Jack Alderman

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Jack Alderman

| image_name =

| image_size =

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1951|5|29}}

| birth_place = Garden City, Georgia, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2008|9|16|1951|5|29}}

| death_place = Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, Georgia, U.S.

| alias =

| motive =

| charge =

| conviction = Murder (June 14, 1975 & March 1984)

| conviction_penalty = Death (June 1975 & April 1, 1985)

| conviction_status = Executed by lethal injection

| occupation =

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| parents =

| children =

}}

File:GA Diagnostic Prison - Road Sign Photo.jpg, where Alderman was held on death row and where he was executed]]

Jack Edward Alderman (May 29, 1951 – September 16, 2008) was, at the time of his execution, the longest-serving death row prisoner in the United States who has been executed. He had remained on death row for over 33 years.{{cite web |url= http://www.reprieve.org.uk/press/2008_09_17executionjackaldermandeathrowUS/ |title=Reprieve deplores the execution of Jack Alderman, the longest serving death row prisoner in the US |work=Reprieve |date=17 September 2008 |accessdate=6 March 2013}}

History

Jack Alderman was born on May 29, 1951, in Garden City, Georgia.

On June 14, 1975, he was convicted for his part in the killing of his wife, Barbara Jean Alderman ({{Nee|Blase}}), and was subsequently sentenced to death by the Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia. His wife was beaten to death with a crescent wrench and choked before being dumped into a creek in Rincon, near her mother's home.{{Cite web|date=September 2, 2008|title=New Execution Date Set For Convicted Killer Jack Alderman|url=https://law.georgia.gov/press-releases/2008-09-02/new-execution-date-set-convicted-killer-jack-alderman|access-date=2022-02-16|website=Office of Attorney General of Georgia|language=en|type=press release}}

On April 1, 1985, at a new sentencing trial, he was again sentenced to die.

A Timesonline article states: "Alderman's co-defendant, John Brown, a drug addict and alcoholic, confessed to the murder, but then changed his story to implicate Alderman. Brown claimed that he and Alderman killed Mrs Alderman together, and that Alderman promised to pay him for his role in the killing. There was no forensic evidence and Alderman was convicted only as a result of statements provided by Brown."[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article4753391.ece British lawyers lose fight to halt ‘obscene’ US execution of Jack Alderman] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917230834/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article4753391.ece |date=September 17, 2008 }}

The prosecutors, however, maintained that Jack Alderman attempted to defraud $20,000 from his wife's life insurance,{{cite web |url=http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=213361 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081016063500/http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=213361 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 16, 2008 |title=Man on Georgia's death row 33 years is executed |work=AccessNorthGa |date=18 September 2008 |accessdate=6 March 2013 }} which was provided for by Barbara's employer, the City of Savannah.

Marcel Berlins of The Guardian wrote: "Alderman had claimed from the start he was innocent, even refusing to enter into plea bargains that would have spared his life, because that would have meant admitting his culpability".{{cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/sep/22/humanrights.usa |title=Torture on death row |first=Marcel |last=Berlins |work=The Guardian |date=22 September 2008 |publisher=GMG |location=London |issn=0261-3077 |oclc=60623878 |accessdate=6 March 2013}}

Alderman was held at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia.{{cite web|year=2013|title=Execution Date Set For Chatham County|url=http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/NewsRoom/PressReleases/080903a.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714191217/http://www.dcor.state.ga.us/NewsRoom/PressReleases/080903a.html|archive-date=14 July 2013|work=Georgia Department of Corrections|accessdate=6 March 2013}}

Constitutionality of lethal injection

On October 19, 2007, an execution date for Jack Alderman, there was a temporary stay while the Supreme Court decided on the constitutionality of lethal injection.

Legal action and campaigning

The Law Society, the Bar Council and the charity Reprieve, all organizations in Europe, called on the United Kingdom's then Foreign Secretary to use diplomatic channels to stay the execution of American convict Alderman and end what they called the "gross injustice of 34 years". They also sent letters to the Governor and Attorney-General of Georgia and its Board of Pardons and Paroles. Alderman was represented free-of-charge by the London law firm Clifford Chance.[http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article2665985.ece UK lawyers attempt to stop American execution] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080917102215/http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/article2665985.ece |date=September 17, 2008 }}

Execution

He was executed by lethal injection by the US State of Georgia on September 16, 2008.

Jack Alderman was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m. EDT at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison.{{cite web |url= http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/alderman1120.htm |title=Jack Edward Alderman |work=Office of the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney|year=2008 |accessdate=6 March 2013}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20080927124224/http://www.anitaroddick.com/readmore.php?sid=754 Comments] by Anita Roddick.
[http://www.exoneratejack.org/ Campaign site: Exonerate Jack.]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110716182142/http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/day-in-the-life-of-death.pdf Letter from Jack Alderman to his lawyer about his life on death row.] (Dead link)

{{sequence|

prev=Michael Anthony Rodriguez|

list=People executed in US after Baze v. Rees ruling|

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Category:1951 births

Category:2008 deaths

Category:20th-century American murderers

Category:21st-century executions by Georgia (U.S. state)

Category:21st-century executions of American people

Category:American people executed for murder

Category:People convicted of murder by Georgia (U.S. state)