Charles Stewart was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murder of his ex wife Betty Sue Lang
According to court documents Charles Stewart would go to the home of Betty Sue Lang and would fatally shoot her in front of her child
Charles Stewart would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Charles Stewart is incarcerated at Holman Prison
Charles Stewart Case
The state’s evidence tended to show that the appellant shot his ex-wife in the head on July 16, 1990. The appellant and the victim were involved in a custody dispute over their six-year-old son around the time of the shooting. Approximately three weeks before the shooting, the victim received permanent custody of the child. On July 6, 1990, the victim married Phillip Lang, a former employee of the appellant’s. On that same day, the victim and the appellant had an appointment at a lawyer’s office to sign some papers concerning the sale of their house. When the appellant arrived, he appeared agitated and refused to sign the papers. When he was driving away, he rammed his automobile into the automobile of the victim’s husband.
On the morning of the shooting, the appellant and Ricky Brooks went to Birmingham in a truck rented by the appellant. The appellant talked of his ex-wife and son frequently during the day. Both the appellant and Brooks were drinking. Brooks testified that the appellant told him that he was going to get his son if he had to shoot his ex-wife. Brooks was concerned about what the appellant told him that day and called his wife three different times during the day. Mrs. Brooks called the Talladega Sheriff’s Department that afternoon and told them about the appellant’s conversation with her husband.
The appellant and Brooks arrived back in Talladega County around 5:30 p.m. They stopped at a mutual friend’s house, where Brooks entered the house and did not come out. He told the friend to tell the appellant that he had passed out. The appellant then left the residence alone. Brooks testified that the appellant had a gun with him on the day of the murder.
The appellant then went to his ex-wife’s house trailer that she shared with Phillip Lang. He drove through the backyard, knocking over shrubs and other things in his path. The appellant got out of his truck and entered the house trailer uninvited. At this time his son was playing outside nearby. After several minutes, the boy went into the trailer, where he saw his mother fully clothed on the sofa with her head covered in blood. The victim told the boy to run next door to his step-grandparents’ house and have them call the police. The appellant told him not to do so. The boy ran next door, and his step-grandparents *497 called the police. When the boy went back outside, he saw the appellant push the victim off of the porch of the trailer. At this time his mother had no clothes on except socks. The appellant told the victim to get into the truck. She asked where they were going. He said that “it didn’t matter.” The appellant then grabbed her hair, raised his gun, and shot her in the back of the head. He then picked up his son and ran into a nearby field. Police arrived within minutes and found the appellant waiting in a field. The victim’s body was found outside the trailer and a gun was recovered nearby.
The appellant maintains that there was no evidence to find him guilty of kidnapping and burglary. As to the kidnapping charge, the appellant contends that there was no evidence that he intended to abduct, terrorize, or inflict physical harm on the victim.
https://law.justia.com/cases/alabama/court-of-appeals-criminal/1992/cr-90-415-2.html
