William Howard Putman | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

William Howard PUTMAN

Classification: Murderer

Characteristics: Robberies ? - Motive unclear

Number of victims: 3

Date of murder: July 10, 1980

Date of arrest: Same day

Date of birth: April 5, 1943

Victims profile: William Gerald Hodges, 49 / David N. Hardin, 22, and his wife, Katie Back, 28

Method of murder: Shooting (.38-caliber revolver)

Location: Cook County, Georgia, USA

Status: Executed by lethal injection in Georgia on November 13, 2002

Summary:

On July 10, 1980 the body of 49 year old school teacher William Gerald Hodges was found at a Valdosta truck stop fatally wounded by a shot to the mouth and to the shoulder.

Later in the night, a Bardstown, Kentucky couple, David N. Hardin, 22, and his wife, Katie Back, 28, were asleep in a rest area off I-75 near Lenox. They had their three children and Hardin's niece in the back seat, and were returning home from a Florida vacation.

Witnesses testified that without warning, a man approached and shot Hardin in the back of the head, and then demanded that his wife, Katie Hardin, leave with him. When she refused and screamed for her husband as he lay dying, she was shot in the head.

Several eyewitnesses saw a dark-colored semi pulling an empty yellow flatbed parked in the lot, and saw the driver approach the Hardin's car. The vehicle's description matched the one driven by Alabama truck driver William Putman.

He was arrested him in Dooly County at another rest station. When his effects were inventoried at the jail, police found an insurance card, a watch and two rings, all belonging to Hodges. He had a blood-alcohol level of 0.13%.

Police also found a wallet belonging to Hardin and a .38-caliber revolver under the driver's seat of his vehicle. Ballistics tests confirmed that all three murders were committed with that handgun.

Putman also was convicted and was sentenced to life for the murder of William Hodges.

Final Meal:

Three eggs over light, toast, bacon, hash browns, vanilla ice cream and two soft drinks.

Final Words:

Putman declined to make a final statement.

ClarkProsecutor.org

Georgia Attorney General

Press Advisory

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Information on the Execution of William Howard Putman

(Atlanta) Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker announced today that the court-ordered execution of William Howard Putman was carried out this evening, November 13, 2002, at 7:20pm. Putman was sentenced to death for the July 1980 murders of David Hardin and Katie Christine Back at a rest area on Interstate 75 in Cook County.

Execution

On October 24, 2002, the Superior Court of Cook County filed an execution order, setting the seven-day window in which the execution of William Howard Putman could occur to open at noon, November 13, 2002, and end at noon on November 20, 2002. Under Georgia law, the Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Corrections, exercising his discretion under Georgia law, set the date and time for the execution as 7:00pm on November 13, 2002. Putman had previously concluded a direct appeal from his Cook County criminal case, as well as two state and two federal habeas corpus appeals. He also had filed an extraordinary motion for new trial in Cook County, seeking to set aside his death sentences, and the extraordinary motion was denied on October 18, 2002. He was represented by Thomas H. Dunn of the Georgia Resource Center, Atlanta, Georgia. Putman was represented in his two state habeas corpus cases by Don Samuel of Atlanta.

Putman’s Crimes

On direct appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court found the following facts from the Cook County trial:

The victims spent the week preceding their deaths vacationing in Daytona Beach with their three children and David's niece Beverly Culver. They left Daytona Beach in their blue Dodge sedan on the evening of July 9 and arrived at the Lenox rest area some time prior to 3:00 a.m. on the tenth. They parked in the automobile parking lot of the rest area and went to sleep.

Later arrivals at the rest area included Verlin Colter, who parked two spaces to the right of the Hardins, and Dessie Harris, who parked across the drive-through, opposite the Hardin automobile.

Dessie testified that, upon her arrival, she spread a blanket on the hood of her car. As she sat on the blanket smoking a cigarette, she observed a dark-colored "semi," pulling a flat-bed trailer, drive slowly several times through the automobile parking lot. The truck eventually parked at the end of the parking lot. The driver got out, reached into the cab of the truck, retrieved an object and walked toward her car. He stopped under a nearby tree, approximately five feet from Dessie, and whistled at her. She stared at him, but said nothing. The man then walked behind her car and proceeded across the parking lot. He went around to the front of the Hardin automobile and stood there for a few moments.

