Archie Billings was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder and sexual assault of eleven year old Amy Jackson. According to court documents Archie Billings would enter into the home and stab Amy Jackson thirteen year old repeatedly. The thirteen year old boy was able to call for help while his sister was abducted from the home. Even though the thirteen year old was stabbed over twenty times he would survive. Amy Jackson body would be found twelve hours later. Archie Billings who worked for the family would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death.
he State’s evidence tended to show inter alia that Robert Jackson left his Caswell County mobile home at 1:50 a.m. on 7 July 1995 to gather and ready a herd of cows for milking. Jackson left his two children, Bobby, thirteen years old, and Amy, eleven years old, asleep in their beds.
Sometime between 1:50 a.m. and 4:50 a.m., defendant entered the mobile home, stabbed Bobby repeatedly with a knife, and began his assault on Amy. Bobby struggled to a telephone in the kitchen and dialed 911. When emergency personnel arrived at 5:00 a.m., Bobby was found on the kitchen floor in a pool of his own blood. Defendant had stabbed the boy some twenty-three times. Bobby identified defendant as the man who stabbed him and whom he had seen carry his sister out of the mobile home. It was not until some twelve hours later that Amy’s body was found in a field, with her pajama bottoms around her feet and her pajama top partially torn off. Amy had died from a stab to her throat that had severed her carotid artery. An autopsy revealed that Amy had also been sexually assaulted. Defendant worked with Jackson on the dairy farm, and both children knew him well. Defendant was arrested by sheriff’s deputies on the dairy farm the same morning the children were attacked.
Angel Guevara was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Johnston County sheriff’s deputy Paul West. According to court documents Sheriff Deputy Paul West was attempting to serve a warrant on Angel Guevara when he was shot and killed. A second Sheriff Deputy was also shot but would survive his injuries. Angel Guevara was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
At trial, the State presented evidence tending to show that on the afternoon of 2 September 1995, when the temperature was approximately eighty-five degrees, Benjamin Becker, a security officer, discovered an automobile parked outside North Hills Mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, with the doors locked and windows up, and three small children inside. Officer Becker was investigating the situation when defendant approached and started screaming and pointing his fingers in the officer’s face. Without provocation, defendant pulled out an approximately four-inch knife and repeatedly lunged towards the unarmed officer. Defendant eventually leaped back into his car and quickly drove away. Officer Becker obtained the license plate number and reported the incident to the Raleigh Police Department. Pursuant to a license plate check, Detective Paula O’Neal determined Jose Rosado of 39 Morehead Drive, West Johnston Mobile Home Park, in Johnston County, to be a suspect. Jose Rosado was also wanted for the felony of false pretense and in an assault case.
On the morning of 11 September 1995, in response to a request from the Raleigh Police Department, two officers with the Johnston County Sheriff’s Department, Lieutenant Ronald Medlin and Deputy Paul West, went to a Johnston County mobile home park to verify the address of a man named Jose Rosado. Upon the officers’ arrival at 39 Morehead Drive, West Johnston Mobile Home Park, Lieutenant Medlin knocked at the front door for several minutes, but no one responded. A red Mustang convertible and a gray Dodge Ram pickup truck were parked outside. Deputy Medlin asked the dispatcher, Phyllis Edwards, to run a license check on the Mustang, and the dispatcher responded that the automobile was registered to Jose Rosado. Lieutenant Medlin then turned around and saw defendant, accompanied by a two- or three-year-old boy, standing outside the mobile home’s back door. The officers asked defendant if he was Jose Rosado, and he informed the officers that Rosado was not there. After being asked for identification, defendant handed Lieutenant Medlin a passport which contained defendant’s picture and indicated that he was Angel Guevara. The officers believed that he was Rosado and that he was wanted on an outstanding arrest warrant in North Carolina for the felony of false pretense. The officers further learned from the dispatcher that Rosado was also wanted in New York City under the name of Angel Guevara for the felony of reckless endangerment.
