Robert Tarver was executed by the State of Alabama for the murder of Hugh Kite
According to court documents Robert Tarver would enter Kite’s Grocery and Bait Store in Cottonton Alabama and would proceed to murder the owner Hugh Kite in the commission of a robbery
Robert Tarver would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Robert Tarver would be executed by way of the electric chair on April 14 2000
Robert Tarver FAQ
When Was Robert Tarver Executed
Robert Tarver was executed on April 14 2000
Robert Tarver Case
Robert Lee Tarver, Jr. was indicted for the intentional murder of Hugh Sims Kite, during the course of a robbery, in violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. The jury found the appellant “guilty as charged in the indictment” during the guilt phase of the trial. At the sentencing phase, the jury recommended the appellant receive a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. The trial judge rejected the jury’s recommendation at the sentencing hearing. He determined the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and sentenced the appellant to death.
The victim, Hugh Sims Kite, owned Kite’s Store on Highway 165 in Cottonton, Alabama. On the evening of September 15, 1984, Jerry Ford, a ten-year-old boy, was helping the victim at his store. As the victim prepared to close the store, he told Ford to stand out front while he put some ice in the back of his truck which was parked behind the store. While Ford was waiting in the front of the store, he heard two shots. Ford went around to the back of the store and called for the victim but he did not get an answer. Ford returned to the front of the store and remained there until Bennie Davis came by the store.
This same night, Cynthia Sue Howard and her husband were camping in a pasture south of the railroad tracks from Kite’s Store. Around 9:15 p.m. (Eastern time), Howard saw some car lights in the pasture about 300 yards away. Some 30 to 45 minutes later, she heard four gunshots. Bennie Davis testified that he stopped at Kite’s Store on the night of September 15, 1984. After finding no one inside the store, Davis asked Ford where the victim was. Ford replied that he had heard some shots after the victim went behind the store. Ford then got a flashlight for Davis and Davis went behind the store and found the victim lying on the ground. Davis contacted the police and remained at the scene until they arrived. Sollie Pate, a deputy with the Russell County Sheriff’s Department, testified that, on the evening in question, he was at his home which is about a mile from Kite’s Store. At 10:30 p.m. (Eastern time), he received a call from the dispatcher that someone had been shot at Kite’s Store. Pate went to the scene and, upon his arrival, he found no pulse on the victim. He then secured the scene and called for an ambulance, the coroner and the investigators. Pate saw some ice in the back of the victim’s truck. Lesley Vance, the Russell County Coroner, testified that he examined the victim’s body at the scene. Vance found three gunshot wounds on the victim and determined the victim was dead. Vance stated that the victim’s wallet was found on his body and that there was money lying outside the victim’s left pocket. Vance was later recalled to the stand and stated that his earlier testimony about finding the victim’s wallet was incorrect. He stated that the victim’s wallet was not found.
Raymond Smith, an investigator with the Russell County Sheriff’s Department, testified that he took photographs of the scene and the victim’s body. Smith felt something in the victim’s right front pocket which appeared to be folded paper and change in the left front pocket. The victim’s two rear pockets were empty and the left pocket had been turned three-quarters inside out. The inside part of the pocket had been pulled outside the opening of the pocket. Some money was found lying between the victim’s left hip and knee. Next to the victim’s left foot, Smith saw two credit cards, a Master Card and a Visa. The victim’s wallet was not found.
Smith noticed shoe prints, with a distinctive tread design, leading away from the vicinity of the area where the victim was found. The prints led south from the store across the railroad tracks and onto a dirt road in a pasture which was owned by the victim. The shoe prints were also found leading from the pasture towards the store. The shoe prints were tracked to an area where Smith found scratch marks from a vehicle in the dirt. The scratch marks indicated that the vehicle had left at a high rate of speed. The tire prints led to the highway and it appeared the vehicle proceeded onto the highway in a southerly direction. Tire prints of all four tires could be seen and the tires all seemed to be different. An attempt was made to locate shoes in area stores which had the same tread design as the shoe prints. These efforts were unsuccessful.