In the meantime, Verlin Colter arrived and parked. He observed that a dark-colored semi with an empty, yellow flat-bed trailer was parked at the end of the automobile parking lot and that a man was standing in front of the blue Dodge, whose occupants were all apparently asleep.

Dessie testified that the man walked around to the driver's side of the Hardin automobile. She heard a loud noise and then the man ran to the passenger's side of the car.

Verlin testified that, just as he lay down in his automobile, he heard a loud noise that sounded like a firecracker. He looked up and saw a woman in the front passenger's seat of the Dodge opening the passenger door. The man he had seen earlier ran around the car to her door.

Beverly Culver, who had been asleep in the back seat of the Dodge with Katie's two older children, testified that she was awakened by a loud noise. She saw a man standing outside the car, next to David Hardin, who lay in the driver's seat with his head resting on the back of the seat, next to the door. The man hurried to the passenger side of the car.

Beverly, Verlin, and Dessie all observed what happened next: As Katie Hardin tried to get out of the car, the man grabbed her and demanded that she go with him. She refused, and screamed for David, who lay fatally wounded in the driver's seat. The man shot Katie in the head. He then reached into the car and placed something into the waist-band of his pants. He ran to his truck and drove off, headed north.

Verlin called the police, who arrived at the rest area just before 5:30 a.m. Based on information obtained from the witnesses, a lookout was posted for a white male, proceeding north on Interstate 75, driving a dark-blue or black truck pulling an empty, yellow flat-bed trailer.

A truck fitting this description was spotted by police just south of Cordele and followed to a rest area in Dooly County. The truck parked in the exit lane of the rest area and the driver went to the restroom. Backup units arrived and the driver, William Howard Putman, was arrested after he returned to his truck. Officers smelled alcohol on Putman's breath and he was initially taken to the Dooly County Sheriff's Office for an intoximeter test, which indicated that Putman's blood alcohol was .13 grams/percent. Putman had what appeared to be blood on his left pants leg.

Officers recovered a .38 caliber revolver from under the driver's seat of Putman's truck. The revolver had three live rounds and two spent cartridges in its chamber. A gun case and David Hardin's wallet lay on the passenger's seat.

Putman was returned to Cook County at approximately 7:30 a.m. Dessie Harris was at the courthouse, having just given a statement to investigators. As she stood outside smoking a cigarette, Putman arrived in a police car. She immediately recognized him as the man who had shot David and Katie Hardin.

At approximately 2:30 p.m. of the same day, the body of William Gerald Hodges was found slumped over the wheel of his automobile in the parking lot of a truck stop in Valdosta. He had been shot in the head and shoulder. The pathologist who conducted the autopsy testified that a time of death could not be established with any certainty. However, lividity patterns indicated that death had occurred sometime prior to Hodges' arrival at the morgue at 3:10 p.m. A .38 caliber bullet was recovered from the interior of his automobile and another was recovered from inside his skull.

After Putman's arrival in Cook County, his clothing was removed from him and the contents of his pockets were inventoried. In his shirt pockets were two .38 caliber cartridges and an insurance card bearing the name William G. Hodges. In the pockets of his trousers were a gold Timex wristwatch and two gold rings, one having a red stone and the other a blue stone. The rings and the watch were identified by friends as having belonged to William Hodges. Serological examination of the reddish-brown substance on the leg of Putman's trousers and on the blue-stone ring established that the substance was blood having characteristics consistent of the blood of William Hodges and inconsistent with the blood of 98.3 percent of the general population.

A fresh dent was discovered on the right rear corner of Hodges' automobile. The dent was horizontal, two or three inches long. Yellow paint was present in the grooves of the dent, and loose flakes of yellow paint surrounded the dent. The yellow paint was the same color as the trailer of Putman's truck.

The .38 caliber revolver found in Putman's truck was purchased by him at a Talladega, Alabama, pawn shop on May 9, 1980. Ballistics examination showed that the bullet removed from the skull of David Hardin, the bullet removed from the skull of Katie Hardin, the bullet removed from the skull of William Hodges, and the bullet removed from the interior of Hodges' automobile had all been fired from the same gun: Putman's .38 caliber revolver.

