began drinking, watched Sonny and Cher, and then became nauseated and passed out. He awoke late that night, and went outside. The cafe was closed so he just sat under a tree and smoked. A friend came along and they smoked together. Then he went home and went to sleep. He denied making the statement to Pasby about robbing the Majik Market, raping Teresa Allen, and killing her. He denied getting a 30.06 rifle. He denied Johnson's testimony concerning Moore's asking about a place to rob. He denied Johnson's testimony concerning his statements about the rifle. He denied that he made the statement to Pasby while in jail. Moore explained the forensic evidence by stating that he had skinned himself while having intercourse with his girl friend. He also testified that Green exchanged his high platform shoes for appellant's Hushpuppys prior to the evening of the robbery. In rebuttal, the state presented testimony that when Green visited in South Carolina the morning following the robbery he was wearing high-heeled shoes and not Hushpuppys.
Van Roosevelt Solomon	Feb 20, 1985
The victim, Roger Dennis Tackett, was the manager of a Tenneco self-service gasoline station. Two employees, Linda Rosenfield and Carol Menfee, were working the evening shift and realized that they did not have the keys to lock the station when it closed at midnight. One employee talked to Roger by phone and he then came into the station at 11:20 p.m. in order to lock the store after closing. After the station closed, the two employees left and Roger locked the station but remained to catch up on some paper work in order that he could be with his family the next day, which was Father's Day. At approximately 1:00 a.m., Linda Rosenfield drove by the Tenneco station and noticed Roger's car still parked in front of the store. Early in the evening on the 16th of June, Jill Cindy Rhoda picked up her dinner date at an apartment complex located near the Tenneco station. She drove her date back to his apartment at approximately 12:30 a.m. They argued and her date took her car keys and went to his apartment. Ms. Rhoda contacted the police in order to get her keys back. Officer Kendle of the Cobb County Police Department accompanied her to the apartment complex, but she could not find her boyfriend's apartment. She did, however, remember his phone number. At approximately 1:50 a.m., the officer drove her to the Tenneco station in order to call and find out where the apartment was. When they arrived at the station, Ms. Rhoda went to use the pay phone. Officer Kendle noticed an unattended green Dodge automobile parked in front of the station with its door open and a loaf of bread in the front seat. As he went to investigate, he noticed a black male, later identified as Wilbur May, open the back storeroom door inside the station, quickly look out and then close the door. He found the front door of the station to be unlocked, drew his weapon, and proceeded inside. As he walked through the store, he heard three closely spaced shots, a pause, and then another shot. The officer ordered the person in the storeroom to come out but did not get a response. He opened the door and standing near a walk-in cooler were two black males, Wilbur May and Van Roosevelt Solomon. He placed both persons under arrest and asked what they were doing there. The defendant said that "they were burglarizing." Officer Kendle then had the police radio operator call the emergency number listed on the door of the Tenneco station. He learned that Roger was supposed to be in the store at the time. The officer then broke into the back of the store using a crowbar. When he entered, he found Roger's body. He had been beaten and shot five times. There was a time interval of approximately twenty to thirty-five minutes between the arrest and the discovery of the body. Near the body the officers found two guns, one of which still had the hammer cocked. One of the guns, a Colt .38 short revolver, had four spent rounds in the chambers. The other, a Smith & Wesson .38, had one spent round. Also, discovered near the scene, well hidden in underbrush, was a van that Solomon and his co-defendant were driving. It contained a large number of tools. Solomon later gave a statement in which he said that he and Wilbur May had been driving around, and he wanted to show Mr. May the Atlanta area. He said that he did not know how the van got to the Tenneco station, because he was tied up in the back of the van by Mr. May. He stated that Mr. May untied him and made him go into the Tenneco station and put him into the cooler. He did not hear any sounds nor did he remember having gloves on. Both the appellant and his co-defendant were subjected to neutron activation tests, and both were determined to have recently fired weapons.
John Young	Mar 20, 1985
On the night of December 7, 1974, six elderly persons were attacked, severely beaten, kicked, and stomped in their homes in the City of Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. All lived in the same neighborhood. Three of those people pieced together a description of their assailant. The other three, Coleman Brice, Gladys Brice, and Katie Davis, died as a result of attacks upon them. John Young was connected to the crimes by watches and jewelry taken during the commission of the crimes, a fingerprint, and statements to his friends that he did it. When asked if he was the one who had jumped on those people, he replied: "Yeah, man and I'm going to get me some more." When asked if they were white or black, he responded: "White." When asked: "Why, John?" he replied: "I don't know. The only thing that I am sorry is that they caught me before I got through." Young filed a special plea of insanity before trial, and on June 30, 1975, a jury returned a verdict against the special plea of insanity. The court granted a new trial on such issue, and on October 21, 1975, a second jury returned a verdict against the plea.
Jerome Bowden	Jun 25, 1986
Mrs. Kathryn Stryker and her mother had not answered the door or telephone for several days. Their neighbors became alarmed and police were summoned. When Deputy Sheriff Samuel Profitt first entered the house on October 14, 1976 he noticed the ransacked rooms and then heard labored breathing. Profitt found Mrs. Wessie Jenkins, Mrs. Stryker's mother, lying on a bed in a pool of dried blood, still alive. Sheriff Profitt then discovered the body of Kathryn Stryker in the kitchen. The victim's skull was beaten in, leaving her features unrecognizable; and a butcher knife was buried deep in her chest. An autopsy revealed that the base of the skull was fractured by the application of extreme force, such as is found in the victims of car accidents and plane crashes. There was also a large open wound behind the ear through which the doctor could see the brain. The knife wound had caused no bleeding, indicating that the victim was already dead when stabbed. Death had occurred three to four days earlier. A blow of great force by a nonsharp object had caused the injuries.  Mrs. Jenkins had suffered a stroke earlier in September, resulting in a partial paralysis that left her bedridden. After she was found on October 14, she was removed to a hospital where she became unconscious and died several weeks later. Mrs. Jenkins, when first admitted, had numerous injuries. The police received information from one James Graves implicating appellant in the crime, and obtained a warrant for appellant. On October 15, 1976, Bowden, who was informed that police were looking for him, turned himself in to an officer and was advised of his rights and taken into custody. He made a statement at police headquarters, which was admitted into evidence at trial following a Jackson-Denno hearing. The statement arose spontaneously from a conversation between Bowden and Detective Warren Myles as they sat in a police car while two other detectives were inside a house speaking to the girlfriend of James Graves, to whom they had been directed by Bowden. The other two detectives, Hillhouse and Hardaway, then returned to the car and drove appellant back to headquarters. When Bowden saw some jewelry that the police had found in a stove on the back porch of Graves' house, he exclaimed that it was what he had hidden in the stove. In his detailed statement, Bowden related that he and Graves, while raking Mrs. Stryker's yard one day, talked about burglarizing her home. Graves lived next door to her. Graves had been inside and had seen things he thought were valuable. The following Monday, armed with a pellet gun to knock anyone out who might interfere, Bowden and Graves entered the house about 8:30 a.m., using a screwdriver to open the door. They surprised Mrs. Stryker in the kitchen and Graves hit her twice with the pellet gun, causing her to fall. Graves then unplugged a television and took it over to his yard. Meanwhile, appellant gathered together several pieces of jewelry that he found around the house. The appellant then asked the elderly Mrs. Jenkins the location of a gun in the house. When she would not tell him, the appellant hit her "five or six times" in the face. The appellant further related how he and Graves searched the house, then left and went to Graves' house. They spent time "laughing and discussing" what they had done. When Graves suggested going to a shopping center and snatching purses, appellant advised him that they should "lay low" for awhile. After making this statement, appellant additionally stated that he hit Mrs. Stryker twice and then, to "put her out of her misery," stabbed her once with a butcher knife from a drawer. When they returned to Graves' house, they threw wigs they had worn into the trash can and hid the jewelry in the stove. Appellant said Graves later sold the television to a Sammie Robertson and received a partial payment of $ 10. Graves also sold some coins belonging to the victims. A wig was found on a couch in Graves' house. Jewelry found by police in the stove included a piece with Mrs. Stryker's name on it, and a pin which was identified as having belonged to Mrs. Jenkins. A pellet gun was found under Graves' house. Sammie Robertson testified that he received a television set from Graves and gave him $ 10. This television was seized by police and the model and serial numbers were compared with the numbers on an order form at a repair shop where Mrs. Stryker had ordered some knobs for her television. The numbers matched. The operator of a coin shop stated that he bought some old coins from Graves on October 11. A strand of hair on the pellet gun was compared with Mrs. Stryker's hair and found to be similar. There were no dissimilar characteristics. Appellant testified in his own behalf as follows: He turned himself in to the police and told them he did not participate in the crime. He was questioned by Myles about the crime while they were in the car alone and decided to confess because Myles told him he could keep appellant from getting a death sentence. Appellant knew about the crime because police read him a statement made by Graves while appellant was interrogated. Appellant denied killing Mrs. Stryker and said he confessed because he was afraid. He testified that he did smoke marijuana as he had said in his statement. The district attorney asked if he had smoked the marijuana on the Monday morning "after you went in and killed that woman and beat her mother" and appellant replied, "I guess it was." The defense sought to show he misunderstood the question. The state recalled witnesses to rebut appellant's testimony that his confession was induced by promises.
