Carl Moseley was sentenced to death by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Deborah Henley
According to court documents Carl Moseley and Deborah Henley were seen leaving a bar together. Later the victim would be found murdered and she had been sexually assaulted
Carl Moseley would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Carl Moseley would die on death row from stomach cancer
Carl Moseley Photos
Carl Moseley Now
| CARL S MOSELEY | |
| Offender Number: | 0294214 |
| Inmate Status: | INACTIVE |
| Gender: | MALE |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Ethnic Group: | NOT HISPANIC/LATINO |
| Birth Date: | 10/22/1965 |
| Age: | 57 |
Carl Moseley Case
A death row inmate convicted of murdering two women in Forsyth and Stokes counties in 1991 died last week of “natural causes,” prison officials said in a two-sentence news release. But his case may not be over.
Carl Stephen Moseley, 56, of Mount Airy, died Thursday night at the Central Prison Healthcare Complex, a hospital that treats prison inmates from around the state.
The department declined to release additional information, but multiple media outlets reported Moseley died from cancer, citing an official with the N.C. Center for Actual Innocence as the source of that information.
Christine Mumma, director of the center, confirmed Tuesday he died from cancer, after having been diagnosed with Stage 4 stomach cancer in July. She said a recent consent agreement between her office, the state Attorney General and the Stokes County District Attorney’s office was submitted to a judge on Thursday, agreeing to a DNA test of evidence left from one of the cases.
“Sadly, he did that night,” Mumma said, adding the judge had not yet signed the decree, though she has asked for the DNA testing to move forward even with his death. Mumma said Moseley wanted his name cleared, even if he did not live to see it.
“When Carl was diagnosed, I went to meet with him, and told him ‘This is the time to decide whether you need to come to peace with anything,’ that I would help him focus on that, or we would focus on trying to clear his name. He said he was innocent and wanted to clear his name.”
Moseley was convicted of first-degree murder in 1992 in Forsyth County in the death of Deborah Jane Henley, 38. And then in 1993, he was convicted of first-degree murder, first-degree rape and first-degree sexual offense in the death of 35-year-old Dorothy Woods Johnson in Stokes County.
He was sentenced to death in both killings and also received a life sentence for the rape and sexual assault convictions.
Johnson was found on April 12, 1991, in a secluded area near Germanton called Friendship Forest. According to testimony, she had been raped, beaten, cut and strangled.
Then on July 26, 1991, Henley’s body was found in a cornfield off Bethania Road. A pathologist testified that she had also been beaten, stabbed, cut and sexually assaulted.
Both women were last seen alive with Moseley at a Winston-Salem country music nightclub.
Moseley was in prison, awaiting execution, when a series of lawsuits questioning the fairness and legality of execution in the state brought about what amounted to a moratorium on executions in North Carolina. The last execution was in 2006.
Moseley, who was white, was part of that series of lawsuits, claiming he was a victim of reverse racial discrimination, and he was more likely to be sentenced to death because the victims were white.
Mumma said Moseley contacted the N.C. Center for Actual Innocence in 2015, an organization that specializes in representing inmates who claim they were wrongfully convicted.
“He had tried for years (to clear his name), he was very frustrated the focus was always on trying to get him off death row rather than to prove his innocence. With Carl, he wanted to be prove his innocence from the beginning.”
While she was not sure what will happen to the case now, Mumma said she will continue pushing to clear his name, hoping the judge will grant the order for new DNA testing.
“What’s the worst that’s going to happen?” she asked. “You’re going to ensure justice is served either way.”