Three of the four were each killed with a single head shot. It wasn't until Flowers' sixth trial that jurors heard anything about the Alabama suspects. The truths going to come out.. "He would have just told me everything and anything at that point," Goldberg said. As far as him telling me he killed some people, hell, naw, he aint ever told me that. They wanted to ask him about his alibi for the day of the Tardy Furniture murders, an alibi that hadn't checked out. And there he was. 0 Add Rating Anonymously. American Public Media reports that Hemphills ex-girlfriend Monkra Moore said she and Hemphill lived together in 1996 and claimed that he was home in Winona at around 7am on the morning of the murders. Afraid that he would be shot on sight if he didnt surrender, Hemphill turned himself in at the local police station (wearing Grant Hill Filas, the shoes investigators had linked to a bloody footprint at the crime scene) and was immediately handcuffed and booked into the local lock-up. Mr. Willie James Hemphill, of 1119-101 Kevin Lane, died Thursday, November 9, 2017. Not the right Willie? Baran noted that Hemphill was known to love the song Nasty Bitch by Bust Down it was not for kids, Baran said which he would sing and dance to on Winonas streets in those days. The Dallas Morning News. In Flowers' third trial, Snow testified that the height of the man she saw was between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-5. "I don't know nothing about it.". Willie James Hemphill Obituary. The judge denied Flowers' request to attend his mother funeral here on July 21. Asked if she remembered where she was when the murders happened, she recalled the morning clearly. One of them wore Grant Hill Fila sneakers. Presley and Gamble had developed a simplemodus operandi. Nine days later, on July 25, 1996, the bodies of two innocent people were discovered in a pawn shop in Birmingham, Alabama. LOW HIGH. His full criminal history is too lengthy to reproduce here. And Hemphill had actually lived for a time in Winona. During the sixth Flowers trial, Matthews, who worked with Miller at the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said the only suspect in the case aside from Flowers was Doyle Simpson, whose gun the prosecution argued Flowers stole and used as the murder weapon. He died on May 27, 2008 at age 66. EPISODE 16. The funeral service will be 1pm Sunday at China Grove A.M.E. Zion Church. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. Asked to clarify what he'd just said, Hemphill became agitated. But that doesnt make Doyle a cold killer. Its a pretty cold-hearted human being that can kill four people.. Presley and Gamble did four of the June heists together and one crime was perpetrated by Presley alone. The answer was yes many, many times. Willie James Hemphill, Willie J Hemphill, Williae Hemphill. While Presley drove the action, Gamble kept his gun trained on the scene in case anyone tried to flee. He said he would have sent a written report back to Mississippi, so authorities there could check out the stories. And why didnt DA Doug Evans even consider the Presley-Gamble connection? State investigator Matthews told the jury he didnt check Hemphills alibi, ruling him out by conversation alone. We have lots of information about Willie: religious views are listed as Christian . And maybe his girlfriend, Katherine Snow, told the authorities that she saw Curtis leaning up against Doyle Simpsons car because thats what investigators wanted to hear. For Flowers, the new information including Flemings changed story adds weight to his case for a full acquittal. But, just like Curtis Flowers, Doyle Simpson fails the motive test. Police arrived at the factory and interviewed employee Katherine Snow. 2. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. Why was he questioned? . Willie James Hemphill Willie Hemphill (1919 - 2000) Jump to: Bio graphy Family Photos Comments Obit uary. But Flowers deserves to have a fair trial and prosecution, he said. Yet despite a number of theft and drug charges, probation violations, at least four domestic violence convictions and a girlfriend who alleges he stabbed her 13 times Hemphill has managed to avoid a long stint in prison. How did your name get involved in this?, Hemphill: I wasnt in the city. The only other such form in the file was signed by Flowers. 1809 Gatewood Aven, Greensboro, NC 27405-6727 is the last known address for Willie. INDIANAPOLIS At first, Willie James Hemphill was calm. "If he's guilty, he's guilty.". That night, according to Moore, Hemphill was home with an ounce of marijuana, some of which they smoked together. Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m . And in the first Flowers trial, in 1997, he testified that "there were numerous suspects" in the early days of the investigation. Memphis is two hours north of Winona, just across the border with Tennessee. That discovery will very likely win Curtis a new trial, but it doesnt necessarily finger the new guy as the killer. A defense expert responded in a sworn statement that the bloody footprints left behind by the popular shoe could havebeen anywhere between sizes 8.5 and 11. Later, he said, one of the officers, Vince Small, came by, and he handed the officer the gun. NEWSPAPERS. Mark Weingarten is an American production sound mixer.He has been nominated for three Academy Awards in the category Best Sound Mixing, winning in 2017 for Dunkirk.He has worked on more than 120 films since 1987. INDIANAPOLIS At first, Willie James Hemphill was calm. Presley wasnt the only suspect defense attorneys didnt know investigators had seriously considered. Jurors at Flowers trials had only heard of one suspect who could have worn Fila Grant Hills Flowers although investigators never found the shoes they said he wore. When we finally found Hemphill, living in Indianapolis, he had some very surprising things to say about the case. Following his release from prison in 2013,Hallmon tried to run over a Carroll County sheriff's deputy while escaping a drug bust. Like LaSamuel Gamble, Hemphill wore Fila shoes and had a criminal record. Just weeks ago, however, reporters discovered that Hemphill had an upcoming court date in Indianapolis and met him there. Reporters also poked holes in Hemphill . It was June 21 just an hour before the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Curtis Flowers' conviction and reporters for In the Dark had intercepted Hemphill at a courthouse in Indianapolis. 0 Reputation Score Range. But we found a document showing that another man, Willie James Hemphill, had also been questioned just days after the murders. It took the In the Dark team a full year to track Hemphill down in an Indianapolis courtroom (he's still getting into trouble). Willie James Hemphill Birth 27 May 1919 Death 14 Jul 2000 (aged 81) Burial. The best result we found for your search is William Thomas Hemphill age 80+ in Highlands, NC. Though he was a suspect early in the investigation, according to law enforcement records, and questioned extensively, Hemphill was later released after 11 days in jail and ruled out as a suspect for reasons that remain unclear. (1909). Presley and Gamble were extradited to Alabama, and again Gamble was questioned, almost in passing, about Mississippi. Asked if he'd committed the murders at Tardy Furniture, he simply said, "Hell, no.". Share via email. The murder weapon in the Tardy Furniture case was a .380, and an unfired round was found at the scene; investigators believe that might indicate that the gun had jammed. View Actual Score Check Background . You may also light a candle in honor of Willie James . Miller also asked the investigator to interrogate Presley and Gamble about the Tardy Furniture murders. But it isnt necessary to prove a case against any of these people; the real scandal is that the existence of alternative suspects was systematically withheld from defense counsel. An early suspect in the murders, Willie James Hemphill, who has a long criminal history, lived less than a mile from where Armstrong found this gun in 2011. The murders rocked the small town. When the podcasts reporter Parker Yesko confronted Hemphill about whether he committed the murders, he denied it, and the show included audio of the hideous, misogynistic things he said in response. Hemphill certainly sounds like a career criminal who is fully capable of committing violence; but he doesnt come off as a psychopathic killerand whoever did the deed at the Tardy furniture store was either a hired killer (or killers) or enjoyed killing people for kicks. In addition, one jailhouse snitch has recanted, he said. A series of Willie James Hemphill mugshots ranging from 2000 through 2016. It was his legal obligation, but its easy to see why he didnt. … A bunch of lies., Asked about Hallmons recantation, District Attorney Doug Evans, who has prosecuted Flowers in all six trials, said, Thats why the judge instructs the jury that a jailhouse informant is not very reliable, because they can change their statements very easily, for any reason. Are you a wh*re?, Reporter: Did you commit the murders on Front Street? Hemphill said investigators told him he was a suspect because witnesses had placed him on Front Street near Tardy Furniture Store on the morning of the murders and because of the kind of shoe he wore: Fila Grant Hills, the shoe investigators determined had made the bloody shoe prints inside the store. Willie James Hemphill has done many terrible things. Officers gave him a gunshot residue test, finding oneparticle of residue. Wiilie Hemphill passed away in Bryan, Texas. Goldberg doesn't remember the alibis Presley or Gamble gave, but he said following up on those wouldn't have been his job. If, hypothetically, theIn the Dark team was charged with defending Curtis in a seventh trial even an all-white jury selected entirely of Winona residents couldnt find him guilty. He attended Erskine College, where he earned a A.B. The Dallas Morning News. Search for Roberto Thorpe Living on Prison Blvd in Sparta, GA. Get started for free to find contact info for nearly any adult in the U.S. She said she had seen somebody at 7:15 a.m. outside Simpsons car at the factory. Last month, the Supreme Court overturned Flowers latest conviction, citing In The Darks reporting. Initially, Hemphill refused to provide further details of his whereabouts on July 16, 1996. Maybe theyll cover that in their next season. Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife and son. That same day, Horace Wayne Miller, a lieutenant with the Mississippi Highway patrol, asked Norfolk officials to keep him apprised of their investigation. It wasnt until 2016 that defense lawyers took a closer look at Armstrongs statement that he found a .380 handgun. Suppressing the evidence theyve already gathered might mean denying justice to the victims. The justices wrote that it was as strong a prima facie case of racial discrimination as we have ever seen in the context of a Batson challenge. Can Marcus Presleys affidavit be trusted? Although Presley was only sixteen, he seems to have been the driving force behind these crimes. "They were investigating that intently back then. 2) and Curtis Flowers (No. Authorities put together alineup later that day of black-and-white photos, and she identified Flowers from the lineup as the man she briefly saw that morning when she came outside to move her car. He said that while in jail he talked to Evans about the Flowers case, and he saw a chance to gain his freedom. Flowers, the individuals I reference as the Birmingham boys. Winona, Mississippi lies three hours west of Birmingham on Highway 82. It wasn't that day." Willie James Hemphill; Willie James Hemphill, Age 44. aka Willie Jr Hemphill. But how could a single person (especially a man like Curtis Flowers) dispatch four victims with a bullet to the back of the head? The podcast has never cared about the fundamental horrors of the justice system; it just wants to ensure that those horrors only happen to the correct people. The district attorneys office isnt commenting. Following that arrest, Hemphill committed crimes nearly continuously for the next three decades. In 1880 James, now 16, has an additional. A wealthy lawyer who killed his wife and son at close range has been sentenced in one of the most troubling cases the judge said he had seen. In the midst of the probe, the Mississippi Crime Lab sent a copy of the bloody shoeprint found at Tardy to the lead Boston investigator. So, if I am forced to pick an alternative perpetrator in this awful case I would lean toward the Birmingham Boys, Presley in particular. If it hadnt been for a single slip of paper in the prosecutors file with Willie James Hemphills name on it, theIn the Dark squad wouldnt have known about the man. The Tardy murders took place during a 24-day gap when the group carried out no robberies in Alabama. He told APM Reports that he was arrested and questioned in the . I knew Curtis had started to get involved in crack. But instead of stopping there, its reporters started snitching to the same system whose injustice they had just unmasked. Just after the murders, police arrested and jailed him as a suspect, but then let him go. Willie James Hemphill, age 37, Justice, IL Search Report. Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media. Nor was there any record of the evidence gathered from Hemphill. Whoever did this crime (the Tardy murders) was a good shot.. "We have never had any evidence that showed anything other than this defendant's guilt," Evans said. The police there picked up the investigation and also apparently probed the Tardy Furniture connection. January 5, 1960 - August 13, 2009. The accused has had his conviction overturned for the sixth time, the woman who put him at the scene of the murders has backflipped on her story and another man has been forced to deny it was him all along. His website is. And so, in the corridors of the courthouse last week, a female journalist with In The Dark confronted Hemphill about his airtight alibi. A woman who admitted having sex with a 13-year-old boy and becoming pregnant with his baby has avoided jail time. Yet theyre willing to hand him over to the prosecution, to possibly watch him die. Following a masterful turn as Flowers defense lawyer, the podcast also wanted to play the part of the prosecution. "After a short time, we realized that he didn't know anything about the case.". When In The Dark spoke to Woods, she denied the two were together. So, if Curtis Flowers isnt guilty, who is? Before he left on July 3, he said she gave him $30. Willie James Hemphill in Georgia Fulton County arrested for U/S VGCSA POSS* BLOG; CATEGORIES. But if Curtis Flowers doesnt get relief in the face of these well-publicized facts there will be hell to pay. And he's shown a quick and violent temper, particularly with women who don't comply with his demands. Saums said it makes sense the killers would have left through the side door, rather than go out the front door onto busy Front Street, the small towns main drag. How do we create a person's profile? The shooter, Marcus Presley (16) and his accomplice, Lasamuel Gamble (18) were arrested in Norfolk, Virginia on August 9, 1996 after two weeks on the run. He told APM Reports that he was arrested and questioned in the early days of the investigation. They fell out and broke. used to implicate Flowers in the Tardy case. Obituaries Section. with Reverend Shane Russell officiating, assisted by Max Bennett. Soon that would change. Hemphill said investigator took his shoes for a few minutes as well as his fingerprints. Who was he? Willie James Hemphill didn't come up until the