William Putman was executed by the State of Georgia for three murders
According to court documents William Putman would shoot and kill William Gerald Hodges at a Valdosta truck stop. That same night Putman would shoot and kill David N. Hardin, 22, and demanded that his wife Katie Back, 28, come with him and when she refused she was fatally shot
William Putman would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
William Putman would be executed on November 13 2002 by lethal injection
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When Was William Putman Executed
William Putman was executed on November 13 2002
William Putman Case
A former Alabama truck driver sentenced to death row 20 years ago after being convicted of fatally shooting a Kentucky couple traveling through Cook County is scheduled to be executed today in Jackson. He was also convicted of the murder of Hamilton County, Fla. school teacher William Hodges, 49, in Lowndes County. He was sentenced to life for Hodges murder.
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles met with representatives for condemned inmate William Howard Putman, 59, Tuesday. Although Putman canceled his hearing to spend time with his family, the board still considered – and denied – his clemency request. Appeals have continuously been made to both the State Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was sentenced Sept. 17, 1982.
According to court documents obtained from the Cook County Superior Court Clerk’s Office, Cook County shootings occurred in the early morning hours of July 10, 1980. The Lowndes County shooting was said to have occurred at a Truckstops of America in Valdosta on July 9, 1980. Hodges was shot while in his vehicle. Putman was also at the rest area. According to his statement, he had a few alcoholic beverages while at the truck stop around 10 p.m. He had in his possession a .38-caliber revolver. Hodges’ body was found around 2 p.m. July 10, 1980.
Later in the night, the Kentucky couple, David N. Hardin, 22, and his wife, Katie Back, 28, were asleep in a rest area near Lenox. They had their three children and Hardin’s niece in the back seat, and were returning home from a Florida vacation. Court documents mention several eyewitnesses saw a dark-colored semi pulling an empty yellow flatbed parked in the lot, and saw the driver approach the Hardin’s car, a Dodge sedan. They also heard a sound which sounded like firecrackers. The sound awakened Hardin’s niece, and she joined the other eyewitnesses in saying she saw a man grab Back. She struggled, refusing to go with him, and screamed for her husband, who had been shot. The man also shot Back.
The witnesses called law enforcement, describing the semi they’d seen. The vehicle’s description matched the one Putman was driving, and police arrested him in Dooly County at another rest station. They transported him back to Cook County.
While at the Cook County Jail, Putman’s clothing and personnel effects were inventoried. Among the things they found in Putman’s possession were Hodges’ insurance card, a watch and two rings, also belonging to Hodges. Alapaha Circuit District Attorney Bob Ellis, who was an assistant district attorney at the time, said when Putman first arrived at the Cook County jail, Cook law enforcement wasn’t aware of a fatal shooting occurring in a Lowndes County rest area. Around noon on July 10, Cook law enforcement learned about the deceased Hodges. Ellis said the person who answered the phone asked for the name of the deceased person, and the name, William G. Hodges, sounded familiar to her. His insurance card had been in Putman’s possession. That piece of paper, Ellis said, indicated the Lowndes County murder was connected to the Cook County murder.
Also a point in the state’s case was the fact the bullets used to fatally wound Hodges, Hardin and Back were the same. “The ballistics matched,” Ellis said.
Ellis also said the case has been going through the appeals process since the Cook County jury sentenced Putman to death. He added that the victims – the children who were in the back seat of the Hardins’ vehicle – have had to live their lives without their family members. One of the children, Shannon, who was only a few months old when her parents died, is now in her 20s with a child of her own. He added that the execution would be some sort of closure for the family. Attempts to contact the victims’ families for comment were unsuccessful.
http://www.valdostadailytimes.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2002/November/13-162-news02.txt
