Troy Leon Gregg

Troy Leon Gregg (April 29, 1948 – July 29, 1980) was the first condemned individual whose death sentence was upheld by the United States Supreme Court after the Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia invalidated all previously enacted death penalty laws in the United States. He later participated in the first successful escape from a Georgia death row, but was killed later that night.

Background

Gregg was convicted of murdering Fred Edward Simmons and Bob Durwood Moore in order to rob them. The victims had given him and another man, Dennis Weaver, a ride when they were hitchhiking; Gregg admitted to shooting them, robbing them and stealing their car.[1] The crime occurred on November 21, 1973. In Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court held by a 7–2 majority that the State of Georgia could constitutionally put Gregg to death; Georgia, in common with Texas and Florida, had instituted a death penalty statute requiring a separate bifurcated trial proceeding to determine punishment in a capital case after the establishment of guilt,[2] establishing a list of aggravating circumstances that must be present to consider a death penalty, and providing for review by the State Supreme Court.[3] It also allowed for consideration of mitigating circumstances; on the same day, the Court, whose primary concern was racial bias in sentencing, rejected the North Carolina and Louisiana death penalty statutes for failure to allow for mitigating circumstances to be considered in sentencing.[1]

On July 28, 1980, Gregg escaped together with three other condemned murderers, Timothy McCorquodale, Johnny L. Johnson, and David Jarrell,[4] from Georgia State Prison in Reidsville in the first death row breakout in Georgia history. The four had altered their prison clothing to resemble the uniforms worn by correctional officers, then sawed through the bars of their cells and a window and walked along a ledge to a fire escape.[5] They subsequently drove off in a car which had been left in the visitors' parking lot by one of the escapees' aunts. Their escape was not discovered until Gregg telephoned a newspaper to explain their reasons for doing so.[5]

It has been alleged that Gregg was beaten to death later that night in a biker bar in North Carolina, and that his body was found in a lake.[5] Gregg had supposedly been drinking heavily and attempted to assault a waitresses. She rebuked his advances and he became violent towards her. One of the local bikers present took offense to Gregg's actions and assaulted and killed him; he and several other locals then dumped the body in a lake located behind the bar.

However, news reports from the time of the escape suggest that Gregg may actually have been murdered after getting into a fight with one of his fellow escapees, Timothy McCorquodale, and another man, James Cecil Horne, a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. According to these reports, Gregg's body was discovered in the Catawba River. Neither man was charged with Gregg's murder due to a lack of evidence.[6]

The other escapees were captured three days later[7] hiding in a rundown house owned by William Flamont, another member of the Outlaws who was apparently friends with David Jarrell.[8]

See also
  • List of United States death row inmates

References
  1. Baker, David V. (2016). Women and Capital Punishment in the United States: An Analytical History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 51. ISBN 9780786499502.
  2. O'Shea, Kathleen A. (1999). Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900-1998. Westport, Connecticut: Prager. p. 137. ISBN 9780275959524.
  3. Grant, Donald Lee; Grant, Jonathan (2001) [1993]. The Way it was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia. p. 518. ISBN 9780820323299.
  4. "Charlotte Man Held in Escapee's Death". Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina. Associated Press. August 9, 1980. p. 11.
  5. Bohm, Robert M. (2017). DeathQuest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States. New York: Taylor and Francis. p. 264. ISBN 9781138671638.
  6. "Evidence Lacking For Murder Trial In Escapee's Death". The Sumter Daily Item. Charlotte, North Carolina. Associated Press. August 26, 1980. p. 1.
  7. Georgia State University Law Review Archived August 19, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Morrow, Jason (August 27, 2014). "Savage Killer Timothy McCorquodale". Historical Crime Detective. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
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