The tires of area vehicles and the parking lots of several country stores were checked in an attempt to locate similar tire prints to those found in the pasture. These efforts, too, proved to be fruitless. While making a search of the pasture, Smith found a Salem cigarette butt in the grass area where the vehicle that made the tire prints had been parked. The butt appeared to be fresh because the ash of the cigarette was in good, complete condition and was lying right off of the end of the butt.
On October 11, 1984, Thomas Boswell, the chief investigator for the Russell County Sheriff’s Department, received some information concerning this case from a Robert Jackson. Based on this information, Boswell asked Investigator Herbert Parker to locate Andrew Richardson. Richardson was located and came to the Sheriff’s office and made a statement. Following his statement, Richardson was arrested for the victim’s murder. Boswell then went to the residence of Esther Dennis and asked her about a gun. After Richardson, who had accompanied Boswell, made a comment to Dennis, she produced a Colt single shot revolver. The gun was unloaded. Boswell also went to the home of Addie Upshaw, the occasional residence of the appellant. At Upshaw’s residence, a Chevrolet automobile was found with a distinctive set of tires which had characteristics similar to the tire prints found in the pasture. The car was impounded and towed to the jail yard. A search of Upshaw’s home was made and a pair of Nike tennis shoes was found. The tread on these shoes looked similar to the shoe prints in the pasture.
Boswell testified that, on October 4, 1984, a request had been made to the Governor to authorize payment of a reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the victim’s murder. However, Boswell stated that Jackson never mentioned a reward. In fact, Boswell already had the name of the appellant along with 25 other names, when he talked to Jackson. Boswell testified that Richardson has also been indicted for the victim’s murder. Esther Dennis testified that the appellant came to her house alone one Saturday afternoon and asked to borrow her gun. She lent it to him and he returned it about a week and a half later. Richardson was with the appellant when he returned the gun. Dennis stated that she didn’t remember if the gun was loaded when the appellant borrowed it or if he borrowed it before or after the victim was killed.
Dr. Thomas Gilchrist performed the autopsy on the victim. His examination revealed the victim had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and two gunshot wounds to the right thigh. Gilchrist removed two bullets from the victim’s body. The third bullet had exited the body. Gilchrist determined the victim’s cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the chest. Lonnie Harden, a firearms and toolmark examiner for the Department of Forensic Sciences, examined the two expended .38 bullets which were removed from the victim’s body and test fired the gun which was obtained from Dennis. He determined that the two bullets had been fired through this particular gun. Harden also examined the shirt and pants the victim was wearing on the night of his death. He found no gunpowder residue around the bullet holes in the shirt and pants. This indicated to Harden that the gunshots had been fired from a distance of in excess of 30 inches away.
Joe Edwards, a Phenix City police officer, assisted the district attorney’s office in this investigation. He testified that, on the morning of September 16, 1984, he found a Budweiser beer can beside the tire tracks in the pasture behind Kite’s Store. When he poured the beer from the can, it began to foam. This indicated to Edwards that the beer in the can was relatively fresh. Gloria Walters, a latent print examiner with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, lifted a latent fingerprint from the Budweiser can. This print matched the known fingerprint of the appellant’s right thumb. John Perdue testified that he is a trooper with the ABI and he assists law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations. He participated in the investigation of the victim’s death. He stated that he was present during the interviews of Richardson and the appellant. During these interviews, he made notes that both Richardson and the appellant smoked Salem cigarettes. Tellis Hudson, a criminalist with the DFS, assisted in the investigation. He examined the shoe prints found in the pasture and made photographs of the prints. He also made a plaster cast of one of the shoe prints. Hudson stated that the shoe prints had an unusual tread design. He also said that part of the impression of the shoe print was probably made by the person’s pants’ legs being too long and dragging the ground. Hudson compared the Nike tennis shoes to photographs of the shoe prints found in the pasture. He stated that the tread design of the tennis shoes was fairly similar to the design of the shoe prints but they did not match. Hudson also examined and made photographs of the tire tracks in the pasture. He also examined the tires of the Chevrolet and made tire prints from these tires. By comparing these tire prints to photographs of the tire tracks found in the pasture, Hudson determined that one of the prints in the pasture could have been made by the left, and possibly the right, front tire of the Chevrolet.