Lieutenant Medlin, standing near defendant’s door, used his walkie-talkie to ask the dispatcher to check with New York authorities as to whether defendant was still wanted. Upon confirmation that defendant was still wanted, Lieutenant Medlin stated that they would take him in. Defendant heard Lieutenant Medlin’s words and retreated into his home and slammed the back door. Deputy West pushed the door open and entered the mobile home. Lieutenant Medlin did not lose sight of Deputy West at any time. In a matter of seconds, Lieutenant Medlin saw Deputy West throw his right hand up and heard him say, “No, no, no, don’t, don’t.” Lieutenant Medlin heard a shot, and Deputy West fell to the floor facedown, where he died.
Lieutenant Medlin called for assistance and headed towards the door of the mobile home with his gun drawn. He heard another shot and was knocked by the bullet onto the hood of a car which was parked nearby. Lieutenant Medlin could see defendant inside the mobile home and could see Deputy West lying on the floor, his weapon still inside its holster. Lieutenant Medlin, although severely injured, managed to make his way back to his marked sheriff’s car. He heard another shot, then saw defendant come out of the mobile home, get into his truck and speed away. Other officers and emergency personnel quickly arrived at the scene. Defendant was arrested several days later in New York City. Lieutenant Medlin sustained three serious wounds to the right side of his chest and, as of the time of trial, had not been able to return to work. An autopsy report indicated that Deputy West sustained a large, fatal bullet wound to the left side of his chest; another gunshot wound to the left groin area; multiple blunt-force injuries to his head; and severe bruises on his head, neck, lower chest area and left shoulder.
Walic Thomas was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the robbery and murder of Kenny Dale Tuttle. According to court documents Walic Thomas would break into the home and stab Kenny Dale Tuttle to death. Walic Thomas who was just released from prison for a previous stabbing attack was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
he relatives of victim Kenny Dale Tuttle say that they’re pleased with the sentence but that in the larger sense the justice system let them down.
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Jurors sentenced a Greensboro man to death Friday in the killing of a UNCG student who was tied up and stabbed 36 times in his kitchen last fall.
Relatives of the victim, Kenny Dale Tuttle, said they’re glad that Thomas was sentenced to death, and they praised the law enforcement officials who worked on the case.But in a larger sense, the Stokes County residents said they feel the justice system let them down.
They know that if the defendant, Walic Christopher Thomas, had served his full sentence in a previous stabbing attack, he wouldn’t have been free last fall, when Tuttle was killed.
“I just wish they’d taken care of him before it got to this,’ said Monnie Johnson, Tuttle’s aunt. “I’m glad it ended this way, but Kenny’s still dead.’
Kenneth Tuttle Sr., the victim’s father, was also pleased with the verdict, but he wasn’t celebrating.
“It’s the best we can do,’ he said. “It’s just so unfair.’
Thomas will join five other people from Guilford County on death row; 155 people from throughout North Carolina are awaiting death sentences. Guilford Public Defender Wally Harrelson said the sentence will be appealed.
Jurors deliberated for a little more than two hours Thursday afternoon and Friday morning before returning their decision. On Wednesday, it took them a little more than two hours to find Thomas guilty of first-degree murder in the case.
Tuttle, 27, was killed on Sept. 11, 1995. Prosecutors argued that Thomas went to Tuttle’s house on Holden Road about 1 a.m., knocked on the door, and asked Tuttle to call him a cab.
The senior Tuttle described his son as the kind of person who would open his door for a stranger who seemed to need help.
“He was just a good person,’ he said in an interview. “I’m sure the guy told him his car was broken down.’
When Thomas got inside, he tied Tuttle’s hands behind his back and used a stuffed animal and aprons to gag him, said Assistant District Attorney Dick Panosh.
Twenty minutes later, when the cab showed up, Thomas sent the driver away. He then went to the kitchen where Tuttle was tied up, and stabbed him to death, Panosh said. Thomas, 30, then stole a TV, stereo, and Tuttle’s clothes, wallet and car, Panosh said.
Tuttle, who worked full time at American Express, was studying at UNCG, pursuing a career in broadcasting.
During final arguments in the death penalty hearing Thursday, Panosh told jurors that Thomas is “an arrogant, brutal killer.’ He urged them to sentence Thomas to death.