Putman testified that he was returning from Florida on the 9th and 10th of July. He admitted that he stopped at the truck stop in Valdosta at approximately 10:00 p.m. on the 9th. He said he had two beers and three mixed drinks, and then went to sleep in his truck. When he left a couple of hours later, he took with him a hitchhiker known only to him as "Jeff." He stopped briefly at the first rest area north of Valdosta on Interstate 75, near Hahira, to wash his hands, and subsequently let Jeff out at an exit near Adel. He then proceeded directly to the rest area in Dooly County where he was arrested. Putman denied having stopped at the Lenox rest area. He admitted owning the .38 revolver found in his truck, but denied having shot anyone with it.

Putman v. State, 251 Ga. 605, 308 S.E.2d 145 (1983).

Before the Cook County trial, Petitioner was tried in Lowndes County for and found guilty of the murder of William Hodges and sentenced to life. See Putnam [sic] v. State, 250 Ga. 418, 297 S.E.2d 286 (1982).

The Cook County Trial

Putman was tried in Cook County in September 1982 for the July 1980 malice murders of David Hardin and his wife, Katie Christine Back. The jury found him guilty of both murders and sentenced him to death for each murder, finding the existence of two statutory aggravating circumstances under O.C.G.A. § 17-10-30(b)(2) to support each death sentence.

The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the malice murder convictions and death sentences on direct appeal on October 18, 1983, and denied reconsideration on November 8, 1983. Putman v. State, 251 Ga. 605, 308 S.E.2d 145 (1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 954 (1984). The Court ruled that the two “mutually supporting” statutory aggravating circumstances, that is, each murder was committed during the murder of the other, could not be used to impose two death sentences. As each murder was supported by an independent (b)(2) statutory aggravating circumstance, i.e., the armed robbery of David Hardin, the death sentences were affirmed on this basis. The United States Supreme Court declined to review issues from the direct appeal.

The First State and Federal Habeas Corpus Cases

Pursuant to an outstanding execution order, Putman’s trial attorneys filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in the Superior Court of Butts County on September 18, 1984, and a motion for stay of execution. The habeas court denied the petition and motion for a stay that same day. Bypassing the Georgia Supreme Court, Putman filed a federal habeas corpus petition and a motion for stay of execution in the United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia on the following day, September 19, 1984. The court granted a stay of execution and appointed new counsel for Putman. That case was ultimately dismissed several months later because the first state habeas case had not ended.

On October 18, 1984, new lawyers for Putman filed a motion for new trial or alternatively to set aside the September 18th judgment and reopen the evidence, an amendment to the first petition, and a notice of appeal in the Butts County habeas corpus case. The motions were denied. The Georgia Supreme Court granted Putman’s application for an appeal and remanded the case for an evidentiary hearing. After an evidentiary hearing in August 1985, the habeas court denied relief in April 1989. The Georgia Supreme Court denied Putman’s application for an appeal in July 1989. The United States Supreme Court declined to review issues decided by the state courts. Putman v. Zant, 493 U.S. 1012 (1989).

The Second State Habeas Corpus Case

In June 1992 Putman filed his second state habeas corpus case in the Superior Court of Butts County, alleging the prosecutor had failed to disclose six items of information which might have been helpful to his case. The day before the scheduled hearing on the warden’s motion to dismiss the petition as successive, Putman filed an amendment raising more claims. Pursuant to the August 1993 hearing, the court dismissed some of the grounds as “successive,” finding they could reasonably have been raised by Putman in his prior case. The court found that a hearing was warranted on the six grounds which were based on the information Putman claimed had been withheld by the state.

After an evidentiary hearing on those six claims in October 1993, the court denied relief in July 1994. The court found that five of the six claims lacked merit and that the sixth claim was “successive” after all as it was based on information known to Putman when he litigated his prior habeas case. The Georgia Supreme Court denied Putman’s application for an appeal in January 1995 and denied reconsideration in April 1995. The United States Supreme Court declined to review any issues from the second state habeas case. Putman v. Thomas, 516 U.S. 1012, reh’g denied, 516 U.S. 1099 (1996).

The Second Federal Habeas Corpus Case

In April 1997 Putman filed another federal habeas corpus petition in the Middle District of Georgia, seeking review of constitutional claims previously raised in his state court cases. The district court denied relief in June 1999. In August 1999 the district court denied Putman’s motion to alter or amend judgment.

Putman appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The briefing schedule was stayed pending decision by the United States Supreme Court on an issue of statutory construction concerning changes to the federal habeas corpus statute enacted in 1996. Three issues were briefed and orally argued by parties.