Joseph Mulligan	May 15, 1987
Joseph Mulligan became friends with Timothy A. Helms while Helms was stationed with the United States Marine Corps in Beaufort, South Carolina. On April 12, 1974, Mulligan talked Helms into driving him to Columbus, Georgia, by offering Helms a fee of $1000. During the drive, Mulligan told Helms that he was going to Columbus, to "ice somebody." In accordance with Mulligan's suggestion, the two spent the night of April 12-13 at a hotel in Columbus registered under false names. The next day, Mulligan and Helms visited with Patrick A. Doe, an army captain at Fort Benning and Mulligan's brother-in-law. In the afternoon, they joined Capt. Doe in washing his car. During this activity, Mulligan and Capt. Doe argued.  That evening, with Mulligan and Helms sitting in the back seat (Mulligan seated directly behind the driver's seat), Capt. Doe drove to the house of Marian Jones Miller, the captain's girlfriend, to pick her up for a party. When Capt. Doe left the car to get Ms. Miller, Mulligan announced to Helms that he would "do it in the next two blocks."  Following Captain Doe's return to the driver's seat and shortly after the car had begun to move again, Mulligan held a .38 special automatic in a .45 frame, which Mulligan had earlier borrowed from the captain, to the captain's head. Mulligan fired once. He then ordered Helms to grab the now-abandoned steering wheel, but Helms was unable to do so before the car had struck both a stop sign and a mail box. When Ms. Miller, who was seated in the front seat next to Captain Doe, cried out for help, Mulligan placed the gun across Helms' back and shot Ms. Miller as he told her to be silent. After Helms finally  brought the car to a stop, Mulligan and Helms towelled it off for fingerprints and then ran. As they fled the scene of the crime, Helms threw away his bloody shirt and the wallet which he had removed from the body of Capt. Doe. Mulligan threw Captain Doe's gun into some bushes and his own clothes over a bridge.  The autopsy performed on Capt. Doe showed that the bullet had entered the left eye, traveled through the brain, and exited the right temple. The autopsy of Ms. Miller revealed that she had been shot four times: in the left forearm, the left shoulder, the right upper arm, and the midportion of the back of the skull, with the exit wound of the last listed shot being the right eye. The cause of death for both victims was laceration and hemorrhage of the brain and cerebral trauma. Several .38 shell casings were found in the captain's car along with a bullet. The State Crime Laboratory test indicated that the shell casings and the bullet found in Capt. Doe's car had been fired by Capt. Doe's .38 pistol. Finally, a latent fingerprint which had been lifted from the left door window of Captain Doe's car was found to match a rolled print of Mulligan's left middle finger. The evidence also revealed that Captain Doe had filed a divorce action against Mulligan's sister and that Captain Doe had told Mulligan on the day of the murders, that his divorce from Mulligan's sister would be final soon.
Richard Tucker	May 22, 1987
The evidence revealed that Edna Sandefur was kidnapped from a hospital parking area on a Friday evening and was forced to drive to a secluded area in the rear of an abandoned warehouse. Richard Tucker robbed Edna, killed her by hitting her on the head with an iron pipe, and then stripped the body of all clothing. After burning her clothing, Tucker left the scene in Edna's car. The body was not discovered until the following Tuesday afternoon
William Boyd Tucker	May 29, 1987
The evidence introduced showed that after drinking heavily during the day and evening of August 20, 1977, and smoking several joints of marijuana, Tucker went to a Majik Market around 11 p.m. where he drank two more beers and played pinball. After waiting at the store some 45 minutes, Tucker sneaked behind its operator and sole occupant, Kathleen Perry, and stuck his finger in her back. She began putting money from the cash register into a paper bag. Tucker forced Kathleen into his red Volkswagen and drove to Pierce Chapel Road. There Tucker killed Kathleen Perry by stabbing her four times. Three people were driving on Pierce Chapel Road when they passed a red Volkswagen with its lights on, parked in the road. The three saw Tucker in the car and a woman's shoe in the road beside the car. Shortly after passing, they decided to return to investigate. The Volkswagen passed them as they returned to the place where it had been parked. At the parking spot, they found a vest with a "Majik Market" insignia and then discovered Kathleen Perry's body, face-down in a ditch about 10 feet from the road. The three left, called the police and then returned to Pierce Chapel Road to await the arrival of the police. Shortly after the police reached the scene of the crime, they saw Tucker returning in the same red Volkswagen. They identified both the car and driver to the police. Tucker was immediately taken into custody. Shortly thereafter, Tucker made an incriminating statement, in which he admitted the robbery by intimidation and the kidnapping. In his statement to police, Tucker stated that he could not remember what happened after Perry got out of the car but did recall a knife with long brown handles and lots of blood. At trial, Tucker again confessed to robbery by intimidation and kidnapping but testified that he could not remember a knife or the murder.
William Billy Mitchell	Sept 2, 1987
At 7:00 o'clock on Sunday morning, August 11, 1974, Mrs. James Carr and her 14-year-old son, Christopher Carr, opened IGA Store Number 13, a convenience grocery mart in Worth County, Georgia, for business. Fifteen minutes later, William "Billy" Mitchell entered the store. After meandering by the drink box, he returned to the checkout counter where Mrs. Carr and Christopher stood, pulled a pistol and pointed it at Mrs. Carr, who was less than three feet away, and demanded all the money. She handed him $ 150 in bills from the cash register. He also wanted any money she had personally, so she surrendered $ 15 that was in her purse. He got some money from her son Christopher. Mitchell then ordered them to, "Go to the back (of the store)." Christopher and his mother marched to the rear at the point of appellant's gun. They walked through the meat room to a door leading to the cooler. Mitchell opened the cooler door, carried Christopher Carr inside, stepped back out, said to Mrs. Carr, "I've never had a white bitch before," shoving her towards the adjoining bathroom. "Oh my God, no!" Mrs. Carr protested, whereupon Mitchell said, "Into the cooler!" and pushed her into the room with her son. At Mitchell's order both got on the floor, Chris sitting down, his mother squatting. Mitchell then proceeded to shoot Christopher Carr, the murder victim, in the left chest. He then shot Mrs. Carr in the back of the head and left the cooler room temporarily. Moments later he returned, shot Christopher again, this time in the back of his head. He shot Mrs. Carr three more times before returning to the main part of the store. Two young boys had entered the main part of the store and Mitchell pointed his gun at one of them and snapped it several times but it did not fire. He took money from one of the boys and marched them back to the cooler room at gunpoint where he again snapped the gun at one of the boys but again it did not fire. He closed the cooler door and left the store. Mrs. Carr survived her injuries and testified against Mitchell at his trial.