“Remember that you are the voice and conscience of the community,’ Panosh said. “It is your responsibility to make sure that Walic Christopher Thomas never does this to another person again.’
Defense attorneys asked the jury to show mercy and sentence Thomas to life.
They said Thomas suffered as a child because he saw his mother beaten by his father, then by another man whom she later married.
“Members of the jury, death is final,’ said Harrelson, who was one of two defense attorneys in the case. “What can you live with for the remainder of your life?’
On Friday morning, Thomas showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Later, as deputies walked him out of the courtroom, he turned to Panosh and said, “I’ll be back.’
James Davis was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murders of three people during a workplace shooting. According to court documents James Davis was fired from his job and would return the next day with an automatic rifle and would fire over fifty shots killing three people including the two bosses who had fired him the day before. James Davis would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
At trial, the State’s evidence tended to show the following: Defendant James Floyd Davis had been employed in the warehouse of Union Butterfield since 1991. On 10 May 1995, an altercation occurred between defendant and two other employees. The management of Union Butterfield, including Herb Welsh, Larry Cogdill, Tony Balogh, and Debbie Medford, conducted a fact-finding meeting concerning the altercation. Defendant was suspended with pay until the following Monday, 15 May 1995. Subsequently, management made a decision to terminate defendant’s employment.
On 15 May 1995, defendant met with Tony Balogh and Debbie Medford. During the meeting, Balogh informed defendant that his employment was being terminated. Medford informed defendant of the benefits he was entitled to receive upon his termination. Defendant appeared nervous and tearful during the meeting. Balogh and Medford asked defendant if there was anything they could do for him. Defendant responded by saying, “If you were going to help me, you would have.”
On 17 May 1995, at approximately 9:00 a.m., defendant purchased from Pawn World a Winchester .30-caliber M1 carbine rifle, two clips, and ammunition. At approximately 11:20 a.m., defendant entered the facility of his former employer, Union Butterfield, carrying the Winchester rifle and a Lorcin .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol. Defendant proceeded to the break room, where he found Robert Walker, Tim Walker, Howard Reece, Gerald Allman, and Tony Balogh. The men were in the middle of a meeting about the building’s sprinkler system. Defendant entered the break room and told Robert Walker and Tim Walker, representatives from the sprinkler company, to “get the hell out of here.” Defendant aimed the gun at Allman and fired, shooting him in the head. Defendant then turned to Balogh and fired the gun. Reece ran from the room and felt pieces of the wall hitting him as defendant attempted to shoot him.
Defendant then proceeded down the hallway where the plant management offices were located. He began to fire shots into each office as he walked down the hallway. Larry Cogdill was in an office that he shared with Gerald Allman and Herb Welsh. Cogdill looked out and saw defendant coming down the hallway and slammed the office door shut. Defendant turned the door handle and opened the door slightly until Cogdill slammed his body against the door to keep defendant out. Defendant then shot through the door, with one bullet striking Cogdill in the arm. Cogdill fell to the side and watched as defendant shot holes in the door. At some point, Cogdill was also shot in the leg.
Defendant continued to move down the hallway, shooting into management offices and reloading his gun at least once. Frank Knox, an employee of Dormer Tools, parent company to Union Butterfield, was working in one of the offices. When Knox heard shots being fired, he hid under his desk. Defendant fired three shots through Knox’s door, and two of the shots struck Knox in the wrist and chest.
Defendant returned to the office where Cogdill and Welsh were located and fired several more shots through the door. Defendant then entered the warehouse area of the plant. Larry Short then saw defendant standing in a doorway and smoking a cigarette. Short attempted to flag down cars for assistance. When defendant and Short made eye contact, defendant raised his gun and began firing at Short. Short ducked, ran, and then dove and rolled out of defendant’s sight. Soon after, defendant surrendered to the Asheville police.