In October 2001, the circuit court issued its opinion and affirmed the district court’s denial of all relief to Putman. Putman v. Head, 268 F.3d 1223 (11th Cir. 2001). The circuit court found that the only issue worthy of extended discussion was the claim challenging the adequacy of Putman’s trial attorneys’ representation and found that he received constitutionally effective assistance of counsel. Rehearing was denied in January 2002. On October 7, 2002, the United States Supreme Court declined to review issues decided by the federal courts. Putman v. Head, No. 01-10914 (U.S. Oct. 7, 2002).

The Extraordinary Motion for New Trial

On October 4, 2002, Putman filed an extraordinary motion for new trial in the Superior Court of Cook County, (the trial court), seeking a new trial as to sentence. As grounds for a new sentencing trial, Putman raised five of the same claims he had litigated at the October 1993 evidentiary hearing in his second state habeas corpus case, claims which the state habeas court found lacked merit as matters of fact and law, and which the federal courts rejected as well. On October 18, 2002, the trial court denied the extraordinary motion for new sentencing trial.

ProDeathPenalty.com

William Putman was executed Wednesday for the deaths of a couple sleeping at a south Georgia rest stop 22 years ago. Putman, 59, was pronounced dead at 7:24 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson, south of Atlanta.

Putman declined to make a final statement. When asked, he said, "No, thank you." Asked if he wanted a prayer, he said, "No, No."

Putman did not close his eyes as the chemicals used for execution went through his system. He looked straight ahead and muttered something unintelligible. He appeared to be having trouble breathing before the chemicals shut down his lungs.

The Pardons and Paroles Board considered and then denied clemency for Putman on Tuesday, even though he didn't seek it, said spokeswoman Heather Hedrick.

Witnesses in Putman's trial said he approached a family sleeping at a rest area off Interstate 75 near Lenox on July 10, 1980.

The family was traveling home to Kentucky from a vacation at Daytona Beach, Fla. Putman was found guilty on accounts that he fatally shot the car's driver, David Hardin. Then Putman demanded that his wife, Katie Hardin, leave with him. She refused and screamed for David as he lay dying. Then she was shot in the head.

Police pulled Putman over at another rest area on I-75. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.13, and they found a wallet and a .38-caliber revolver under the driver's seat. Putman also was serving a life sentence for killing a school teacher, William Hodges, at a truck stop in Valdosta the day before, July 9, 1980.

The execution was witnessed by Shannon Blincoe, daughter of the slain couple, who was in the front seat of the car when her parents were shot. She was eight months old at the time. Three older children also were in the car when the shootings took place.

No members of Putman's family attended the execution. Putman's last meal was three eggs over light, toast, bacon, hash browns, vanilla ice cream and two soft drinks. Bob Ellis, a district attorney who worked on the case, said the daughter had told him "My mamma and daddy can finally rest in peace." He said he had stayed in touch with the daughter since the trial.

National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

State of Georgia Executes William Howard Putman.

William Putman was killed by the state on November 13, 2002 and pronounced dead at 7:24pm. He asked his lawyers not to pursue any last minute round of appeals nor did he request a clemency hearing with the state Board of Pardons and Paroles so that he could spend time with his family and focus on life rather than death.

Death penalty opponents gathered in Jackson at death row, in Atlanta at the state capitol, and in Americus, Athens, Augusta, Clarkesville, Conyers, Marietta and Savannah on the night of the execution.

William Howard Putman (GA) - Nov. 13, 2002

The state of Georgia is scheduled to execute William Howard Putman Nov. 13 for the murders of David Hardin and Katie Back on July 10, 1980. That evening, three shootings occurred in the vicinity of Interstate 75 in south central Georgia.

Prosecutors charged Putman, a white man, with three counts of murder – one in Lowndes County and two in Cook. Both juries found him guilty of the crimes; however, one gave him a life sentence, and the other the death penalty.

The disparity in sentences directly correlates to the effectiveness of Putman’s defense counsel in the two trials. In Lowndes County, his lawyers used a responsible penalty phase strategy, calling nine witnesses to present mitigating evidence.

Five family members, a co-worker, a lawyer, a prison deputy, and the defendant himself spoke out against a death sentence. They all testified that Putman was a kind, caring, and peaceful man; the prison deputy said the defendant often gave advice to visiting schoolchildren about staying out of prison, and the lawyer claimed he was always a calm and concerned client.