Inmate's Name	Execution Date
Timothy McCorquodale	Oct 21, 1987
On the evening of January 16, 1974, the 17 year old victim, Donna Marie Dixon, and her friend Pamela were in the area of Peachtree and 10th Street in the City of Atlanta known as 'The Strip.' While in a restaurant they were accosted by a man named Leroy who invited them to a bar for a beer. While in the bar the two girls engaged in a conversation with two black men. Leroy left the bar and the girls later went to another bar on 'The Strip.' Leroy met them at this bar, approached their table and accused Donna and Pamela of stealing $40 or $50 from him and giving the money to a black pimp. At this point they were joined by the defendant McCorquodale and his girlfriend, Bonnie Succaw (now Johnson). At the request of Leroy and McCorquodale the girls were taken to a bathroom and searched by Bonnie and a friend. They found no money. McCorquodale and Leroy then summoned a cab, and joined by Bonnie, they took Donna with them to Bonnie's apartment. They arrived at Bonnie's apartment shortly after midnight and found Bonnie's roommate, Linda, and Bonnie's three year old daughter asleep. McCorquodale had lived some eight months prior to his time in the apartment with Bonnie. Linda joined them in the living room of Bonnie's apartment and at this point there was some conversation between McCorquodale and Leroy about Donna being a 'n***** lover' and that she needed to be taught a lesson. McCorquodale, after telling Donna how pretty she was, raised his fist and hit her across the face. When she stood up, he grabbed her by her blouse, ripping it off. He then proceeded to remove her bra and tied her hands behind her back with a nylon stocking. McCorquodale then removed his belt, which was fastened with a rather large buckle, and repeatedly struck Donna across the back with the buckle end of the belt. He then took off all her clothing and then bound her mouth with tape and a washcloth. Leroy then kicked Donna and she fell to the floor. McCorquodale took his cigarette and burned Donna on her breasts, her thigh, and her navel. He then bit one of Donna's nipples and she began to bleed. He asked for a razor blade and then sliced the other nipple. He then called for a box of salt and poured it into the wounds he had made on her breasts. At this point Linda, who was eight months pregnant, became ill and went into the bedroom and closed the door. McCorquodale then lit a candle and proceeded to drip hot wax over Donna's body. He held the candle about 1/2 inch from Donna's vagina and dripped the hot wax into this part of her body. He then used a pair of surgical scissors to cut around her clitoris. While bleeding from her nose and vagina, Leroy forced Donna to perform oral sex on him while McCorquodale raped her. Then Leroy raped Donna while McCorquodale forced his penis into her mouth. McCorquodale then found a hard plastic bottle which was about 5 inches in height and placed an antiseptic solution within it, forcing this bottle into Donna's vagina and squirted the solution into her. Donna was then permitted to go to the bathroom to 'get cleaned up.' While she was in the bathroom, McCorquodale secured a piece of nylon rope and told Bonnie and her roommate that he was going 'to kill the girl.' He hid in a closet across the hall from the bathroom and when Donna came out of the bathroom he wrapped the nylon cord around her neck. Donna screamed, 'My God, you're killing me.' As McCorquodale tried to strangle her, the cord cut into his hands and Donna fell to the floor. He fell on top of her and began to strangle her with his bare hands. He removed his hands and Donna began to have convulsions. He again strangled her and then pulled her head up and forward to break her neck. He covered her lifeless body with a sheet and departed the apartment to search for a means of transporting her body from the scene. By this time, it was approximately 6:00 a.m. on the morning of January 17. McCorquodale soon returned to the apartment and asked Bonnie for her trunk and Leroy and McCorquodale tried to place Donna's body in the trunk. Finding that the body was too large for the trunk, McCorquodale proceeded to break Donna's arms and legs by holding them upright while he stomped on them with his foot. Donna's body was then placed in the trunk and the trunk was placed in the closet behind the curtains. McCorquodale and Leroy then went to sleep on the couch in the living room for the greater portion of the day, leaving the apartment sometime during the afternoon. Because a strong odor began to emanate from the body, and her efforts to mask the smell with deodorant spray had been unsuccessful, Linda called Bonnie to request that McCorquodale remove the trunk from the apartment. Shortly after 8:00 p.m. McCorquodale arrived at the apartment with a person named Larry. As they attempted to move the trunk from the closet, blood began spilling from the trunk on to the living room floor. McCorquodale placed a towel under the trunk to absorb the blood as they carried the trunk to Larry's car. When McCorquodale and Larry returned to the apartment they told Linda that the body had been dumped out of the trunk into a road and that the trunk was placed under some boxes in a 'Dempsey Dumpster.' Donna's body was found about half a mile off Highway No. 42 in Clayton County.
James Messer	July 28, 1988
On February 13, 1979, the date of the murder, James Messer left his home to attend a doctor's appointment. He waited at the doctor's office briefly, then departed before the time for his appointment arrived. Around mid-day he went to an electrical supply store. There he told the saleswoman that he worked for a construction company in Rome and needed a specialized light fixture. After inspecting the light fixtures on display in the store he appeared dissatisfied, and told her that he wanted to look at "more stuff . . . that will probably be in the back." The saleswoman invited him to examine the light fixtures in the supply room, located at the back of the store, but informed him that she could not assist him as she was alone in the store and needed to supervise the unloading of a delivery truck that had just arrived. When Messer persisted in his requests that the saleswoman assist him in the back of the store, she became nervous. Suspecting Messer's motives, the saleswoman telephoned her husband, who worked nearby, and asked him to come to her assistance. During this period of time Messer did not venture into the supply room. When Messer saw the saleswoman's husband enter the store, he left. The saleswoman testified that she observed Messer shake his head and mouth the word "damn" as he left. At trial the saleswoman testified that she had seen Messer in the store three months prior to this incident. At that time he had also attempted, unsuccessfully, to get her to go into the back room of the store to look for a specialized item. Around 2:30 that afternoon the saleswoman saw Messer drive slowly by the electrical supply store. She ran out into the street and took down his license plate number. The saleswoman testified that she watched Messer turn in the direction of College Street Elementary School which is located a few blocks from the electrical supply store. That night she and her husband telephoned the police to report this suspicious incident and to request that the police investigate Messer. The following night the police asked the couple to examine photographs at the police station to see if they could identify the man. Both selected a picture of Messer. The license plate number taken down by the saleswoman matched the license number of Messer's car. On the date of her death Rhonda Tanner was attending College Street Elementary School. Rhonda's teacher testified at trial that she had an "uneasy, nervous" nature which had complicated her adjustment to school routine. Rhonda apparently cried most of the day, had difficulty socializing with other children, and frequently voiced her fear that her mother would desert her and that she would be left alone at home after school. At 2:30 that afternoon Rhonda was preparing to board the school bus that would take her home when the principal called Rhonda's homeroom to say that her uncle, Messer, was there to take her home. Messer had informed the principal that Rhonda's father had been injured on a construction job and that Rhonda's mother, too upset to drive herself, had requested that Messer pick the child up at school. When Rhonda saw her uncle she ran up to him and, according to an observer, began "prancing around him." The principal testified that Rhonda took Messer's hand and "petted" it. Rhonda excitedly told her teacher that she would not have to ride the bus as her uncle would take her home. Subsequently Rhonda and Messer left the school together. The principal later identified a police photograph of Messer as the man who had picked up Rhonda. Between 2:45 and 3:00 that afternoon Rhonda's mother arrived at the school, alarmed that Rhonda had not come home on the school bus. The mother denied authorizing Rhonda's uncle, or anyone else, to pick her up. Rhonda's mother testified that the principal's description of the man "fit [Messer] to a 'T.'" Rhonda's mother telephoned Messer's wife to see if the child was at their home as Messer and his wife frequently baby-sat for Rhonda. Messer's wife told her that she had not seen Rhonda that day and that Messer had gone to the doctor. At trial a witness testified that at about 3:30 that afternoon she observed Messer walking away from the woods where Rhonda's body was later found. Arriving home Messer spoke at length to his family about his long and futile wait at the doctor's office. When informed of Rhonda's abduction, Messer told Rhonda's family that he had seen a child resembling Rhonda in a "dark colored car . . . headed north," but that he otherwise knew nothing of the circumstances surrounding her absence. The following day Rhonda's family conducted an extensive search for the child. A sister-in-law of Messer, driving by the wooded area where Messer had taken Rhonda, spotted Rhonda's coat. A police search ensued and subsequently Rhonda's book and crayons were found. Further search uncovered the body of Rhonda, clad only in a knit shirt. Rhonda had been stabbed numerous times in the chest and abdomen. Her face had been so severely beaten that it was not readily recognizable. Her abdomen had been slashed five times by a knife, and bruises and lacerations covered her face, neck and upper chest. Spermatozoa were found in Rhonda's vaginal area, but there was no evidence to indicate that she had been raped. Autopsy results showed that she had bled to death. That night Messer and his wife voluntarily accompanied GBI agents to the police station for questioning. Although not under arrest at that time, Messer was given Miranda warnings and subsequently signed a waiver form. After being confronted with the fact that he had been identified as the person who removed Rhonda from school, Messer confessed to the murder of his niece. A GBI agent testified that Messer told him "after not getting anywhere . . . with the female employee" at the electrical supply store, "the first thing that came to his mind was [Rhonda] and that's why he went to the school to get her." Messer stated that he had driven Rhonda to a wooded area and parked the car. He told her that he was having trouble with the battery cables in his car and needed to find a rock to fix them. She accompanied him into the woods to search for a rock. Telling her that he "wanted to play a game with her" Messer pushed Rhonda down to the ground, removed her slacks and began touching her "between the legs." Messer repeatedly stated to the GBI agents that he had originally intended to "just molest" Rhonda and to "make her promise not to tell her father," but that Rhonda refused to cooperate with him and began to scream. He stated that he hit her repeatedly with his fist to quiet her. He masturbated on the left side of Rhonda's abdomen and finally stabbed her with his pocketknife to silence her. Messer then kicked Rhonda in the face until she lay motionless. Messer told the agents that he washed his pocketknife in a nearby stream, then returned to his parked car where he removed Rhonda's coat, book and crayons and threw them into the woods. After Messer confessed to the crime, he was placed under arrest and reminded of his Miranda warnings. The police accompanied Messer to a nearby hospital where blood samples and hair specimen were taken. Expert testimony presented at trial established that the hair found on the shirt and pants Messer had been wearing on the day of the murder belonged to Rhonda. The shoes Messer had been wearing at that time corresponded to the plaster cast of a partial shoe track found at the scene of the crime. Traces of blood were found on Messer's pocketknife, but were of an amount too small to type.
