Billy Waldrop was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of Thurman Macon Donahoo
According to court documents Billy Waldrop would break into the home of Thurman Macon Donahoo. The elderly man would be fatally shot before his house was set on fire
Billy Waldrop would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Billy Waldrop would be executed via the electric chair on January 10 1997
Billy Waldrop Case
That sometime prior to June 2, 1982, the defendant, Billy Waldrop, together with Eugene Singleton and Henry Mayes, planned and conspired together to rob, burglarize his house, and murder, if necessary, Thurman Macon Donahoo, a resident of Alpine, a rural area in Talladega County, Alabama. In furtherance of this scheme and conspiracy, the conspirators obtained a pistol to carry out their plan. The defendant and his co-conspirators knew or believed that the victim owned and possessed a large diamond ring, which he wore regularly and which was reputed to be of considerable *957 value. The victim did, in fact, own a diamond ring of approximately five carats, and it was, in fact, very valuable. Pursuant to their scheme, plan, and conspiracy, the defendant, Billy Waldrop, with one or more of his co-conspirators and accomplices, proceeded to the home of the victim on the night of June 2, 1982. When they arrived at his home, the victim was alive and in possession of the ring. When they left, the victim was dead or dying, and the defendant and his accomplices were in possession of the ring, together with other items of value taken from the house of the victim. After committing the robbery, burglary, and murder, and before leaving the scene of the crime, the defendant and his accomplices set fire to the victim’s house, obviously to destroy any and all evidence of their crime. The house was completely destroyed by the fire and the victim’s body was burned almost beyond recognition. The body, or portion remaining, was found partially beneath an overturned refrigerator. The next day the defendant and co-conspirator Mayes were in the State of Tennessee attempting to dispose of the ring and other items that had been stolen from the victim. They were unsuccessful and returned to Alabama, where they ultimately disposed of the ring for the sum of $10,000.00, the defendant receiving most of the money. By intense and excellent police work, the diamond was ultimately recovered and positively identified.
The murder of the victim was of the intentional killing type while the defendant and his accomplices were committing robbery in the first degree and burglary in the first degree. The intent required in the various counts of the indictment are not mutually exclusive, and the defendant and his accomplices possessed all of the requisite intent to sustain a conviction on each count of the indictment; and the jury so found. The jury likewise was instructed that the felony murder doctrine had no application to a capital offense for which the defendant was being tried.
https://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/court-of-appeals-criminal/1983/459-so-2d-953-0.html