Putman’s lawyers also raised the issue of lingering doubt, raising the possibility that scientific evidence might eventually prove the defendant’s innocence. After hearing the testimony and deliberating, the Lowndes County jury found life imprisonment a suitable punishment.

In Cook County, a year later, Putman’s defense counsel – a different team of lawyers than in Lowndes – failed to follow the successful penalty phase strategy of the previous trial.

They called only four witnesses, skipped over critical mitigating factors, and allowed the prosecutors to portray the death penalty as a necessity. During closing arguments, the prosecutor argued: “More important than what you heard this afternoon is what you did not hear. You did not hear a preacher…You did not hear one single co-worker…You did not hear one single personal friend who knows him and knows what he’s like…(Putman) is the kind of man who doesn't have a preacher to come and speak up for him, a personal friend, a close, close family member.”

Had Putman’s lawyers simply followed the previous strategy and put up the same co-worker, the same close family members, and the same witnesses altogether, he might not be awaiting execution.

Now, at 59 years old, Putman has been waiting on death row for over two decades. Throughout his appeals, he has maintained his innocence, and continuously questioned the reliability of eyewitnesses who testified against him.

Evidence indicated that several eyewitnesses seemed confused about their own accounts: one saw the murderer at a rest stop after Putman had already been incarcerated, and others claimed they saw a blonde man commit the murders.

Sentenced to death under a system prone to error (102 death row inmates have been exonerated in the United States since 1976), Putman is facing execution for a crime he may or may not have committed. Please write the state of Georgia and request a commutation of William Putman’s death sentence.

State Executes Putman for Murders

Associated Press

November 13, 2002

JACKSON, Ga. - William Putman was executed Wednesday for the deaths of a couple sleeping at a south Georgia rest stop 22 years ago. Putman, 59, was pronounced dead at 7:24 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson, south of Atlanta.

It was the state's eighth execution by injection. Putman declined to make a final statement.When asked, he said, "No, thank you." Asked if he wanted a prayer, he said, "No, No."

Putman had instructed his attorney on Tuesday to drop his final appeals, and spent his last two days meeting with 29 family members and friends. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Peggy Chapman described Putman as having been "resigned to his fate," calm and ready to die. The Pardons and Paroles Board considered and then denied clemency for Putman on Tuesday, even though he didn't seek it, said spokeswoman Heather Hedrick.

Witnesses in Putman's trial said he approached a family sleeping at a rest area off Interstate 75 near Lenox on July 10, 1980. The family was traveling home to Kentucky from a vacation at Daytona Beach, Fla. Putman was found guilty on accounts that he fatally shot the car's driver, David Hardin.

Then Putman demanded that his wife, Katie Hardin, leave with him. She refused and screamed for David as he lay dying. Then she was shot in the head. Police pulled Putman over at another rest area on I-75. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.13, and they found a wallet and a .38-caliber revolver under the driver's seat.

Putman also was serving a life sentence for killing a school teacher, William Hodges, at a truck stop in Valdosta day before, July 9, 1980.

The execution was witnessed by Shannon Blincoe, daughter of the slain couple, who was in the front seat of the car when her parents were shot. She was eight months old at the time.

Three older children also were in the car when the shootings took place. No members of Putman's family attended the execution. Putman's last meal was three eggs over light, toast, bacon, hash browns, vanilla ice cream and two soft drinks.

Bob Ellis, a district attorney who worked on the case, said the daughter had told him "My mamma and daddy can finally rest in peace." He said he had stayed in touch with the daughter since the trial.

There were about a dozen anti-death penalty demonstrators outside the prison during the execution. "Every time we execute somebody it's repeating the violence we're supposed to be against," said Laura Moye, one of the protesters. "The state shouldn't have the power to take human life because it can't give life back when it makes mistakes."

Nov. 13 execution set for convict in 1980 deaths

Associated Press

October 28, 2002

A former truck driver is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 13 for killing 2 people at a South Georgia rest area more than 20 years ago. William Howard Putnam, 59, was sentenced to death for killing a Kentucky couple on July 10, 1980, on their way home from a Daytona Beach, Fla., vacation. A Cook County jury found Putnam guilty of fatally shooting David Hardin and Katie Back, who had stopped to sleep at an I-75 rest stop.