Henry Willis	May 18, 1989
Henry Willis and two other men, committed an armed robbery of a convenience food store in Adel, Georgia; the police were informed of the robbery and a radio alert to be on the lookout for the perpetrators was broadcast; the victim, Ed Giddens, the Chief of Police of Ray City, Georgia, located fifteen miles east of Adel, stopped the auto in which the three men were traveling; before approaching the auto he reported by radio its description and tag number; when he tried to arrest the men he was seized, disarmed and abducted; thereafter he was taken to a remote area near Banks Lake in the adjoining Lanier County; Ed attempted to flee and ran into some shallow waters whereupon he was shot by one of Willis's companions; thereafter Willis waded into the water and delivered a coup de grace by shooting Ed in the head several times. Willis testified at the trial. He admitted the robbery, the abduction of Ed Giddens, and that he waded into the water and shot Ed. He stated he thought Ed was dead when he shot him.
Warren McCleskey	Sep 25, 1991
On the morning of May 13, 1978, Warren McCleskey, using his car, picked up Ben Wright, Bernard Dupree and David Burney. All four had planned to rob a jewelry store in Marietta that day. After Ben Wright went into the store to check it out, they decided not to rob it. All four then rode around Marietta looking for another place to rob but couldn't find anything suitable. They drove to Atlanta and decided on the Dixie Furniture Store as a target.  Each of the four was armed. McCleskey had a .38 caliber Rossi nickel-plated revolver, Ben Wright carried a sawed-off shotgun, and the two others had blue steel pistols. McCleskey parked his car up the street from the furniture store, entered the store, and "cased" it. After McCleskey returned to the car, the robbery was planned. Executing the plan, McCleskey entered the front of the store and the other three came through the rear by the loading dock. McCleskey secured the front of the store. The others rounded up the employees in the rear and began to tie them up with tape. All the employees were forced to lie on the floor. The manager was forced at gunpoint to turn over the store receipts, his watch and six dollars. George Malcom, an employee, had a pistol taken from him at gunpoint. Before all the employees were tied up, Officer Frank Schlatt, answering a silent alarm, pulled his patrol car up in front of the building. He entered the front door and proceeded approximately fifteen feet down the center aisle where he was shot twice, once in the face and once in the chest. The chest shot glanced off a pocket lighter and lodged in a sofa. That bullet was recovered. The head wound was fatal. The robbers fled. Sometime later, McCleskey was arrested in Cobb County in connection with another armed robbery. He confessed to the Dixie Furniture Store robbery, but denied the shooting. Ballistics showed that Officer Schlatt had been shot by a .38 caliber Rossi revolver. The weapon was never recovered but it was shown that McCleskey had stolen such a revolver in the robbery of a Red Dot grocery store two months earlier. McCleskey admitted the shooting to a co-defendant and also to a jail inmate in the cell next to his, both of whom testified for the state.
Thomas Dean Stevens	Jun 29, 1993
The state's evidence, including Thomas Stevens's confession, showed that on the night of September 4, 1977, Stevens was drinking beer in the enlisted men's club with Christopher A. Burger, a friend and fellow serviceman at Fort Stewart. The two ran out of money and decided to rob a cab driver. They called a Shuman Company cab, but decided not to use it upon finding that the driver was accompanied by a friend. They then received a call from James Botsford, their squad leader, who asked to be picked up at the Savannah airport. Stevens and Burger took a knife sharpener and a 14-inch butcher knife from the dining facility, and called a D & M cab. When the driver, Roger E. Honeycutt, arrived alone, Stevens and Burger entered the cab and later, at an agreed signal, they drew the two weapons forcing the driver to the curb. He was able to give them less than $20. Stevens then ordered him to remove all of his clothes, which Stevens then rifled, throwing them out of the cab window as Burger drove the three. Honeycutt, now naked, was pleading for his life, saying he would do anything. Stevens forced him to commit an act of oral sodomy, then an act of anal sodomy, and then bound him with the microphone cord from the cab's CB radio and placed him in the trunk of the cab. Stevens and Burger then drove to the airport to pick up Botsford, to whom they admitted that the cab was stolen and the driver had been robbed, sodomized and placed in the trunk. Stevens showed Botsford the weapons. From time to time Stevens and Burger would shout to the victim, Roger Honeycutt, "Are you still back there?" and Botsford heard the reply from the trunk, "Yes, sir." Botsford's testimony at trial was that Stevens said he thought they should kill Honeycutt, but Burger disagreed, and Botsford tried to talk him out of it and thought he had succeeded. When they arrived back at Fort Stewart to deposit Botsford, Stevens and Burger seemed to him to have agreed to let the driver go and leave the cab beside the road. After dropping Botsford off, Stevens and Burger drove to Jack's Mini Mart in Jesup for milk and sandwiches. Later, when a police car appeared to be following them, they decided they had to get out of the car, so Burger drove to a pond in a wooded area. They wiped their fingerprints off the car, and Stevens removed the CB radio. This radio was later recovered by police from the automobile of Burger's mother-in-law. Burger drove the automobile into the pond, leaping free before it went in. The two looked back and saw the automobile sinking. Roger Honeycutt, bound in the trunk, drowned. Burger and Stevens returned to Fort Stewart, paying another taxi an $ 11 fare for the return trip. The next day the two inquired of Botsford whether he had said anything to authorities, and he said not. They told him they had freed the driver. A few days later, amid reports of the missing driver, Botsford went to authorities and gave a statement of what he knew. Burger confessed. Stevens, who was aware of Burger's confession, confessed. In his handwritten confession he stated that he had advised against killing the driver and had not known Burger was planning to drive the automobile into the pond. The car was pulled from the pond, and the victim was found in the trunk. Numerous pieces of Honeycutt's clothes were recovered from the route Stevens and Burger had driven. The two weapons were found in the cab. Honeycutt's identification was found above the sun visor of the cab, and the cab was identified by its owner as the one driven by Honeycutt.
Christopher Burger	Dec 7, 1993
The state's evidence, including Thomas Stevens's confession, showed that on the night of September 4, 1977, Stevens was drinking beer in the enlisted men's club with Christopher A. Burger, a friend and fellow serviceman at Fort Stewart. The two ran out of money and decided to rob a cab driver. They called a Shuman Company cab, but decided not to use it upon finding that the driver was accompanied by a friend. They then received a call from James Botsford, their squad leader, who asked to be picked up at the Savannah airport. Stevens and Burger took a knife sharpener and a 14-inch butcher knife from the dining facility, and called a D & M cab. When the driver, Roger E. Honeycutt, arrived alone, Stevens and Burger entered the cab and later, at an agreed signal, they drew the two weapons forcing the driver to the curb. He was able to give them less than $20. Stevens then ordered him to remove all of his clothes, which Stevens then rifled, throwing them out of the cab window as Burger drove the three. Honeycutt, now naked, was pleading for his life, saying he would do anything. Stevens forced him to commit an act of oral sodomy, then an act of anal sodomy, and then bound him with the microphone cord from the cab's CB radio and placed him in the trunk of the cab. Stevens and Burger then drove to the airport to pick up Botsford, to whom they admitted that the cab was stolen and the driver had been robbed, sodomized and placed in the trunk. Stevens showed Botsford the weapons. From time to time Stevens and Burger would shout to the victim, Roger Honeycutt, "Are you still back there?" and Botsford heard the reply from the trunk, "Yes, sir." Botsford's testimony at trial was that Stevens said he thought they should kill Honeycutt, but Burger disagreed, and Botsford tried to talk him out of it and thought he had succeeded. When they arrived back at Fort Stewart to deposit Botsford, Stevens and Burger seemed to him to have agreed to let the driver go and leave the cab beside the road. After dropping Botsford off, Stevens and Burger drove to Jack's Mini Mart in Jesup for milk and sandwiches. Later, when a police car appeared to be following them, they decided they had to get out of the car, so Burger drove to a pond in a wooded area. They wiped their fingerprints off the car, and Stevens removed the CB radio. This radio was later recovered by police from the automobile of Burger's mother-in-law. Burger drove the automobile into the pond, leaping free before it went in. The two looked back and saw the automobile sinking. Roger Honeycutt, bound in the trunk, drowned. Burger and Stevens returned to Fort Stewart, paying another taxi an $ 11 fare for the return trip. The next day the two inquired of Botsford whether he had said anything to authorities, and he said not. They told him they had freed the driver. A few days later, amid reports of the missing driver, Botsford went to authorities and gave a statement of what he knew. Burger confessed. Stevens, who was aware of Burger's confession, confessed. In his handwritten confession he stated that he had advised against killing the driver and had not known Burger was planning to drive the automobile into the pond. The car was pulled from the pond, and the victim was found in the trunk. Numerous pieces of Honeycutt's clothes were recovered from the route Stevens and Burger had driven. The two weapons were found in the cab. Honeycutt's identification was found above the sun visor of the cab, and the cab was identified by its owner as the one driven by Honeycutt.
