Michael Sockwell was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for a murder for hire. According to court documents Michael Sockwell and Alex Hood were paid $100 to murder the victim who was the husband of Louise Harris. Louise Harris had been having an affair and asked her lover to arrange the murder. Michael Sockwell would fatally shoot the victim as he pulled up to a stop sign. Michael Sockwell would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death. Louise Harris was initially sentenced to death however her sentence would later be commuted to life in prison without parole. Alex Hood would receive a life sentence
Michael Sockwell 2021 Information
| Inmate: | SOCKWELL, MICHAEL ANTHONY |
| AIS: | 0000Z515 |
| Institution: | HOLMAN PRISON |
Michael Sockwell More News
In the late evening hours of March 10, 1988, Isaiah Harris, a deputy sheriff in Montgomery County, Alabama, was shot in the head while he was driving to work. Perry Bullard, a police officer with the Montgomery police department, testified that Harris’s vehicle was found on the Troy Highway, at a point across from Cherry Hill Road.
Freddie Patterson testified that he knew Michael Sockwell, and the co-defendants Lorenzo (Bo Bo) McCarter and Alex Hood. Patterson testified that during the early part of the day on March 10, 1988, the appellant, Hood, and he drove around and drank beer and that later they went to Hood’s house and drank and talked. According to Patterson, after 9:00 p.m. that night, he, the appellant, and Hood went to pick up McCarter at work. Patterson stated that when they arrived, McCarter was talking to someone in another vehicle. McCarter finished talking to the other person and then got into Hood’s car. The four went to a store to buy more alcohol and then went to Hood’s house for a while, according to Patterson.
Patterson stated that after 10:00 p.m. they left Hood’s house and drove out to Troy Highway in Hood’s vehicle, which McCarter was driving. Patterson stated that he and Hood rode in the backseat of the vehicle and that the appellant rode in the front seat. Patterson testified that they turned into the *13 Regency Park subdivision and went around a block in that subdivision. According to Patterson, as they passed a certain house on the block with a car in the driveway, someone in the vehicle stated “that’s the car.” Patterson stated that at that time, the appellant got out of Hood’s vehicle carrying a shotgun and some clothes. Patterson further stated that the three remaining in the vehicle drove across the street and parked at an auto parts store facing Cherry Hill Road. Patterson stated that in a few minutes, a pager that was in the car beeped and a voice transmitted over the pager said something to the effect of “He’s leaving now.” Patterson stated that he then heard a loud noise, after which they left the parking lot of the auto parts store and picked up the appellant, who got into the backseat with a gun and some clothes. Patterson further testified that after the appellant got back into the car, he stated that he “had to shoot him” and that “he was gonna … get his money.” Patterson testified that the four of them drove to a bridge and that the appellant threw the gun and the clothes over the railing of the bridge.
Bruce Huggins, an investigator with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department testified that he had observed what appeared to be an abandoned vehicle near the scene of the murder and that he determined that the vehicle belonged to Lorenzo McCarter. He was informed that McCarter was having an affair with Isaiah Harris’s wife. The State presented evidence that the wife, codefendant Louise Harris, could have received a substantial sum of money in insurance proceeds as a result of Isaiah Harris’s death.
Kenneth Gilmore, a friend of the appellant, testified that he and the appellant had made arrangements to go fishing on March 11, 1988, the day after the shooting. Gilmore testified that when he met the appellant that Michael Sockwell was with codefendant Hood. He further stated that he went with the appellant and Hood to pick up some money at a house on Pineleaf Street. According to Gilmore, afterwards, the individuals went to a store, where they drank some beer. Gilmore said that, after they left the store and were riding in Hood’s car, the appellant said that, “some n#gger slapped him and he shot him and blowed half of his face off.” The appellant was arrested that day.
https://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/court-of-appeals-criminal/1993/cr-89-225-0.html