The killer or killers could have used the key to enter the side door, perhaps hiding before the store opened. And the case file doesn't contain the report Goldberg says he would have sent to Mississippi authorities, or any indication of what might have been done to substantiate it. Judge Joseph Loper asked Evans if the state had any exculpatory evidence.. He said: "If it wasn't for the fact that I had an airtight alibi, I could be the one on death row right now. In Flowers' third trial, Snow testified that the height of the man she saw was between 5-foot-3 and 5-foot-5. View More. He thought back to when Small took the gun. He told the podcast he had an airtight alibi. Willie Headen; Willie James Lyons; Willie Love; Willie Mabon; Willie Smith; Willie Trice; Willie Williams; Two weeks later, a picture of Marcus Presley, the shooter in the Birmingham murders, was included in a photo array shown to Porky Collins, a witness in the Winona, Mississippi case. Presley shot and killed store employees execution-style on his way out the door. Flowers has remained imprisoned the entire time, for more than 20 years. Hired by Starz to examine the case, Saums said the crime"suggests somebody who has done it before. In the Dark,episode 10, makes it clear that the prosecution committed what is called a Brady violation by failing to inform defense counsel that Hemphill had been a suspect early in the investigation. "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. A shoeprint in a pool of blood found in the Winona furniture store was found to be from a Grant Hill Fila shoethe footwear Gamble, McKenzie (and just about every other young man in America) was wearing while in Mississippi. You may also light a candle in honor of Willie James . Are you a sl*t? I was nowhere around., Reporter: The one thing that makes sense to me is that maybe if you had been on Front Street (where the murders took place) and you had seen something , Hemphill: Im done talking to you, youre trying to put me on Front Street., Reporter: Did you commit the murders that day?, Hemphill: Did you? The Dallas Morning News. No one was going to all that trouble over the approximately $400 investigators say was in the till that morning. Yes and no. We know that Willie James Hemphill had been residing in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina 29341. Last month, the Supreme Court overturned Flowers latest conviction, citing In The Darks reporting. 5 Visits. With the discrediting of Hallmon and other witnesses, Saums said, I think the district attorney would find it hard to prosecute Curtis Flowers again, much less convict him.. "They were investigating that intently back then. It might mean letting someone get away with an abominable crime. Sign the Guest Book . James Mather is a British sound editor. When we finally found Hemphill, living in Indianapolis, he had some very surprising things to say about the case. As the investigators interviewed for theWrong Man episodes on Flowers point out, the family members of the victims should have been considered suspects until evidence suggested otherwise. Willie Hemphill's passing at the age of 97 has been publicly announced by Arnold Family Funeral Services Inc. - Hillside Chapel in Altadena, CA.Legacy invites you to offer condolences and share memori 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. Free this man. In loving memory of Willie Mae Hemphill who passed away February 25, 2012. And so, in the corridors of the courthouse last week, a female journalist with In The Dark confronted Hemphill about his airtight alibi. Willie James Hemphill's alibi doesn't check out TIMELINE: Hemphill's long criminal record. Case Number : 20-11001. Green is a reporter in Toronto. Username. Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results willie james hemphill (1955 - 2006) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. In 1880 James, now 16, has an additional. INDIANAPOLIS At first, Willie James Hemphill was calm. The host, Madeleine Baran, carefully noted that only some of evidence seemed to point in Hemphills direction, even though a flimsy case was enough to almost execute the man her show just found innocent. The show revealed that the district attorneys office bullied and threatened people into lying on the witness stand. Menu. 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. Hemphill says he was in Memphis on the day of the murder and his alibi might check out. Goldberg doesn't remember the alibis Presley or Gamble gave, but he said following up on those wouldn't have been his job. Hemphill supposedly had an alibi for the time of the murders, but when In The Dark dug into it, they were able to determine his alibi was barely credible if at all. Willie Hemphill Found 194 people in Mississippi, Illinois and 31 other states. How do we create a person's profile? He said he told investigators he was shopping with a woman in Memphis. That night, according to Moore, Hemphill was home with an ounce of marijuana, some of which they smoked together. It was his legal obligation, but its easy to see why he didnt. He testified in multiple trials that the other images in the photo lineup were just "filler pictures," chosen "at random" based on some resemblance to Flowers. Winona, Mississippi lies three hours west of Birmingham on Highway 82. In the months before the Tardy Furniture murders, Presley hit a grocery store, a fireworks retailer, three gas stations and three liquor stores. He said he would have sent a written report back to Mississippi, so authorities there could check out the stories. Saums pointed out that Simpson who has since died lied to police about how he had gotten the gun. LOW HIGH. Injustice flourishes in the darkness, and the sun is now blazing in the heavens (at least for Curtis Flowers). His website is. I knew Curtis had started to get involved in crack. When Baran and her producer eventually tracked down the right Hemphill, he told them, Yeah, they actually had me as a suspect in that.. 