William H. Hance	Mar 31, 1994
On or about February 28, 1978, William Henry Hance, a soldier stationed at Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia, went to the Sand Hill Bar located near the base for a drink. While in the bar, he was solicited by the victim, a prostitute named Gail Faison, also known as Gail Jackson or Gail Bogen. Hance agreed to a price of $ 20.00 and they got into his car. He drove 200 yards up the road to an area she selected and stopped. She began to undress when Hance for no other reason than Gail was a prostitute, became enraged. He grabbed Gail and as she tried to get away, he hit her with a karate chop across her head. She fell unconscious. Hance then pulled her out of the car, dislocating her elbow in the process. He returned to his car for a moment, but thinking she was still alive, he got a jack handle from his car, and finding his victim to be still breathing, repeatedly struck the helpless victim in the face. The beating was so severe that Gail's entire face was destroyed and bone fragments were scattered about the area. Some of her brain tissue was literally beaten from the skull. The force of the attack was so great it produced a depression in the ground behind Gail's head. Hance then buried Gail's body in a shallow grave he dug with an entrenching tool. During this period of time, the City of Columbus was being terrorized by a series of unsolved strangulation murders. Beginning on March 3, 1978, Hance, in order to avert suspicion from himself, sent a total of five letters to the Chief of Police of Columbus, Georgia, and one letter to the local newspaper. These letters were written on Army stationery and demanded that either the Columbus strangler be caught by a certain date or a female named Gail Jackson would be executed. The letters were signed "Forces of Evil," a fictitious group Hance had created. The second of these letters received by the Chief of Police demanded either the apprehension of the Columbus strangler or a $ 10,000 ransom in return for the victim's safety. In addition, Hance found an Army Cap with a different unit insignia than his unit and placed this near the crime scene, also in order to avert suspicion. On March 15, 1978, Hance went to Vice Mitchell's Bar. While there, Irene Thirkield asked him to give her a ride to the Sand Hill bar. While in Hance's car she solicited him. After she had removed her clothes, Hance again became enraged and attacked her in the same manner as he had attacked the first victim. He beat Irene Thirkield so severely that her entire head was missing from her body. Hance hid her body on the military reservation behind a pile of logs. On March 30, 1978, Hance called the military police and told them exactly where to find Gail Faison's body. The body was recovered that afternoon. Hance thereafter added the name "Irene" to the letters he was sending to the police chief and stated that she, like his first victim, would die unless the terms were met. In the fourth letter received by the Columbus police, Hance detailed the exact manner of the killing of Gail Faison, including the dislocated elbow. Again, in a similar manner to the calls made regarding his first victim, Hance called the military police. The military police, acting upon information that Hance was the last person seen with Irene Thirkield, questioned Hance and obtained a confession as to both murders. Subsequently, Hance also gave a confession to Columbus authorities. He told authorities where he had disposed of the murder weapons and clothes of the victims. These were subsequently recovered. Handwriting samples were obtained from Hance and were matched with handwriting on the letters received by the chief of police. A fingerprint from one of the letters was determined to be that of Hance.
Nicholas Lee Ingram	April 7, 1995
At approximately 6:30 p.m. on June 3, 1983, a young white man armed with a pearl-handled pistol entered the home of J.C. and Mary Sawyer and demanded the use of their phone. This young man, whom Mrs. Sawyer later identified as the defendant, Nicholas Ingram, stated that he wanted money and the keys to their car. He fired a shot through the floor of the living room to prove that the gun was not a toy and threatened to blow their heads off if they did not comply with his demands. In response, Mrs. Sawyer gave Ingram $ 60 and J.C. gave him the keys to his blue-and-white Chevrolet pickup truck. Ingram then marched them outside and into the woods which surrounded their home. Using rope and some wire, Ingram tied his victims' hands behind them and then tied them to a tree. He told Mrs. Sawyer to remember a tattoo that she had noticed on his arm because it was going to get her killed. As the Sawyers begged for their lives, the defendant continued his threats, saying that he liked to torture people as he took off his shirt, tore it in two, and stuffed the two halves into their mouths. Then he shot them both in the head. J.C. Sawyer was killed; however, Mrs. Sawyer was only wounded. She fell to the ground and pretended she was dead until she heard the truck drive off. Realizing that her husband was dead, Mrs. Sawyer managed to untie herself and went to a neighbor's house to call the police. Earlier that day, Ingram had gone to a pawn shop with his friend Kevin Plummer, in the latter's car, to sell some automobile wheels and a ring. Then they went to see a friend of Ingram's who worked at a convenience store. Afterwards, Ingram and Plummer drove to Ingram's father's house, where Ingram retrieved a pearl-handled .38 revolver. He told Plummer that he knew where he could get a vehicle that he was going to use to go to California. He directed Plummer to a driveway that led through the woods and up Blackjack Mountain in Cobb County. They drove a short distance up the driveway and stopped. Ingram got out and told Plummer to wait for him. He told Plummer that he might have to pistol-whip them but he was not sure he could shoot them. He walked up the driveway and out of sight. Plummer decided not to wait and drove home. At around 8 p.m., Ingram showed up at the convenience store he had visited earlier that day. He remained only a few moments, then left, driving a blue-and-white pickup truck. The pickup truck was recovered on Interstate 20 in Mississippi three days later. Inside was a motel receipt from Lincoln, Alabama, dated June 3, 1983. The motel's portion of the receipt was later obtained and the handwriting on it was identified as Ingram's. Ingram stole another car in California and was eventually arrested in Nebraska for DUI. While being questioned about the stolen automobile, Ingram told the police that he could save them some time; that if they would check with Cobb County, Georgia, they would find that he was wanted for two murders. Questioning stopped then, and was resumed by Georgia authorities after they had been contacted and had returned Ingram to Georgia. Ingram gave them a long statement in which he admitted remembering some of the events of the afternoon of June 3, including being dropped off at the Sawyer driveway, returning to find Plummer gone, getting into a truck and backing out of the driveway. He stated that he woke up the next morning in a shopping center parking lot in Alabama in the truck. He contended that he had blacked out from drinking and could not remember shooting or robbing anyone.
Darrell Gene Devier	May 17, 1995
Twelve-year-old Mary Frances Stoner lived with her parents in rural Bartow County and attended Adairsville High School. Darrell Gene Devier was employed as a tree-trimmer by a company which in November 1979 sent a crew to prune trees near the Stoner residence, along the Georgia Power right-of-way. The job took several days, during which time Devier on one occasion related to a fellow crew-member that he would like to have sex with the Stoner girl and on another occasion he was heard to observe, "It's time for the good-looking girl to get home from school." The crew completed its work at noon on Friday, November 30, 1979, and received the remainder of the day off. Shortly before 4:00 p.m. that day, two witnesses observed a dark-blue or black Ford Pinto with mag wheels parked at the exit of an abandoned truck stop approximately 150 feet north of the Stoner driveway. The driver was a white male with long hair and a beard. This car and its driver were also observed by several students on the school bus which dropped Mary Stoner off near her driveway between 3:55 and 4:00 p.m. A student who had been sitting with Mary Stoner exited at the next stop, about 50 yards further south. Upon exiting, she observed a dark-colored Pinto with mag wheels backing out of the Stoner driveway. It had two people in it. The body of Mary Frances Stoner was found the next day in a wooded area in Floyd County, near the Floyd-Bartow county line. Her head was crushed. Several blood-stained rocks lay nearby, the largest of which weighed 49 pounds. Doctor Harvey Howell conducted the autopsy. In addition to the head injuries, Dr. Howell observed fresh tears and bruises in the vaginal area and discovered, inside her vagina, a large amount of blood-tinged fluid material. This material was later examined by a serologist from the state crime lab who testified that it contained spermatozoa. Dr. Howell testified that, in his opinion, Mary Stoner had been raped and that death had occurred soon afterwards as a result of severe brain injury and asphyxiation by choking. Devier, who had long hair and a beard and owned a black Pinto with mag wheels, was arrested 5 days later. Devier gave a statement which was transcribed and admitted in evidence at trial. He told the interrogating officers that he had been driving his black Pinto the afternoon of November 30, looking for a place to rent, when he saw the school bus just as Mary Frances Stoner got off. The school bus left and he pulled into the driveway and asked her for some directions. She came to the car and sat in the passenger seat to look at a piece of paper he had "pulled out" of his "dash." Then he grabbed her and drove off, taking her to an isolated, wooded area. He stopped the car and told her to get into the back seat. She asked him if he was going to rape her and he told her "yes." After they had "sexual intercourse," he made her get out of the car. Devier told the officers that he intended to tie her to a tree and then leave. However, she yelled at him and hit him in his chest and he pushed her. She fell and hit her head "on a rock or something" and when he saw that, he "just got down and started choking her." Then he left.