Prentiss Griffith, the Sheriff of Russell County, also examined the shoe prints which were found leading back and forth between the pasture and the rear of Kite’s Store. He stated that the stride of the prints leading away from the store to the pasture were longer than those leading from the pasture to the store. This indicated to him that the person was running away from the store. Griffith said that his observation of the tire prints indicated that the vehicle turned into the pasture from Highway 165 onto a dirt road. The vehicle proceeded down the dirt road until it forked. The vehicle then pulled in the middle of the fork next to a tree and then backed into a grassy area. When the car left the pasture, it turned south onto Highway 165. Griffith examined the tires of the Chevrolet when it was parked in the jail yard. This vehicle’s tires’ tread design and wear had the same characteristics as the prints found in the pasture. Griffith stated that it had rained in the area on the afternoon of the victim’s death. The rain had covered all prints in the area except the ones found.
Andrew Richardson testified that the appellant came to his house at 8:00 p.m. (Central time) on the evening of September 15, 1984. The appellant asked Richardson to go for a ride and said he wouldn’t be gone long. He stated he had some business to do with a white man. The appellant had with him some coveralls, a wig and a stocking mask. He put on these items and asked Richardson if he would fool anyone. The two then left Richardson’s house in the appellant’s Chevrolet. The appellant drove down Highway 165 and passed Kite’s Store. They drove to ML’s Club where Richardson went inside to find his brother. When Richardson returned to the car, the appellant drove back down Highway 165 and turned off into a pasture. The appellant drove down a dirt road and then backed up the car and headed it towards the highway. The two sat and talked for a while. The appellant was drinking a Budweiser beer at this time.
At some point, the appellant told Richardson that he hated to do it but he had to, and told Richardson to take his car home and park it if he didn’t come back. The appellant then got out of the car and put on the wig and mask. He then headed towards Kite’s Store. Approximately five to 10 minutes after the appellant left, Richardson heard three shots. Although scared, Richardson remained at the car until the appellant returned. When the appellant got back to the car, he did not have the mask or the wig. He told Richardson to drive after he got in the passenger seat. As Richardson was driving, the appellant told him to stop. The appellant then left his clothes in some bushes. When the appellant got back to the car, he told Richardson that he had messed up and killed the victim. Richardson then drove to his house. The appellant counted some money and gave Richardson $80. He stuck the gun in the inside arm of the couch in Richardson’s house.
The two then went to Mary’s Lounge. After the lounge closed, Richardson went to Robert Hardaway’s house and the appellant went to see a girl friend. The next day, Richardson accompanied the appellant and Bossie Edmonds to the appellant’s mother’s house in Brundidge. Once there, the appellant stayed and Richardson and Edmonds returned home. The following Friday, the appellant came to Richardson’s house and got the gun from the couch. Richardson went with the appellant to return the gun to Dennis. On the way home, the appellant told Richardson that, if he said anything about it, he’d wind up the same way. Richardson told Robert Jackson what happened. Some time later, he came to the Sheriff’s office with Officer Parker and Jackson. Richardson testified that he had been indicted for this offense and he had not been promised anything in exchange for his testimony. Richardson admitted to some inconsistencies between his statement and his testimony. He also stated that he sometimes wears his pants legs rolled up.
Bossie Edmonds testified that he drove the appellant to Brundidge the day after the victim was killed. He stated that Richardson rode with them. When Edmonds dropped off the appellant at his mother’s house, he gave Edmonds a $20 bill. Edmonds also saw some additional money folded in the appellant’s hand. Edmonds then drove Richardson home. Robert Jackson testified that he and Richardson were raised together and Richardson told him what had happened concerning the victim’s death. Jackson told Richardson to turn himself in. The next day, Jackson contacted Officer Parker. Parker came to his house and waited for Richardson. When Richardson arrived, Jackson told him Parker needed to see him and Richardson agreed. Jackson then went to the Sheriff’s office with Parker and Richardson. Jackson stated that he was unaware of the reward when he talked to Richardson. He stated that he had not asked for the reward but he thought he’d probably receive it.