sixth Flowers trial, and law enforcement officers said he was eliminated as a suspect in about five minutes. And Gamble wore Fila sneakers the same brand of shoe that left a bloody footprint at the Tardy Furniture scene. There is little doubt that Hemphill has done terrible things. The podcasts reporters spent months methodically proving that prosecutors systematically denied black people a seat in the jury box, and how a man who is likely innocent has been repeatedly sentenced to death. He has been behind bars ever since. A bloody shoe print found in the store (left), and an investigator's sketch comparing the print to the Fila Grant Hill sneakers. Both men bounced from one traumatic living arrangement to another with no respite. View More. In that 1963 ruling, the court said: "The suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused violates due process where the evidence is material either to guilt or to punishment.". And then Hemphill stormed off, ending the interview. Episode 10 of the In the Dark Podcast was largely dedicated to the strange case of Willie James Hemphill, a local bad boy with a violent streak who was continually getting cross-ways with the law. Even so, they had to wade through a stack of rat-eaten files stored in an abandoned factory to realize he had been booked into jail. Prosecutors have always said that Curtis Flowers was the only serious suspect in the Tardy Furniture investigation. Willie James Hemphill is confronted by reporters at an Indianapolis courthouse in June 2019. The crime had a random and senseless quality to it. Hemphills name came up briefly in Flowers 2010 trial. Submit an Obituary. Both involved store employees who were shot execution-style, a .380 handgun that might have jammed, and a suspect wearing Fila shoes. The similarities between the crimes were striking. That brings us to a theory that has been explored extensively by some of the folks currently representing Mr. If Woods had been at the mall with Hemphill at the time of the murders roughly 10 a.m. she couldn't have been back in Winona any earlier than noon. Willie James Hemphill, Willie J Hemphill, Willie J Hemphill, Willie James Hemphill. In The Dark proved that Curtis Flowers was railroaded by an unjust system. At first, Willie James Hemphill was calm. After the second stick up, the two men argued about whether they should have killed the witness. The podcast, which uncovered evidence used by Flowers to get his conviction overturned, spoke with witness Clemmie Fleming. Right now, Willie Hemphill lives in Rock Hill, SC. When we finally found Hemphill, living in Indianapolis, he had some very surprising things to say about the case. - Law enforcement had interviewed a different suspect with a violent criminal history, Willie James Hemphill - a fact which was not disclosed to the defense. Baran said she reached out to the two state investigators who questioned Hemphill, Matthews and Wayne Miller. Selected filmography. An August 15, 1996, article in The Winona Times reported that law enforcement officials in three states "released statements that they believe [Presley and Gamble] could be linked to Winona's case.". Look, Ive got something yall need to get, he said he told them. He said that side door leads to a ditch that would have provided a better escape route than simply walking back through town as authorities claimed Flowers had. It took theIn the Dark team a full year to track Hemphill down in an Indianapolis courtroom (hes still getting into trouble). Maybe he and Doyle were co-perpetrators. According to the July 8, 1996, police report, store owner Bertha Tardy reported to police that a burglar or burglars smashed through a skylight, tried to break into the safe and stole the side door key. He allegedly committed robberies to fund a drug habit. Willie James McDaniel Funeral services for Willie James McDaniel will be held at 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at Hemphill Star Church in Boyce, La. During nearly 30 years of crimes, Willie James Hemphill has shown a quick temper, and a penchant for daytime robberies and violence against women. This score is (-15%) Above the National Average View Actual Score View Reputation Details . They have also lived in Franklin, NC and North Fort Myers, FL. . James Mather is a British sound editor. Flowers, who had been fired from the store 13 days before the murders, reportedly owed a small amount of money to one of the owners. So where was Hemphill during the day? But attempting to deliver another black man into that same system goes against its good work. In the Dark has previously reported that Hemphill was an initial suspect in the days after the July 1996 murders in Winona, Mississippi. But Curtis Flowers is somehow still not cleared of the gruesome quadruple murder on July 16, 1996. Flowers parents have long believed in his innocence, visiting him in prison. 