Larry Grant Lonchar	Nov 14, 1996
Larry Grant Lonchar was convicted by a jury in DeKalb County of three counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to death on each of the murder counts.  Count 1. Charles Wayne Smith and his son, Steven Smith, ran a book-making operation out of a condominium in DeKalb County. Lonchar became several thousand dollars in debt to the operation, and on October 13, 1986, visited the condominium, accompanied by Mitchell Wells. At the time they visited, four people were in the condominium. The three murder victims, Wayne Smith, Steven Smith, and Wayne's companion, Margaret Sweat, were in the living room. Richard Smith (another of Wayne Smith's sons), the aggravated assault victim, was in a bedroom. At trial Richard Smith testified that he heard a knock on the door and then saw Lonchar enter the living room. He added that Lonchar displayed a badge and identified himself as special agent Larry Lonchar. Wayne Smith and Steven Smith were then handcuffed. Richard Smith heard four or five shots from the living room, and then Wells came to his bedroom, shot him several times and left. He pretended he was dead while the condominium was ransacked. Shortly thereafter, afraid he would bleed to death, he picked up the extension telephone in the bedroom and heard Sweat talking to the police. Then she yelled, "they're back." Richard Smith crawled to the living room and saw a man wearing a trench coat leave the condominium. Sweat's call was recorded by the police department: 911: DeKalb Emergency 911. Caller: Police. 911: What address? Caller: [] 911: What's the problem? Caller: Everybody's been shot. 911: Who's been shot?  Caller: Me -- and -- 911: With a gun? Caller: Yes. 911: Who did it? [**751] Caller: I don't know. 911: Is that a house or an apartment? Caller: It's a condominium. . . . 911: Okay. Now you say everybody's been shot, I already got you help on the way, but when you say everybody's been shot, how many? Caller: Uh, me. 911: Where are you shot at? Caller: In the living room -- I've crawled to the phone. 911: I mean what part of your body, Ma'am. Caller: I think my stomach -- they're coming back in -- please-(inaudible) 911: Who did it? Give me a description of them!  Caller: Why are you doing this. Please -- (inaudible). Please, please, I don't even know your name. Please -- please Larry. I don't even know your n --. Wayne Smith was shot in the chest, the back, and the head. Steven Smith was shot in the chest and in the head. Margaret Sweat was shot in the shoulder, stabbed in the neck 17 times, and stabbed in the chest three times. Richard Smith was shot in the back and was grazed on his head. Of the four occupants of the condominium, he was the only survivor. Lonchar showed up at his cousin's house that evening wearing a trench coat. His hands were cut. He asked if Wells had been there earlier that day, and responded to the cousin's affirmative answer by threatening to kill Wells. Lonchar complained to his cousin that he "couldn't kill the bitch," and told him he had cut her throat. His cousin drove him to Chattanooga, where he caught a plane to Texas. He was arrested at a Western Union Station in Mission, Texas, when he went there to pick up money his cousin had wired him.
Ellis Wayne Felker	Nov 15, 1996
Late in the morning of December 8, 1981, the body of 19-year-old Evelyn Joy Ludlam was found floating in Scuffle Creek, in Twiggs County, near a bridge on the "Cochran short route." She had been missing for two weeks and the last person known to have seen her alive was the appellant, Ellis Wayne Felker. Felker was charged in Houston County with murder, robbery, rape, aggravated sodomy, and false imprisonment. At trial, a verdict of not guilty was directed on the robbery count, and a jury convicted Felker on the remaining counts. Felker was sentenced to death for the murder. We affirm. The victim, Joy Ludlam, was a student at Macon Junior College and worked as a cocktail waitress at the Holiday Inn in Warner Robins. Her parents were residents of Macon but, about 10 months prior to her death, Joy had moved to Warner Robins to live with an older woman whom Joy had met through church. Not being entirely satisfied with her job at the Holiday Inn (her religious beliefs did not allow her to work Friday nights or Saturdays), Joy had begun to seek other employment prior to her death. On Monday evening, November 23, 1981, between 11.00 and 11:30 p.m., Wayne Felker visited the lounge where Joy worked. He was wearing a T-shirt advertising "The Leather Shoppe," a business that he owned in Warner Robins. Felker had been convicted in 1976 of aggravated sodomy. In April of 1981, shortly after his release from prison, Felker opened his leather shop. A neighboring businessman testified that from April until June, Felker's business gradually increased. Felker began to lose interest in the business, however, and, from September onward, was seldom there. His neighbor collected his mail for him. Felker attributed his disinterest to his romance with Patricia Woods, whom he met not long after he opened his business. Felker testified that after he and Ms. Woods began living together, he "more or less let the business fail." He admitted that the shop's checking account was overdrawn the night he met Joy Ludlam and that he had been making ends meet by borrowing money from his parents (who owned the house in which he lived), and by selling some of his furniture. Nonetheless, when Joy noticed Felker's T-shirt advertising his business, a conversation ensued which culminated in an offer of employment, pursuant to which they were to meet the next day. Pat Woods had left Felker the previous Saturday after he had blackened both of her eyes, so he was alone Tuesday morning when Joy arrived. A neighbor, who had been asked by Felker's mother to keep track of the cars visiting Felker's house, noticed Joy's arrival at approximately 9:00 a.m. and wrote down the tag number of her car. The neighbor testified that the car was gone by 11:00 a.m. Felker testified that he was at home awaiting a hoped-for call from Pat Woods. He testified that, when Joy arrived and wanted to see the shop, he told her that he was expecting a call and could not go then. Joy returned to her residence at approximately 2:00 p.m. A visitor to the residence, Ms. Akins, testified that, some time after 2:30 p.m., Joy made a telephone call during which she mentioned that she "would like to see the shop." According to Ms. Akins, Joy left around 5:00 p.m. wearing a long, plaid coat. At approximately 6:30 p.m., Joy called the manager of the Holiday Inn lounge and told him that the mother of the lady with whom she lived was in the hospital and that Joy wanted to stay with her. The manager gave her the night off. When Guy Starling, office manager of the Trust Company Bank in Warner Robins, left work Tuesday evening, between 6:30 and 7:30 p.m., he noticed an automobile parked in the bank's parking lot that did not belong to any of the bank's employees. He wrote down the tag number. The car was still there the next day. Irma Anthony, with whom Joy lived, spent Tuesday night at the hospital with her mother. She returned home Wednesday morning to discover that Joy was not there. As evening approached and Joy still had not returned, she went to the police, taking with her a photograph of Joy and a napkin on which had been written Felker's telephone number and the address of his leather shop. Two officers visited Felker Wednesday evening at approximately 5:30 p.m. Felker told them that he had met Joy the previous evening pursuant to his offer of employment. He told them that she had left his shop at around 6:00 p.m. because that was when the shop closed. He said that they had traveled in separate cars and that, although he had opened and closed the door for her, he never got into her car, nor had she got into his. He stated that when he last saw her, she was wearing a plaid coat and a red dress. Joy's mother, having been informed of her daughter's disappearance, drove to Warner Robins on Thursday to search for her. Mrs. Ludlam found Joy's car parked in the parking lot of the Trust Company Bank at about 2:30 p.m. The car was locked. She notified the police, who subsequently searched the car and found, on the front seat, a notebook opened to a page on which was written, in Joy's handwriting: "I'm going to Atlanta to eat dinner with Wayne and some of his friends. They are GS-11's on base. Joy." On December 1, with Joy still unlocated, investigators questioned Pat Woods, who had resumed her cohabitation with Felker. Soon afterwards, Felker collected some of his pornographic magazines and his bondage cuffs (3-inch wide leather straps with "watch-band" buckles) and threw them in a garbage dumpster. On Tuesday, December 8, 1981, two weeks after she disappeared, Joy's body was discovered in Scuffle Creek by a mechanic who was searching the right-of-way along the Cochran short route, looking for discarded bottles and cans. She was clothed in the same plaid coat and red dress that she had been wearing when last seen alive. An autopsy was conducted the following morning. Warren Tillman, a medical examiner with the state crime lab, observed that pantyhose and underwear were still on the body but that the crotch of each had been ripped out. On her face, around her eyes and mouth, were lines of a whitish material which, on examination, appeared to be an adhesive substance. Tillman noted hemorrhaging inside the eyelids indicative of asphyxiation, and contusions at the junction of the lips indicative of some sort of force against her mouth. On her neck was a long, narrow area of bruising. On her breasts, he observed ecchymotic hemorrhage consistent with having been induced by suction. There were bruise marks on her left shoulder and on her right thigh. There were marks on her left wrist and on her ankles consistent with their having been bound. Tillman observed areas of contusion around the vagina and anus, which was distended, indicating traumatic entry of these orifices. On internal examination, Tillman noticed an area of hemorrhage near the second, left rib, that had no associated surface bruising, which was consistent with force having been applied by an object such as a fist or a foot. He observed a number of areas of subgaleal hemorrhage on the inside of the scalp. However, there was no evidence of brain hemorrhage. Examination of the lungs indicated that Joy had been dead when she was placed in the water. Tillman concluded that the cause of death was asphyxiation from strangulation. Establishing a time of death proved difficult. Tillman's original estimate, based on the state of decomposition of the