Did you know that a man on death row escaped from prison the night before his execution only to be killed in a bar fight the following night.
Troy Leon Gregg (1953 – 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.
Gregg was convicted of having murdered Fred Edward Simmons and Bob Durwood Moore, who had given him and another man a ride when they were hitchhiking. The crime occurred on 21 November 1973.
In Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court held that the State of Georgia could constitutionally put Gregg to death.
Gregg never made it to the electric chair. He escaped from prison in July, 1980, the night before his set date for execution, but died the following night in a bar fight in North Carolina.
GREGG v. THE STATE.
Murder. Gwinnett Superior Court. Before Judge Merritt.
GRICE, Chief Justice.
Troy Leon Gregg was tried and convicted in the Superior Court of Gwinnett County for the murders and armed robberies of Fred Edward Simmons and Bob Durwood (“Tex”) Moore. The case is before this court on appeal and mandatory review of the death sentences imposed on each of the four counts charging these crimes.
The evidence which the state presented to prove guilt is that which follows.
On Wednesday morning, November 21, 1973, the appellant Gregg (age 25) and a traveling companion Floyd Ralford (“Sam”) Allen (age 16) were hitchhiking north in Florida. They had only $8 between them when they were given a ride by the above named victims.
About two hundred forty miles north of Miami on the Florida Turnpike, their automobile broke down. A Florida State Highway Patrolman accompanied Simmons and Moore to an automobile dealer where Simmons purchased a 1960 red and white Pontiac. Thereafter, they again picked up Gregg and Allen and resumed their journey northward. En route, both Simmons and Moore were seen in possession of large sums of money.
A man on death row escaped from prison the night before his execution only to be killed in a bar fight the following night
Troy Gregg was not facing an imminent execution escaped custody from death row at the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville with three other inmates in July, 1980. The execution site had been moved from Reidsville to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center in Jackson earlier that same year. A UDS (under death sentence) inmate facing imminent execution would have been moved from Reidsville to Jackson at least several days in advance and kept isolated from all other inmates.
ReplyDeleteDeath row itself moved from Reisdville to Jackson after the 1980 escape.