Officer Parker took possession of the personal effects of the victim on the night in question. Inside and just outside the victim’s left front pocket, there were $36 in $1 bills, $50 in $5 bills, and $3.96 in change and a set of keys. In the right front pocket, there were $15 in $1 bills, $50 in $5 bills, and 35 cents in change, along with two sets of keys, some medication and a pocketknife. Next to the victim’s left leg, there were a Master card and a Visa credit card. No wallet was found on the victim. Parker interviewed the appellant on October 12, 1984. The appellant was told Parker was investigating the murder of the victim. He was advised of his Miranda rights and the waiver of those rights. The appellant stated that he understood his rights and signed this waiver. Parker testified that no threats, inducements, or promises were made to the appellant in return for his statement.
During this interview, the appellant told Parker that he was nowhere near Cottonton on the night in question. He said that he had been at Mary’s Lounge that night playing pool with Richardson from 7:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. He stated that he drank Budweiser that night and Richardson drank whiskey. The appellant stated that he spent the night with his girl friend. He went to Brundidge after he was told by Bruce Person that the victim had been killed. Once the appellant was told that they (the investigators) had talked to Richardson, he became very nervous. When the appellant was charged with the victim’s murder, he said he had nothing else to say. The appellant also told Parker that he’d been out of work one month before the victim was killed. Parker acknowledged several differences between Richardson’s statement and his testimony.
Alberta Williams testified that she was at ML’s Club on the night of September 15, 1984. At approximately 10:00 or 10:30 p.m., she heard three shots. She said she did not see Richardson or the appellant’s car at ML’s Club that night. Robert Hardaway testified that he was at Mary’s Lounge on the night in question from 7:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. (Central time). He did not see Richardson and the appellant at Mary’s until 11:30 or 12:00. He said Richardson’s pants legs were not rolled up that night. Clarence Diggs, Jr., was the DJ at Mary’s Lounge on September 15, 1984. He said no one played pool once the music started playing.
Hugh Sims Kite, Jr., testified that he was the victim’s son and sometimes worked at his father’s store. He stated that he was familiar with his father’s habits about the store money and his personal money. Kite said his father had a wallet and kept it in his left hip pocket. His father kept large bills and other money for special purposes in his wallet. He also carried money elsewhere on his person. Kite saw his father early on the evening of his death. The victim and his son had a $3,000 obligation to meet and the victim told his son that he thought he had enough money to meet this obligation. Kite saw his father’s wallet that night when his father pulled it out to give him some money. However, Kite told his father to keep the money until the next day. At this point, the State rested its case.
Addie Upshaw, the appellant’s grandmother, testified that the appellant was living with her on September 15, 1984. Two cancelled checks made out to the appellant and signed by Upshaw were admitted into evidence. Upshaw stated that these checks were paid to the appellant for working around her house. Debra Upshaw, Addie Upshaw’s daughter and the appellant’s aunt, testified that she was at her mother’s house on the afternoon of September 15, 1984. That afternoon, the appellant and Richardson were at the house. The appellant told Upshaw that there was a gun in the pocket of the chair in which Richardson was sitting. He said the gun was for protection. Upshaw testified that the Chevrolet initially belonged to her but she had given it to the appellant. Upshaw stated that she brought to court with her the personal articles of the appellant that she had signed for at the Russell County Jail. One of the items that she had was a bullet.
During the State’s rebuttal, two witnesses, Bill Landreau and Tom Woodard of the Russell County Sheriff’s Department, stated that they had seen the bullet which the appellant had at the jail, which was released to Upshaw. They testified that the bullet they had seen was a revolver bullet. However, the bullet Upshaw brought to court was a rifle bullet. Cleopus Jones testified that he worked at ML’s Club on the evening of September 15, 1984. He stated that Richardson never came into ML’s Club that night. Rosa Henry, the wife of the owner of ML’s Club, was also working at ML’s on the evening of September 15. She didn’t see Richardson at the club that night. Sarah Mays and Matthew Richardson testified they saw the appellant and Richardson at Mary’s Lounge around 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the night of September 15, 1984.