body, was that Joy had been dead 3 to 5 days, or possibly longer -- the immersion of the body in the water complicated the determination. After receiving information regarding air temperature, and reviewing other case histories involving bodies immersed in water, Tillman concluded that Joy had been dead at least three to five days, and that she could have been dead for two weeks. On February 4, 1982, Joy's body was exhumed. Sections of tissue were taken from bruised areas on her body. Dr. James Whitaker, medical examiner for Houston County, microscopically examined these tissue samples to ascertain the extent of "margination." Dr. Whitaker concluded that the bruises had been inflicted within 4 to 6 hours prior to death. On February 16, 1982, a hunter found Joy's purse on the north side of Highway 96, near the Houston-Twiggs county line, 3 to 4 miles west of the intersection of Highway 96 and the Cochran short route. Besides her driver's license and college I.D., the purse contained a "Mickey Mouse" pendant which Joy habitually wore on a chain necklace. The necklace itself was never found. Between December 8, 1981, and March 29, 1982, Felker's house and car were searched several times. Hairs and fibers were collected and microscopically compared with hairs and fibers found on the body. Fibers found on the victim's coat were consistent with fibers present in a yellow and orange blanket first observed in Felker's home and later retrieved by police from his parents. Fibers similar to those of the victim's coat material were found in the hatchback area of Felker's automobile. Hairs were found on the victim's clothes, including her underclothes, and on her body, that were similar to Felker's head and beard hair. Hairs adhering to two handkerchiefs in the victim's pocketbook were similar to Felker's head hair. In addition, several hairs discovered in the bedroom of Felker's home were similar to the victim's head and pubic hair. Felker had been involved in an earlier incident involving bondage and forcible sex. This incident was described at trial by the victim. On October 3, 1976, Jane W., a cocktail waitress, stopped by a Sambo's restaurant for coffee after she got off work. Then she drove home, alone. As she pulled into her driveway, a car stopped in front of her house and the driver called to her. The driver (she later discovered) was Wayne Felker, who told her that he was lost, and that he was looking for a party on Navarro Drive. Ms. W., who had recently moved to Warner Robins, had heard of Navarro Drive and knew that it was nearby. Felker, a lifelong resident of Warner Robins, told Ms. W. that he had no idea how to get to Navarro Drive, that he was in a friend's car, and that he was supposed to meet the friend at the party. Ms. W. agreed to get him to the general area. She got in her car and proceeded towards Navarro Drive, followed by Felker in his car. She was unable to find the right street. Eventually, they drove by Sears, and Felker passed her car and turned into the Sears parking lot. She pulled in behind him. He got out, approached her car, and told her that he was too drunk to drive anymore and that he would get in trouble if he damaged his friend's car. He asked Ms. W. if she could drive him to his friend's wife's house, which he knew to be just down the road. Ms. W. testified that, "he was so nice . . ., he acted so lost . . ., [he] sounded so convincing . . . [that] I unlocked the door [and] he got in the car." Felker directed her to a trailer on Porkie Drive. She waited in the car while he went inside. A few minutes later, he returned. The friend's wife was getting dressed and would take him to the party after she woke the baby up. He asked Ms. W. if she could wait a few more minutes, so that she could take them back to the friend's car. She answered that she could, but that she had to use the bathroom. Felker invited her inside. She accepted his invitation and, leaving her pocketbook in the car, entered the house and began walking down the hall, followed by Felker. About halfway down the hall, she "realized that there didn't seem to be anybody else in there . . . there was no light; there was no lady; there was no child; . . . there didn't even seem to be . . . another bedroom . . ." She turned around. Felker grabbed her around the neck and started choking her. He carried her to the bedroom and threw her, face down, onto the bed. As he held her head down with one hand, he pulled one of her arms behind her back. He tied a rope around it, pulled the other hand back, and then tied her hands together. Next, he laid her, face down, on the floor and tied her feet together. Felker placed some cotton over her eyes and taped her mouth and eyes with duct tape. Then he tied her to the bed, and left. Ms. W. heard him drive off. Ten or 15 minutes later, she heard him return, driving a different car. He proceeded to the bedroom, where he untied her feet and laid her on the bed. He took her necklace off. He tied her hands to the corners of the bed and undressed her from the waist down, ripping her underwear. He cut and then ripped off her shirt and bra, and tied her legs to the other two corners of the bed. Then he asked her, in effect, whether she had ever been anally sodomized. When she did not answer (she was still gagged), he punched her on her right thigh with his fist, pounded her on her chest, and said, "I'm talking to you." Felker then attempted to anally sodomize Ms. W. She testified that she struggled so much that Felker was unsuccessful in this attempt, but that after Felker violently struggled with her, and grabbed her and punched her with his fists, he became sufficiently aroused that he was able to rape her.  Then, after Felker obtained a vibrator or some similar object and "rammed" it inside Ms. W., he removed the duct tape from her mouth and orally sodomized her. Afterwards, Ms. W. talked to Felker and finally convinced him to untie her hands and feet so that she could use the bathroom. Untied, but still blindfolded, she was guided to the bathroom and then back to bedroom. Felker lay down beside her and fell asleep. Ms. W. left and called the police. As she left, she picked up her pocketbook, which was in the bathroom. She later discovered, in the bottom of her purse, the pendant from her necklace. She never recovered the necklace itself. Evidence was offered by Felker in support of his contentions that the 1976 incident involved consensual sex, that he last saw Joy Ludlam at approximately 6:00 p.m. on November 24, 1981, and that she had not been dead for two weeks when her body was discovered. Regarding the 1976 incident, Felker testified that he had stopped in front of Ms. W.'s home to ask directions to a party on Navarro Drive, even though he was a life-long resident of Warner Robins. (In fact, during the sentencing phase of the trial, it was revealed that his aunt lived on Navarro Drive in 1976). Felker claimed that he invited Ms. W. to the party and that she accepted. He testified that they stopped at the Sears parking lot when they could not find the party, and decided to go to his trailer. He parked his car for fear that, because he had been drinking, he was going to be stopped by the police if he continued driving. They proceeded to his trailer in her car. Upon their arrival, she went to the bathroom. Felker (presumably, no longer worried about being stopped for DUI) decided to drive to the store to get cigarettes. After discovering that her car was low on gas and remembering that there were cigarettes in his car, he drove to Sears and switched cars. When he returned, Ms. W. was looking at his bondage magazines and expressed an interest in having sex while being tied up. Everything that followed, Felker said, was with her consent. On cross-examination, Felker admitted that he might possibly have inflicted the circular bruise on her right thigh and other bruises on her body, and that he "might have gotten too rough." He admitted that he had been at Sambo's earlier, but claimed that he had not followed Ms. W. and that their meeting had been coincidental. He admitted removing her necklace, but did not know why he had done so, nor could he explain how the pendant wound up in her purse, absent its necklace. He explained that he had taped her mouth because she "was giggling." He did not recall why he had taped her eyes. He did not know why he tied her up before removing her clothes, nor did he know what she was going to wear home after her clothes had been cut. Regarding the disappearance of Joy Ludlam, Felker testified that when she called Tuesday morning, he was asleep in a recliner in the living room, covered up with his orange and yellow blanket. After her morning visit, he went to his shop to retrieve a compressor, some spray guns, paint and so forth, that he intended to use to refinish some furniture. He loaded these items into the hatchback area of his car and returned home. When Joy stopped by his house later that day, she took off her coat and laid it on the recliner. She made a telephone call while he changed clothes. When they exited the house, Felker realized that he had not yet unloaded his car. Although Joy "seemed to be in a hurry," Felker nonetheless took the time to unload his car before they left. As he was doing so, she observed a number of leather catalogs in the back of his car. Felker told her to go ahead and take one. She still had her coat on her arm as she leaned into the hatchback area of the car to reach "all the way to the back part of the back seat." Then she went to her car and sat in the driver's seat thumbing through her catalog. (No such catalog was discovered in the search of her car two days later.) According to Felker, he last saw Joy Ludlam as she left his leather shop that evening. On his way home he stopped by Sears. (Sears is across the street from the Trust Company Bank where Joy's car was parked when Guy Starling left work between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m.) Felker testified that he left his house twice that night. The first time, he went to a convenience store to purchase beer and cigarettes. Sometime after midnight, he left to "drive around looking for Pat [Woods]." Felker admitted that Pat had called him around 10:30 p.m. and that they had agreed to meet the next morning. He knew that she had no car. When asked by the district attorney how he expected to find her, Felker answered that he was "[h]oping she'd be in a yard somewhere." Felker denied that the real purpose of the trip was to dispose of Joy Ludlam's body. He admitted that he was unable to find Pat Woods standing out in someone's yard in the wee hours of the morning, and that he returned home alone.