While in police custody, defendant stated, “I got fired. Damn it. I got set up. They drove me crazy out there.” Furthermore, when the arrest warrants for the murders were served upon defendant, he pointed to one of the victims’ names on the warrant and stated, “That’s the son of a bitch that fired me.” While looking at another warrant, defendant stated, “That’s a troublemaker. He’s made my life hell since I’ve worked there.” Finally, while looking at the warrant for the murder of Frank Knox, defendant stated that he did not remember him.
Melvin White was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murders of Georgia Green and Cleveland Wilson. According to court documents Melvin White would murder Georgia Green and Cleveland Wilson during a robbery. Melvin Wilson would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
The State’s evidence at trial tended to show that defendant killed victims Georgia Green and Cleveland Wilson in order to retaliate against his girlfriend, Patricia Green, the granddaughter of victim Georgia Green, for not wanting to be with him anymore and for resisting his attempt to take her to Mexico by force and against her will.
Defendant met Patricia Green when he was twenty-three years old and she was fourteen; at the time of the crimes, defendant was twenty-nine, and Patricia was nineteen. Patricia lived with her grandmother, Georgia Green, who had raised Patricia since age four and who was very much like a mother to her. Two years after defendant and Patricia met, they lived together in the house of victim Georgia Green. Later they moved out to their own home. Defendant began to abuse Patricia and became increasingly possessive of her and violent towards her. He would beat her, hitting her on her face, arms, and legs; but she never went to the doctor because she was too ashamed. On one occasion, 4 July 1994, when Patricia went to a cookout with some friends, defendant arrived and ordered her away with such threats and force that she had her mother, Ella Green, call the police. When Ella Green and other family members went to defendant’s and Patricia’s mobile home, defendant came outside and fired two shotgun blasts before the police arrived.
Defendant continued to assault Patricia, two or three times per month. On occasion she would report the assaults to law enforcement; but when the case came to court, she would not testify against defendant. Defendant told her frequently that if she ever tried to leave him, he would kill her or kill her family members to make her hurt. Defendant knew that Patricia was very close to her grandmother, Georgia Green.
In late April 1995, after she received a beating for threatening to leave him, Patricia left defendant and went to live with a girlfriend. Defendant waited for her outside her place of work and ran her off the road with his car. He forced her into his car and took her back to his house, where he beat her and tied her to the bed with duct tape and rope. Defendant kept her tied up for two days. After untying her, he kept her in the house, which he was able to lock from the outside.
Shortly after this incident, and because of her fear of defendant and his threats to kill her, Patricia went to Florida in May of 1995 and found work there. After about a month she telephoned defendant and told him that she wanted him to stop controlling her and hitting her and that she wanted a friendship with him but not a relationship. The next day defendant appeared in Florida at Patricia’s place of work; he got her to come outside, saying he wanted to talk. He then pointed a nine-millimeter handgun at her and forced her to get into the car. Defendant drove her back through the night to North Carolina, telling her that if she screamed he would shoot her. He told her that he loved her but that if he could not have her, no one would have her and that he would kill her. He took her to his house and again tied her to the bed with duct tape and rope. He later took her with him while he pawned and sold some items, and then he took her to the Sheriff’s Department because someone had reported that defendant had kidnapped her. Patricia told the Sheriff’s Department, out of fear for her life, that defendant had not kidnapped her.
On 8 June 1995, defendant told Patricia that he wanted her to go to Mexico with him. Because of his threats, and feeling that her mother was her last chance to get away from defendant, she agreed to go if he would take her to see her grandmother and mother before leaving. Defendant stopped pointing the gun at Patricia and told her that he wanted her to trust him. When they got to the house of Patricia’s grandmother, Georgia Green, defendant took the gun upstairs and hid it. They then left Georgia Green’s house and drove to Patricia’s mother’s mobile home. While driving there defendant repeatedly told Patricia, “If you try anything ․ I’ll kill you. I’ll kill all of you all.”
Patricia Green’s mother, Ella Green, talked with defendant and her daughter to try to calm or solve the situation. Patricia told her mother that she did not want to be with defendant and that she wanted defendant to leave her alone. Defendant then tried to push Patricia into his car; but Ella Green grabbed Patricia and, standing between her daughter and defendant, told defendant to leave. Defendant got into his car and drove it forward into Ella Green, injuring her legs and damaging her house. He then drove off toward Georgia Green’s house.
