Troy Leon Gregg

{{Infobox criminal

| name = Troy Leon Gregg

| birth_date = April 29, 1948

| birth_place = Asheville, Buncombe, North Carolina

| death_date = July 29, 1980 (aged 32)

| death_place = Gastonia, Gaston, North Carolina

| cause = Homicide by blunt force trauma

| alias =

| conviction = Murder (2 counts), armed robbery (2 counts)

| conviction_penalty = Death

| motive = Robbery

| escaped = July 28 – 29, 1980

| known_for = Gregg v. Georgia

| occupation =

| spouse =

| children =

| victims = Fred Edward Simmons
Bob Durwood Moore

| date = November 21, 1973

}}

Troy Leon Gregg (April 29, 1948 – July 29, 1980) was the first condemned individual whose death sentence was upheld by the United States Supreme Court after the Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia invalidated all previous capital punishment laws in the United States. He later participated in the first successful escape from Reidsville State Prison death row with three other death row inmates, but was killed later that night during a bar fight.

Biography

Gregg was convicted of murdering Fred Edward Simmons and Bob Durwood Moore in order to rob them. The victims had given him and another man, Dennis Weaver, a ride when they were hitchhiking; Gregg admitted to shooting them, robbing them and stealing their car.{{cite book |first=David V. |last=Baker |title=Women and Capital Punishment in the United States: An Analytical History |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-7864-9950-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKUHCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |page=51}} The crime occurred on November 21, 1973.

In Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court held by a 7–2 majority that the State of Georgia could constitutionally put Gregg to death; Georgia, in common with Texas and Florida, had instituted a death penalty statute requiring a separate bifurcated trial proceeding to determine punishment in a capital case after the establishment of guilt,{{cite book |first=Kathleen A. |last=O'Shea |title=Women and the Death Penalty in the United States, 1900–1998 |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Prager |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-275-95952-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YvdKyEJo0osC&pg=PA137 |page=137}} establishing a list of aggravating circumstances that must be present to consider a death penalty, and providing for review by the State Supreme Court.{{cite book |first1=Donald Lee |last1=Grant |first2=Jonathan |last2=Grant |title=The Way it was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia |location=Athens, Georgia |publisher=University of Georgia |year=2001 |orig-year=1993 |isbn=978-0-8203-2329-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zpmjRm4cdswC&pg=PA518 |page=518}} It also allowed for consideration of mitigating circumstances; on the same day, the Court, whose primary concern was racial bias in sentencing, rejected the North Carolina and Louisiana death penalty statutes for failure to allow for mitigating circumstances to be considered in sentencing.{{cite book |first=David V. |last=Baker |title=Women and Capital Punishment in the United States: An Analytical History |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |publisher=McFarland |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-7864-9950-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKUHCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA15 |page=51}}

Prison escape and death

{{Infobox civilian attack

| title = Murder of Troy Leon Gregg

| date = {{start date and age|df=no|1980|07|29}}

| time =

| location = Catawba River, North Carolina, U.S. (discovery of body)

| coordinates =

| type = Homicide by suffocation, beating, assault

| victim = Troy Leon Gregg, aged 32

| inquiries =

| trial =

| weapon =

| motive = Disputed

| perp = Unknown

| accused = {{plainlist|

James Cecil Horne
William Flamont

}}

| charges = Horne:
Murder (dismissed)
Flamont:
Accessory to murder after-the-fact (dismissed){{cite news|title=Evidence Lacking For Murder Trial In Escapee's Death|newspaper=The Sumter Daily Item|location=Charlotte, North Carolina|date=August 26, 1980|page=1|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eoY0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=1akFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4515%2C8227387 |agency=Associated Press}}

}}

On July 28, 1980, Gregg escaped together with three other condemned murderers, Timothy McCorquodale, Johnny L. Johnson, and David Jarrell,{{cite news|title=Charlotte Man Held in Escapee's Death|newspaper=Star-News|location=Wilmington, North Carolina|date=August 9, 1980|page=11|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=19800809&id=ecosAAAAIBAJ&sjid=URMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1855,1767625 |agency=Associated Press}} from Georgia State Prison in Reidsville in the first death row breakout in Georgia history. The four had altered their prison clothing to resemble the uniforms worn by correctional officers, then sawed through the bars of their cells and a window and walked along a ledge to a fire escape.{{cite book |first=Robert M. |last=Bohm |title=DeathQuest: An Introduction to the Theory and Practice of Capital Punishment in the United States |location=New York |publisher=Taylor and Francis |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-138-67163-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MCQlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA264 |page=264}} They subsequently drove off in a car which had been left in the visitors' parking lot by one of the escapees' aunts. Their escape was not discovered until Gregg telephoned a newspaper to explain their reasons for doing so.

