Bobby Wilcher was executed by the State of Mississippi for a double murder
According to court documents Bobby Wilcher met the two victims, Katie Belle Moore and Velma Odell Noblin, at a bar and persuaded them for a ride. Bobby Wilcher would direct them to a remote location where he would rob and stab both women to death
Bobby Wilcher would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Bobby Wilcher would be executed by lethal injection on October 18 2006
Bobby Wilcher Photos
Bobby Wilcher FAQ
When Was Bobby Wilcher Executed
Bobby Wilcher was executed on October 18 2006
Bobby Wilcher Case
Family members of two Scott County women brutally murdered by Bobby Glen Wilcher hugged corrections officials after Wilcher was executed Wednesday evening at the Mississippi State Penitentiary. It took 24 years for Wilcher’s execution to be carried out, but it took only about 11 minutes for him to die by lethal injection for the 1982 slayings of Katie Bell Moore and Velma Odell Noblin. Both mothers were stabbed more than 20 times each.
“He didn’t want to be executed. He was acting like the other seven executions I have been involved in,” Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said. Wilcher, 43, did not expect another stay, corrections officials said. The U.S. Supreme Court, about 90 minutes before the scheduled 6 p.m. execution, refused to consider his emergency stay request. He was pronounced dead at 6:42 p.m.
In July, Wilcher received a last-minute reprieve from the U.S. Supreme Court after the court said it needed more time to consider the case. He voluntarily gave up his federal appeals in June but later tried to have them reinstated. When asked in the death chamber if he wanted to make a statement, Wilcher said, “I have none.” But earlier Wednesday, Wilcher told Epps, “I messed up a good thing, and now I can’t do anything about it.” Epps said Wilcher made the comment when he asked him about killing the women.
Wilcher killed Moore and Noblin after meeting them at a Forest bar. He persuaded them to drive him home and diverted them down a deserted road where he killed them. Wilcher never apologized for the slayings.
For the families of the victims, there finally is closure. “The families are relieved. It was long overdue,” said Moore’s nephew, Joe Rigby, who was Scott County’s coroner in 1982. He is now the circuit clerk. Wilcher said before his execution that he didn’t want a sedative but changed his mind as the time neared. Epps said Wilcher indicated he got only an hour of sleep Tuesday night because he was writing goodbye letters.
Wilcher’s attorney, Cliff Johnson, who witnessed the execution, said Wilcher spent his entire adult life in dehumanizing conditions but maintained the capacity to care deeply for other people, to show kindness and to demonstrate forgiveness and understanding. “He was my friend, and I will miss him,” Johnson said. About eight anti-death penalty activists gathered on the penitentiary grounds before the execution.
Wilcher was visited Wednesday by Lindy Wells, a Yazoo City woman with whom he had become friendly. Also, Johnson and his paralegal, as well as a spiritual adviser and prison chaplains, visited Wilcher in his cell, which was 19 steps from the execution chamber. Wilcher also made collect calls to Wells before her visit and to others.
Epps said Wilcher explained that it was Wells who got him interested in fighting to have his appeals reinstated. Epps said Wilcher told him Wells was a jury member in one of his trials. He had been tried separately for each slaying. The Clarion-Ledger attempted to contact Wells but was told by a female who answered the telephone late Wednesday after the execution that she wasn’t at home.
Wilcher’s last meal request was for two dozen shrimp, two large orders of fried onion rings, two orders of fries, one raw onion, six pieces of garlic bread, two cold, 32-ounce Cokes and two strawberry shakes. He wanted to share the food with prison personnel, Epps said. Wilcher had a similar meal request in July.
This time, Wilcher’s last meal was served at 12:45 p.m. instead of the traditional 4 p.m. Epps said it was moved for logistical purposes to allow more time for things such as a haircut for Wilcher. “It was better to get it out of the way,” Epps said of the earlier time for the meal. Epps said it’s a change he probably will continue.
Wilcher’s body was released to Colonial Funeral Home in Forest. He requested that his personal items be given to his attorney. At his request, none of Wilcher’s family attended his execution. But Wilcher talked Tuesday by telephone to his mother, who is incarcerated in the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility on a drug conviction. His father recently died, Epps said. Epps said if there is any lesson to be learned from Wilcher’s case, it is that “crime doesn’t pay.”
Bobby Glen Wilcher declined breakfast and drank only coffee. He had his last meal at 12:45 p.m. From 1-4 p.m., he visited with attorney Cliff Johnson, friend Lindy Lou Wells, paralegal Angela Parnell and spiritual adviser Stan Wilson. At 4:15 p.m. he took a shower
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