4). When Willie Hemphill was born on 14 August 1891, in Mississippi, United States, her father, Thomas Wiley Hemphill, was 23 and her mother, Izora Sullivan, was 21. Selected filmography. He never responded. In the sixth, he was again convicted and sentenced to death, and his latest appeal was ongoing when the podcast started. But he believed Gamble's denial. She said that investigators have never questioned her about Hemphill's story. Add a Memory. Hemphill said investigators tape recorded the interrogation and took notes, none of which was in the file given to Flowers defense attorneys. Willie Hemphill Found 194 people in Mississippi, Illinois and 31 other states. View Willie Hemphill results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. But maybe she didnt see anyone at all. Judge Joseph Loper asked Evans if the state had any exculpatory evidence.. After nearly 23 years locked up, Curtis Flowers has a chance to get out on bail if his lawyers can convince the judge to rule in his favor. I just didnt know how to say it. Willie Hemphill is 80 years old and was born on 04/13/1942. Whoever killed four innocent people in the Tardy Furniture store on that fateful day in 1996 was familiar with armed violence and kind of liked it. The Dallas Morning News Homepage. The fourth and fifth trials ended with hung juries. Submit an Obituary. For starters, a key prosecution witness who testified she saw Flowers sprinting from the front of the store at the time of the murders, has been discredited, he said. Current Address: EHZR Hannah Dr, Rock Hill, SC. If the state Supreme Court were to order a seventh trial for Flowers, the district attorney would face a difficult task, Saums said. By his own account, someone told investigators that they'd seen him on Front Street that morning, though Hemphill has said repeatedly that he wasn't there. Hemphill had previously told police and the podcast that he was not in Winona on the morning of the murders. Prosecutors claimed Flowers wore a size 10.5 shoe, and a state expert testified that the 10.5 size was consistent with the bloody footprints. That might not be so if the whole world wasnt watching, but it is. My mom, my stepdad were afraid that, hey, if they're manhunting me like that, they may shoot me down in the street, Hemphill told them. Photos. They didnt question him about other suspects or bring up Flowers name. Law enforcement clearly saw Hemphill as a prime suspect. APM Reports recently interviewed a man named Willie James Hemphill, who said he was a suspect early in the investigation. Willie Ray Hemphill, Jr., 49, of Bryan, passed away Thursday, August 13, 2009 at his residence. "The best of my recollection, Mississippi was able to determine that our guys weren't the ones, or there was something that didn't make them right for the Mississippi case," said Mike DeHart, the Alabama sheriff's deputy who questioned Gamble. Reporter: Mr Hemphill. Marcus Presley, then 16, points a gun at pawn shop owner John Burleson shortly before killing him on July 25, 1996, in a suburb of Birmingham, Alabama. Following their Alabama crime spree, Presley and Gamble fled north to Boston, where Gamble had relatives. Prior to his death, Doyle came across as a passive man working hard to stay out of trouble. The second season of the In the Dark podcast is about the case of Curtis Flowers, who was tried six times for the same crime. In 1996, Mississippi investigators told the local paper they were looking into a possible connection. They found out later that Flowers uncle, Doyle Simpson, said his .380 automatic had been stolen from the glove box of his car parked at the Angelica Garment Factory where he worked. 704-***-**** View Phone. What follows are selected incidents from his past. But his demeanor when approached by In the Dark investigative reporters was consistent with innocence. Not long after Armstrong found the gun in October 2001, two police officers happened to pull him over for speeding. "[I]t's almost like a hair trigger that would cause a reversal if you've got false testimony that is significant.". July 2, 2019 | by Parker Yesko and Dave Mann. Jessie Mae Hemphill [1]1923-2006 Blues musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist Blues musician and vocalist Jessie Mae Hemphill [2] was a paradox. Hemphill was born on September 10, 1971. APM lead investigative reporter Madeleine Baran found one page among the documents Evans did give the defense attorneys, a form someone named Willie James Hemphill, then 24, of Memphis had signed at the Winona Police Department five days after the murders waiving his rights to an attorney. In 1996, central Alabama saw a string of armed robberies, where the criminals told store clerks to lie down and held them at gunpoint, sometimes killing them. Follow him onFacebookandTwitter. Her sister says she was in the house with her and not where she said she was.. 0.68 2.43 /5. Service: 11 am Saturday, March 3, 201. Hemphill's ex-girlfriend Monkra Moore told In the Dark that she and Hemphill lived together on the east side of Winona in 1996 and that he was at home around 7 a.m. on the morning of the murders when she was leaving for work. (Page 3) As I argue in the course of the program, Simpson seemed to be bending over backwards to let the world know that a gun had been stolen from his car in the parking lot of the garment factory where he worked. Reporters also poked holes in Hemphill . Due to a planned power outage on Friday, 1/14, between 8am-1pm PST, some services may be impacted.
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