Troy Leon Gregg

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Troy Leon Gregg
BornApril 29, 1948
Asheville, Buncombe, NC
DiedJuly 29, 1980 (aged 32)
Gastonia, Gaston, NC
Cause of death
armed robbery (2 counts)
Criminal penaltyDeath
EscapedJuly 28 – 29, 1980
Details
VictimsFred Edward Simmons
Bob Durwood Moore
DateNovember 21, 1973

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 previous capital punishment laws in the United States. He later participated in the first successful escape from Reidsville State Prison death row
with three other death row inmates, but was killed later that night by Timothy McCorquodale.

Biography

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

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]

Prison escape and death

Murder of Troy Leon Gregg
Location
suffocation, beating, assault
VictimTroy Leon Gregg, aged 32
PerpetratorUnknown
MotiveDisputed
Accused
  • James Cecil Horne
  • William Flamont
ChargesHorne:
Murder (dropped)
Flamont:
Accessory to murder after-the-fact (dropped)[4]

On July 28, 1980, Gregg escaped together with three other condemned murderers, Timothy McCorquodale, Johnny L. Johnson, and David Jarrell,[5] 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.[6] 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.[6]

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.

suffocation caused by swelling
.

Horne was initially charged with Gregg's

murder. Another man, William Flamont, was charged with being an accessory to Gregg's murder after-the-fact. Both men's charges were later dropped by a judge due to lack of evidence.[7]

The other escapees were captured three days later[8] hiding in a rundown house owned by William Flamont, another member of the Outlaws who was apparently friends with David Jarrell.[9]

The prison escape prompted prison officials to expedite their preset plans to transfer Georgia's death row inmates from the prison in Reidsville to a newer facility, the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson, Georgia.[10]

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9780786499502
    .
  2. ISBN 9780275959524
    .
  3. ISBN 9780820323299
    .
  4. The Sumter Daily Item. Charlotte, North Carolina
    . Associated Press. August 26, 1980. p. 1.
  5. ^ "Charlotte Man Held in Escapee's Death". Star-News. Wilmington, North Carolina. Associated Press. August 9, 1980. p. 11.
  6. ^
    ISBN 9781138671638
    .
  7. The Sumter Daily Item. Charlotte, North Carolina
    . Associated Press. August 26, 1980. p. 1.
  8. ^ "Georgia State University Law Review". Archived from the original on August 19, 2010.
  9. ^ Morrow, Jason (August 27, 2014). "Savage Killer Timothy McCorquodale". Historical Crime Detective. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
  10. Newspapers.com
    .

External links

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