The appellant testified that he was living with his grandmother on September 15, 1984. At approximately 7:00 p.m. (Central time), he drove to Knott’s Grocery and bought two cans of Budweiser beer. The appellant put the beers on the front seat and drove to Richardson’s house. When he arrived, around 7:30 or 8:00, Richardson asked the appellant to take him to ML’s Club so he could look for his brother. The appellant told Richardson he couldn’t take him because he had some business to take care of. Richardson then asked the appellant if he had a gun and the appellant said that he did. The appellant said he had borrowed the gun a week earlier from Dennis for his grandmother’s protection.
Richardson then asked the appellant if he could borrow the gun. The appellant told him no and said he had to go. Richardson wanted to go with the appellant and the two drove to the appellant’s grandmother’s house. On the way, Richardson kept asking to borrow the gun. He said “Redbone” had threatened him and he needed the gun for protection. The appellant then told Richardson he could borrow the gun but he had to bring it back. He told Richardson to sit in a certain chair at his grandmother’s house and he would find the gun in the chair. Once at Upshaw’s house, Richardson sat in the chair while the appellant took a shower.
After this, the appellant and Richardson left Upshaw’s house in the appellant’s car. Richardson gave the appellant the gun and he put it under the front seat of the car. The appellant and Richardson then went back to Richardson’s house. Richardson asked the appellant to take him to ML’s Club. When the appellant said he had something else to do, Richardson asked to borrow his car. The appellant agreed and Richardson said he’d be back in 15 minutes. The appellant went to his car and got one of the Budweiser beers before Richardson left, around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. (Central time). The appellant remained at Richardson’s house until he returned one hour and a half later. When Richardson returned, he gave the gun to the appellant and told him he’d shot somebody. The gun was loaded when the appellant gave the gun to Richardson. It was empty when he got it back. The appellant wiped the gun with a rag and threw the empty shells away. He then stuck the gun in a hole in a couch in Richardson’s house. Richardson changed clothes and the two went to Mary’s Lounge. They arrived around 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. (Central time). The appellant stayed there until early the next morning.
Later that morning, the appellant went to Matthew Richardson’s house and collected a $30 debt from him. Bruce Person was there and told him the victim had been killed. That afternoon, Edmonds took him to Brundidge. He paid Edmonds $20. When the appellant returned from Brundidge a few days later, he was told that Richardson wanted to see him because he was in some kind of trouble. The appellant then went over to Richardson’s house to see if he’d gotten rid of the gun. When Richardson said he hadn’t, the two returned the gun to Dennis. The appellant admitted his grandmother sometimes wore a wig. He said that he didn’t tell Parker that Richardson told him he’d shot somebody because he didn’t think it was important.
During the sentencing phase, Tharon Alford, the appellant’s parole officer, testified that the appellant was placed on parole in October of 1982. His parole was revoked because he failed to report, maintain employment and pay fees. On September 15, 1984, the appellant was under a sentence of imprisonment in Alabama. A stipulation was entered that the appellant was arrested while at work.
Johnny Blue, the appellant’s uncle, testified that he and the appellant grew up together. He said that the appellant had a normal childhood although the family was poor. The appellant had married at 18 but his wife died of cancer in 1968. Blue was aware of some of the appellant’s previous convictions.
Al Garcia, a certified polygraph examiner, testified that he performed a polygraph examination on the appellant. The appellant exhibited no deceptive responses when he was asked questions about this offense. Garcia admitted there is a lot of controversy about the reliability of polygraph examinations. He said that the results of the appellant’s test did not mean that he wasn’t necessarily lying.
The jury, by a vote of seven to five, recommended the appellant be sentenced to life imprisonment. A sentencing hearing was held by the trial judge. Following this hearing, the trial judge sentenced the appellant to death.
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