Patricia telephoned the police and called for an ambulance for her mother; she then called her uncle, Jake Howard, and asked him to check on Georgia Green. Mr. Howard had known defendant and his family for some time. When Mr. Howard arrived at Georgia Green’s house, he saw defendant coming from the far corner of the house with a gun in his hand. Mr. Howard asked defendant what was the matter; and defendant said, “She’s been treating me nice, just like a honey rose all day, until we got to her mother’s house. And then they tried to jam me up, and I run over Ella.” Mr. Howard then left, without checking on Georgia Green, to see what had happened to Ella Green.
Deputy Sheriff Marvin Haddock spoke with Mr. Howard and went with Patricia Green and other family members to Georgia Green’s house to apprehend defendant. An upstairs window had been raised, and no one responded to their knocking. All the doors were locked; and after Deputy Haddock called for backup, the officers broke into the house. They found Georgia Green’s body facedown on the floor in front of a lounge chair; she had been shot two times in the head. They also found the body of Cleveland Wilson on the couch, shot once through the face and neck and twice through the temple into the head. They found six shell casings near the bodies. Shoe tracks on the tin roof of the front porch led to, and away from, the open upstairs window. Patricia Green told the officers that defendant had threatened to kill her family if she left him. Officers then searched defendant’s mobile home and found rope tied to the bedpost, and tape, with hair stuck to it, on the bedpost and floor. On the ground outside the mobile home, officers found an empty nine-millimeter shell box and shell casings.
Defendant left the state and was found in Tucson, Arizona three months later, on 11 September 1995, by a police officer who saw him walking on the highway. Defendant walked up to the car and told the officer, “I’m the one you’re looking for,” and that he was wanted for murder. The officer found there were outstanding warrants for defendant in North Carolina charging him with two counts of first-degree murder. Officers searched defendant’s car and Arizona motel room and found a black handgun holster.
Arizona officers also sent to North Carolina nine spent nine-millimeter shell casings which they had found on 5 September 1995 after a report of shots being fired near a convenience store within a mile and a half of defendant’s motel room. An examination of three of the shell casings found at defendant’s residence in North Carolina revealed they were fired from the same gun which fired the casings found at the murder scene and the casings found in Arizona, to the exclusion of all other guns. A week or two before the murders, defendant had purchased a nine-millimeter automatic pistol for $350.00 from someone he worked with on his job site.
Defendant testified on his own behalf; he denied committing any act of violence or assault upon or kidnapping of Patricia Green and denied committing the murders of Georgia Green and Cleveland Wilson. Defendant admitted buying a nine-millimeter pistol at his job site. Defendant and another witness testified that when defendant and Patricia visited Georgia Green the day before the murders, defendant had given the handgun to Patricia, who hid it upstairs. Defendant admitted hitting Ella Green with his car, but denied ever threatening to kill Patricia or anyone in her family.
During the sentencing proceeding the State introduced into evidence documents showing defendant’s March 1990 conviction for felonious breaking and entering. Also, Beverly Brown testified that she dated defendant and that he was the father of her child. She testified that defendant became possessive of her and on one occasion fired a shot from a gun to make friends of hers leave. She left him and returned to live with her mother; but in October of 1989 defendant went to her house, kicked the door in, snatched their one-year-old baby, and fired a shotgun blast into the bedroom where Ms. Brown was with other family members. Ms. Brown had to lie and promise that she would move back in with defendant to get him to return the baby.
Defendant presented as witnesses at sentencing several members of his family and friends who testified that he had a good reputation in the community. A former instructor and employer testified that defendant was a good worker, with good work habits; that he listened well and had a positive attitude; and that he was a fast learner. Others knew him as a hard worker who worked full-time as a brick mason and who also worked part-time jobs; some testified that he and Patricia acted happy when they were together and that defendant cared about her. A former teacher of defendant’s testified that he did well in math and vocational studies; she also testified that defendant had been in a special class for students classified as learning-disabled in English and that he had tried very hard to improve.
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