William Tucker was executed by the State of Georgia for a murder committed during a robbery
According to court documents William Tucker would attempt to rob a store and in the process would shoot and kill the pregnant store clerk
William Tucker would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
William Tucker would be executed by way of the electric chair on May 29 1987
William Tucker Photos
William Tucker FAQ
When was William Tucker executed
William Tucker was executed on May 29 1987
How was William Tucker executed
William Tucker was executed by the way of the electric chair
William Tucker Case
he electrocution of killer William Boyd Tucker, who murdered a pregnant newlywed, brings the rate of executions to its quickest pace in the United States since the Supreme Court revived the death penalty in 1976.
Tucker, 31, was pronounced dead at 7:29 p.m. Friday by Ralph Kemp, the warden at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center, about 60 miles south of Atlanta.
He was executed in Georgia’s electric chair for the 1977 murder of a Kathleen Perry, 19, a pregnant convenience store clerk who was married only months before she was killed.
Tucker’s execution is the fifth in the last two weeks in the United States, the fastest rate in the nation since the Supreme Court ruled favorably on the constitutionality of the death penalty in 1976.
The five executions this month in the United States marks the second time that many in one month since the carrying out of death sentences resumed in 1977. Their were five executions in January 1985.
Tucker read a prepared statement while strapped in the electric chair, attacking the death penalty as a poor deterent to crime and calling the state and society murderers themselves for executing him.
‘No matter how sterile and sanitary you make this execution, it’s still murder,’ Tucker said. ‘You are as guilty as I am and you will be held accountable one day. I leave you with my forgiveness and love.’
Tucker said the only way to deter crime is to overhaul society, not execute criminals.
‘I take full responsibility for the crime I committed and am willing to accept the punishment,’ Tucker said. ‘I am a product of your creation. We seem to say killing someone is all right in some cases. That’s a terribly wrong message.’
During his trial for the kidnapping and stabbing death of Perry, of Columbus, Ga., Tucker claimed he was under the influence of alcohol and marijuana at the time, and said he did not remember killing the woman. He later said he did remember the killing.
‘I crossed into an area where I had no control,’ Tucker said. ‘Obtaining pleasure was all I thought of. I killed. I am fully aware my action led me to this day. You see a human being who is getting what he deserves.’
Tucker, who became religious while in prison, said he hated himself after the murder.
‘In the years I’ve been in prison, I grew up and matured with the help of a loving and merciful God,’ Tucker said.
His last words were: ‘God bless you all.’
Earlier Friday, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to deny Tucker a stay of execution, which had been scheduled for Wednesday. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a 24-hour stay Wednesday, and the Supreme Court granted another 24-hour stay Thursday so the high court could further review the case.
Tucker was the third man to die in the Georgia electric chair this month, the 10th put to death in Georgia since the state resumed executions in 1983 and the 75th in the nation since the Supreme Court reinstated capital punishment in 1976.