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. Lived In Sidon MS, Indianapolis IN, Prince George VA, Clarksville TN. This narrative turn places In The Dark firmly, disappointingly, and alarmingly in the mainstream of the True Crime genre. A burglary took place at Tardy Furniture just eight days before the killings. Their names are Michael Lee Boies , Crystal Davis , and six others. Its almost impossible to not hate him and to believe he is guilty. Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m . Law enforcement witnesses had testified under oath in Flowers sixth trial that Presley was never a suspect. 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. Mississippi Highway Patrol Lt. Wayne Miller, the investigator who created the lineup, testified that the only suspect pictured in the lineup was Flowers. He spent 11 days in jail before authorities released him. Who was he? According to testimony in Flowers' first trial, authorities found $255 hidden in the headboard of Flowers' girlfriend. More: Curtis Flowers' prosecution witness says testimony was all 'make believe', More: Recanted testimony, subjective science helps put Curtis Flowers on death row, Supreme Court rules jury selection in Ga. trial unconstitutional. It wasnt until 2016 that defense lawyers took a closer look at Armstrongs statement that he found a .380 handgun. 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. Phone Number: (704) 751-NZMM +2 phones. Email Address: w XMLS @yahoo.com +1 email. Initially, Hemphill refused to provide further details of his whereabouts on July 16, 1996. He said that while in jail he talked to Evans about the Flowers case, and he saw a chance to gain his freedom. But, just like Curtis Flowers, Doyle Simpson fails the motive test. Not the right Willie? Hemphill, Willie Mae Willie Mae Hemphill, Born March 8, 1926. Hemphill said investigator took his shoes for a few minutes as well as his fingerprints. Reporter: Mr Hemphill. 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. Name. Share to Facebook. He explained his suspicion that the gun might have something to do with the Tardy murders. 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 Jeffrey Armstrong heard his dog barking, he went outside tosee the reason for the commotion. December 6, 1948 August 11, 2018. Mr. Willie James Hemphill, of 1119-101 Kevin Lane, died Thursday, November 9, 2017. More importantly, Woods said she was certain that she didn't make the trip with Hemphill that day. The only other such form in the file was signed by Flowers. Share Obituary. Can Marcus Presleys affidavit be trusted? Case Details. The suspects include the gunman in an Alabama crime spree that summer that bore several similarities to the Winona killings and a violent career criminal who at the time of the murders was living with a girlfriend across from the furniture store. That same day, Horace Wayne Miller, a lieutenant with the Mississippi Highway patrol, asked Norfolk officials to keep him apprised of their investigation. Other facts may help explain why Hemphill initially was a suspect: The shoes he told In the Dark that he was wearing when he was questioned by investigators on July 21, 1996 Fila Grant Hill high-tops are the same type of sneaker that had left bloody footprints at the scene of the murders five days earlier. Gamble and Presley are serving life in prison for their Alabama crime spree. Flowers, the individuals I reference as the Birmingham boys. 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. The Tardy Furniture murders were committed at a store on Front Street in Winona, Mississippi, at about 10 a.m., and around the time that one of the store's employees, Carmen Rigby, was returning with a bank bag. Baran said she reached out to the two state investigators who questioned Hemphill, Matthews and Wayne Miller. View Actual Score Check Background . Then why havent the defense attorneys who have represented Mr. He lived near Tardy Furniture at the time of the murders, and near where a gun that might have been the murder weapon was found. . James Graham, was a blues pianist and her mother, Virgie Lee Graham, was skilled in many instruments, though she did not . Share via email. He quoted Bertha Tardy as saying he would have to be responsible for paying for the batteries. In 1996, Mississippi investigators told the local paper they were looking into a possible connection. Mississippi Smoldering: Tom Mangold reports on the Curtis Flowers case in 2009, Dwelling in a land of disbelief: My University Years . After the second stick up, the two men argued about whether they should have killed the witness. His mother lived there, and he had gone to school there on and off. And Hemphill had actually lived for a time in Winona. Now the spotlight is on three other deaths that are linked to the case. 1. 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. 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. Share to Reddit. Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media. 