It has been alleged that Gregg was beaten to death later that night in a biker bar in North Carolina, and that his body was found in a lake. Gregg had supposedly been drinking heavily and attempted to assault a waitress. She rebuked his advances and he became violent towards her. One of the local bikers present took offense to Gregg's actions and assaulted and killed him; he and several other locals then dumped the body in a lake located behind the bar. However, news reports from the time of the escape suggest that Gregg may actually have been murdered after getting into a fight with one of his fellow escapees, Timothy McCorquodale, and another man, James Cecil Horne, a member of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. According to these reports, Gregg's body was discovered in the Catawba River. According to Gregg's autopsy, he died due to homicide by suffocation caused by swelling.

Horne was initially charged with Gregg's murder. Another man, William Flamont, was charged with being an accessory to Gregg's murder after-the-fact. Both men's charges were later dismissed by a judge due to lack of evidence.{{cite news|title=Evidence Lacking For Murder Trial In Escapee's Death|newspaper=The Sumter Daily Item|location=Charlotte, North Carolina|date=August 26, 1980|page=1|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eoY0AAAAIBAJ&sjid=1akFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4515%2C8227387 |agency=Associated Press}}

The other escapees were captured three days later{{cite web|url=http://law.gsu.edu/lawreview/index/archives/show/?art=17-1/17-1_CriminalProcedure_Brannan.htm#N_15_|title=Georgia State University Law Review|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100819022928/http://law.gsu.edu/lawreview/index/archives/show/?art=17-1%2F17-1_CriminalProcedure_Brannan.htm#N_15_ |archivedate=August 19, 2010}} hiding in a rundown house owned by William Flamont, another member of the Outlaws who was apparently friends with David Jarrell.{{cite web |url=http://www.historicalcrimedetective.com/savage-killer-timothy-mccorquodale-1974/ |title=Savage Killer Timothy McCorquodale |last=Morrow |first=Jason |date=August 27, 2014 |website=Historical Crime Detective |access-date=August 9, 2020}}

The prison escape prompted prison officials to expedite existing plans to transfer Georgia's death row inmates from the prison in Reidsville to a newer facility, the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson, Georgia.{{Cite news |date=September 22, 1987 |title=Court Termed Teen's '74 Murder by McCorquodale Most Depraved |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbus-ledger-court-termed-teens/138057148/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240104233829/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbus-ledger-court-termed-teens/138057148/ |archive-date=January 4, 2024 |access-date=January 4, 2024 |work=The Columbus Ledger |pages=B5 |via=Newspapers.com}}

As for Gregg's co-escapees, McCorqoudale was executed in 1987 for the murder of Donna Dixon in 1974, while Johnson and Jarrell remain in prison and are now serving life sentences.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/22/us/slayer-executed-in-georgia-high-court-rejects-appeals.html|title=Slayer Executed in Georgia; High Court Rejects Appeals|work=Associated Press|agency=The New York Times|date=September 22, 1987|accessdate=January 7, 2025}}{{cite web|url=https://services.gdc.ga.gov/GDC/OffenderQuery/jsp/OffQryForm.jsp|title=Find an Offender|website=Georgia Department of Corrections}} Johnson was convicted of murdering Suzanne Edenfield in 1974.{{cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/759/1503/260243/|title=Johnnie L. Johnson, Petitioner-appellee, Cross-appellant, v. Ralph Kemp, Warden, Georgia Diagnostic and Classificationcenter, Respondent-appellant, Cross-appellee, 759 F.2d 1503 (11th Cir. 1985)|website=Justia}} Jarrell, on the other hand, was convicted of murdering Mala Still in 1973.{{cite web|url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/735/1242/211853/|title=David Jarrell, Petitioner-appellant, v. Charles Balkcom, Warden, Respondent-appellee, 735 F.2d 1242 (11th Cir. 1984)|website=Justia}}