David Loomis Cargill	June 9, 1988
The victims, Danny and Cheryl Williams, were a young couple with four male children under the age of ten years. Cheryl Williams worked part-time at the Premium Oil Service Station on River Road in Bibb City. On the evening of Tuesday, January 22, 1985, Danny Williams came to the station to assist his wife after putting their children to bed. Later in the evening of January 22, the Williamses were found face down in the service station. They were both dead. They had each sustained two bullet wounds in the head. Gunpowder residue indicated that Cheryl Williams had been shot from a distance of less than two feet. Medical testimony further established that both victims had been lying on the floor at the time they were shot. Approximately $ 482.79 in cash had been taken from the service station, as well as a knife belonging to Danny Williams and valued at $ 35. The cash formed the basis for one count of armed robbery of which the appellant was convicted, and the knife formed the basis for the other armed-robbery count. Mr. John McCollum of Opelika, Alabama, testified that he owned a light green, 1969, half-ton pickup truck with a gray right-front fender, and a dog box in the back of the truck. Mr. McCollum testified that this truck had been stolen from him on the evening of Wednesday, January 16, 1985. This truck was seen near the Premium Oil Service Station on the night of the murders. Katherine Sue Brown lives in Phenix City, Alabama, and she is a cousin of Thomas (also known as Tommy) Cargill's wife. She testified that on the weekend prior to January 22, 1985, she had seen Tommy and David Cargill in Phenix City, and they were in possession of a truck, which she identified as the truck belonging to John McCollum. Mr. Hoyt Eugene Ledford is Tommy Cargill's wife's uncle, and Tommy was living at his house in Phenix City at the time of the murders. Mr. Ledford testified that on the day of the murders, David and Tommy Cargill were in possession of a truck fitting the description of John McCollum's truck. Brenda Cargill Mathis and the appellant were married in 1983, and they divorced shortly after the appellant's arrest in this case. At the time of the murders, the appellant was living with her and a child of hers by a previous marriage. She testified that several times she heard the appellant talk about the "big crime" or the "big one" and that he would not leave any witnesses, because, "[d]ead men don't talk." She identified a photograph of John McCollum's truck as being the truck of which the appellant was in possession at the time of  the murders. She testified that the appellant had given her various  items, which were identified by John McCollum as being items which belonged to him and which were in the truck at the time it was stolen. Other similarly identified items were found in the appellant's apartment. Brenda Mathis further testified that on the morning of January 22, Tommy Cargill came to her and the appellant's apartment. ] The appellant told him to come back when it got dark. Tommy left in the truck. Later that evening, Tommy came back. As recounted by Brenda, Tommy then said to the appellant, "'The girl,' or either, 'the girls are there alone' that he had just went by there." There was a gun which the appellant had previously given to Brenda for safekeeping, telling her not to leave any fingerprints on it. The appellant took the gun, put it in his pocket, and said to Tommy, "'Good. Let's go.'" Brenda testified that, to the best of her recollection, the appellant came back to the apartment between 9:00 and 10:00 o'clock that evening. Although he had not had any money when he left, when he returned he had a large box of Kentucky fried chicken, as well as other food including chocolate pudding. While they were eating, she noticed what appeared to be blood on his shirt sleeve. He looked around the room to see if anyone was watching; he then took some chocolate pudding and rubbed it into the blood. A report concerning the armed robbery later appeared on television. "And David said, he laughed -- well, not laughed but 'Aha, they must not have got anything.'" Later that evening, he gave her approximately $ 150 to $ 175, and he told her, if anybody asked, to tell them that it was child-support money she had received from her former husband. Later in the week, the appellant and Brenda were watching a news report on television concerning the crimes. Brenda testified, "They said they had witnesses in the murders, and David stood and laughed and said, 'No, there wasn't any witnesses.'" Patrick Tidwell testified that around 9:00 to 10:00 o'clock on the evening of January 22, he encountered the appellant at the Robert E. Lee Lounge, and he gave the appellant a ride home. En route, he stopped at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, and the appellant bought "a big family-sized thing of chicken" and some other food. Tidwell testified that the appellant had a lot of money at the time. A pistol identified as the murder weapon was found hidden under a dog house in the back yard of Hoyt Ledford's house. It was in a plastic bag, and no fingerprints were found on it. Clinton Layfield testified that he had purchased this gun from Andy Ferguson, and that he, Layfield, in turn sold it to the appellant. When the appellant accepted delivery of the pistol, he indicated that he intended to shoot someone with it. Travis Allred, who had been the appellant's next-door neighbor, testified that he had had a conversation with the appellant concerning some "easy money." According to Allred, the appellant said, "'Well, I've been scoping out this place on River Road and I want to rob it and I know where the safe is and everything, but if the people there, you know, identify me that they would -- that he would have to kill the people. And I just said, 'O.K.,' you know and walked off from him.'" Brenda Mathis testified that on the Saturday night after the crimes were committed, she and the appellant went with Richard Whitley to a club called Screamin' Willie's. They stayed until the club closed at 2:00 a.m. On the way back, the appellant said he was tired of Clinton Layfield's "bad mouthing" him. He said it was about his buying a gun from Layfield. They went to Layfield's apartment, and the appellant set it on fire. On the following Monday, a news report came on television in which it was stated that there was believed to be some connection between the fires and the murders. Brenda  informed the appellant of this. He said that he was going out to  get a cup of coffee, and that was the last time she saw him. She subsequently went to Tommy Cargill's to try to find out where the appellant was. When he would not tell her, she threatened to go to the police. Tommy said, "'Don't go to the police. It will just make things worse for us. We've got enough on us.'" Walter Holler testified that he encountered the appellant at Screamin' Willie's on the Saturday night after the murders. He approached the appellant, propped his arm on the appellant's shoulder, and said, "How about it, David?" The appellant responded, "'Get out of my face. I killed two. One more wouldn't matter.'" The appellant was subsequently arrested on February 13, 1985, at a motel in Columbus, Georgia. Numerous, heavily armed law-enforcement officers were used to effect the arrest. After being arrested, the appellant was read his Miranda rights both before and after being placed in the patrol car. However, he was not interrogated until approximately 40 to 45 minutes after his arrest at police headquarters. The interrogation was conducted by Columbus Police Department Detectives Rudolph Lovell and Eugene Allmond. The appellant was again read his rights by Detective Allmond, and he indicated that he understood them. Detective Allmond began the interrogation. He showed the appellant photographs of Danny and Cheryl Williams, both before and after they were murdered. Detective Allmond discussed the stolen Ford pickup truck, the murder weapon, and certain items of clothing which the appellant had been wearing on the night of the murders. Detective Lovell brought Brenda Mathis into the room; he told the appellant what had been related to him; and he asked Brenda Mathis, "Is what I have just said true and do you intend to testify to that in court?" She looked at the appellant and said, "Yes, it's all true and I will testify to it in court." Detective Allmond told the appellant what the appellant's brother Tommy had said. The appellant responded, "All of you son of a bitches are alike. The only time [he] would've said anything to you is if you beat hell out of him . . . I don't care what you say, I don't know what you're talking about and  I'll admit it -- I mean I'll deny it to my dying day . . . f--- you." At this point, Detective Allmond left the room and Detective Lovell began interrogating the appellant. Detective Lovell brought a tape recorder into the  interrogation room, and he played a taped message from Tommy Cargill to the appellant, which reads as follows: Uh, David, this is Tommy. I wanted you to know I didn't want to tell them all this stuff, but I got to thinking about all of it and I've done some serious thinking. Right now, buddy, you're the only hope I got. They've got me charged with it. The only way they can clear me with it is for you to tell them that you done it. I don't know if you'll do that or not, but I'd appreciate it if you would. It's hard for me to ask you to do something like this after I done went and told on you and all, but right now you're the only hope I've got, buddy. "David, I want you to think about something. I know you don't have a family and all, but I've got a little girl and one day I want to get out and see her; but as it stands, unless you tell them, there ain't no way I'll ever be able to do that, buddy. I don't know if you love your old lady and that little boy or not, but I wouldn't take nothing in the world for mine." Tommy Cargill was then brought into the interrogation room. He and the appellant talked. The appellant asked Tommy if he had been hurt. Tommy responded, "No, man, they've treated me real nice and no one's laid a hand on me." Tommy apologized to David for what he had told the police. David asked him if they had told him that Richard was dead. n2 He responded that they had. David then asked him if he had told them before or after they told him about Richard. He responded, "After." Tommy then said, "David, I'm sorry, but I have a little girl and I want to get out of jail some day. If you don't tell them that you shot them, I'm going to the electric chair." At that time, David "teared up." Tommy left.

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