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. They did, however, find bullets, bullet fragments and shell casings at the crime scene. Find Willie Hemphill's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. But we found a document showing that another man, Willie James Hemphill, had also been questioned just days after the murders. It happens. Willie James Hemphill an early suspect in the Tardy Furniture murders was charged with disorderly conduct last week. How did your name get involved in this?, Hemphill: I wasnt in the city. WIILIE HEMPHILL OBITUARY. Just weeks ago, however, reporters discovered that Hemphill had an upcoming court date in Indianapolis and met him there. Evidence suggests that Marcus Presley was a psychopath who enjoyed random violence for its own sake. After a multistate manhunt, Presley and Gamble were arrested in Norfolk, Virginia. "Because once you get people on a roll to admitting to crimes, they just don't stop. This case was filed in U.S. Courts Of Appeals, U.S. Court Of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. They wanted to ask him about his alibi for the day of the Tardy Furniture murders, an alibi that hadn't checked out. John Johnson, the DAs investigator, told the jury, I think they talked to him for five minutes. Her rough exterior portrayed a tough, independent woman. Maybe Doyle did the deed and reported his gun stolen to throw everyone off the scent. His mothers mutt, Patches, was barking in the crawl space, causing him to find a gunbeneath the house she was renting. "It just kind of jumped out," Ali said. The ugly facts of Hemphills past werent ugly enough for the podcast In The Dark emphasized its clear disdain of him. A series of Willie James Hemphill mugshots ranging from 2000 through 2016. Asked if he'd committed the murders at Tardy Furniture, he simply said, "Hell, no.". Even before finding the gun, Armstrong had doubts about whether Flowers played a role in the quadruple murder. . Selected filmography. After finding the weapon, Armstrong wondered how the gun had wound up under the house his mother was renting on Knox Street, only 700 feet or so from the furniture store. He told APM Reports that he was arrested and questioned in the early days of the investigation. Maybe. Jessie Mae Hemphill [1]1923-2006 Blues musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist Blues musician and vocalist Jessie Mae Hemphill [2] was a paradox. Detective Goldberg got Presley and Gamble to confess their roles in a pair of murders at a Birmingham pawn shop less than two weeks after the Tardy Furniture murders. Record for Willie James Hemphill 27 May 1919 - 14 July 2000 in Quantico National Cemetery, Triangle, Prince William, Virginia, United States from BillionGraves GPS Headstones. Sure, onceIn the Dark is over the heat will diminish slightly. The Dallas Morning News. Prior to his death, Doyle came across as a passive man working hard to stay out of trouble. (1870), A.M. (1872), and LL.D. But both denied having committed the Tardy murders and said they'd never even been to Mississippi. But perhaps the most intriguing new development is the emergence of a man who verbally attacked journalists on the podcast while denying he was in town on the day of the murders. Obituaries Section. Right now, Willie Hemphill lives in Rock Hill, SC. It takes no imagination at all to imagine Marcus Presley committing a crime like thatwe have the video from the pawn shop. 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. When he showed up the Montgomery County Sheriffs Department two days later, he said, they immediately cuffed him and that the investigators made it clear he was a suspect. Her new position on exactly what happened that morning is likely to be heard by a jury if Fleming faces one for a seventh time. William is related to Alicia Kristen Hemphill . Willie James Hemphill was detained for 11 days following the Hardy Furniture murders and wore the same brand of shoes as the bloody footprints found at the scene. "Best I remember is somebody brought it to the attention of the investigators that they wanted us to talk to him, and he came in and we talked to him," Matthews said on the stand in the sixth trial. But at Curtis Flowers' trials, the prosecution downplayed any investigation of other suspects. Curtis Flowers was raised in a loving home by a gospel-singing father and a mother known for her culinary and entrepreneurial abilities. Each victim of the July 16, 1996 murders was murdered execution styleone or two bullets to the back of the head. If Flowers did what he is accused of doing, he deserves his punishment, Armstrong said. He will be held in a county jail while its decided if he should face trial for a stunning seventh time. Find an Obituary. The obituary was featured in The Bryan-College Station Eagle on August 16, 2009. Presley was the tougher of the two, and he didn't say much. 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. So, if Curtis Flowers isnt guilty, who is? He told them that a day or two after the murders he was driving back to Winona from Memphis when his stepfather called him and told him carloads of law enforcement officers had descending on his parents house looking for him. The two of them walked the same school halls from first grade through high school, he said. View Willie Hemphill results including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. Presley and Gamble were extradited to Alabama, and again Gamble was questioned, almost in passing, about Mississippi. Search by Name. On April 30, 2018, American Public Medias true crime podcast In The Dark began airing its second season, an investigation of the case of Curtis Flowers, a black man in Mississippi accused of a quadruple homicide at a furniture store in 1996. Nor was there any record of the evidence gathered from Hemphill. He attended Erskine College, where he earned a A.B. 0 Reputation Score Range. And he was undeterred, at first, when he was told that Woods hadn't corroborated his story. (Although that figure is, at best, an educated guess.). Between June 19th, 1996 and June 30thof that year, Presley was involved in five robberies at gunpoint. 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. Visitation: 6-8 pm Friday, March 2, 2012 at Laurel Land Funeral Home. 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. In The Dark proved that Curtis Flowers was railroaded by an unjust system.
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