PRESS RELEASE FROM MR. PUTMAN'S LAWYERS:

William Howard Putman is scheduled to be executed on Wednesday, November 13, 2002, at 7:00 p.m. After consultation with his family, Mr. Putman has decided to forego clemency review and has instructed his attorneys to seek no further intervention by the courts.

Mr. Putman does not want to die, yet he is prepared to die. Mr. Putman maintains his innocence, but has decided to focus his attention on his family during his final days. Anyone who knows Mr. Putman would not be surprised that his concerns are with his family and not himself.

During the past two decades while on death row, Mr. Putman has been a consistent, positive and integral part of his children's lives. They routinely have looked to him for guidance, advice and support. Mr. Putman wants to ensure that his last days are focused on life, not death, and on his daughters* and granddaughter*s future.

Bill Putman is a rare example of a death-sentenced inmate. Mr. Putman was a thirty-seven year old truck driver on his way home to his family in Alabama after making a delivery in Florida when he was arrested and charged with three homicides.

The State of Georgia has never been able to establish any motive for the crimes. Mr. Putman had no prior criminal record. He was a loving husband and father, a hardworking provider for his wife and children, a respectful son and loyal brother, a good employee, and a well liked and respected man in the community.

He was known for his caring nature, peacefulness and generosity. Everyone who knew Bill Putman liked him, respected him and sought his advice. He was a giver. Even today, Mr. Putman's friends and family, who have stood by him since his arrest, still do not believe that he committed the crimes for which he has been convicted and sentenced to death or that he was capable of doing so.

Since his arrest, Mr. Putman has projected the same positive attributes in jail, in prison between the two trials, and since being on death row. His character has not diminished. He remains the same man he has always been -- giving, positive and life affirming.

Mr. Putman stands convicted and sentenced to death for crimes which are so out of character that one naturally questions whether Mr. Putman could have committed the crimes. The dichotomy between Mr. Putman*s life history and the crimes could have provided a compelling case in mitigation of a death sentence but his trial attorney*s failed to present the compelling story of Mr. Putman*s life history.

United States Circuit Court Judge Wilson, who dissented from the affirmance of the denial of federal habeas corpus relief, explained that "[m]any criminal defendants lack the breadth and variety of the close relationships that [Mr. Putman] had prior to his crimes." Putman v. Head, 268 F.3d 1223, 1255 (11th Cir. 2001) (Wilson, J. dissenting).

Judge Wilson concluded that Mr. Putman was denied the effective assistance of counsel at the sentencing phase of his capital trial writing that Mr. Putman "is likely on death row today because of the deficient performance by his attorneys at the sentencing phase of this case."

Although his case presents troubling questions about indigent defense and the implementation of the death penalty, Mr. Putman is focused on being a father, grandfather, brother and uncle. In the end, family is what matters to Bill Putman. Mr. Putman has been a model prisoner who followed the rules, caused no problems and who after being convicted in Lowndes County, and sentenced to life, was put on a road crew where he performed well while awaiting his capital trial.

William Putman

CNN.com

(AP) - (November 14, 2002)

JACKSON, Georgia

A man who shot a couple to death in front of their four children at an interstate rest stop 22 years ago was executed by injection Wednesday.

William Putman, 59, had told his attorneys to drop his final appeals Tuesday. The Pardons and Paroles Board considered and denied him clemency, even though he didn't seek it, said spokeswoman Heather Hedrick. Putman was pronounced dead at 7:24 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson.

Witnesses in Putman's trial said he approached a family sleeping at a rest area off Interstate 75 on July 10, 1980, in south Georgia. David and Katie Hardin and their children, including an 8-month-old daughter, were traveling home to Kentucky from a Florida vacation. Putman shot David Hardin and demanded that Katie Hardin leave with him, witnesses testified. She refused, and was shot in the head as she screamed for her dying husband.

Putman also was serving a life sentence for killing a teacher, William Hodges, at a Valdosta truck stop the day before the rest stop murders.

The execution was Georgia's eighth since the state Supreme Court ordered it to switch from electrocution to injection last year.

William Putman to die by injection Wednesday

By Mark Niesse - Savannah Morning News

(AP) November 12, 2002

(ATLANTA) - A truck driver who killed two people at a rest area and another man at a truck stop 22 years ago was scheduled to die by injection Wednesday.

William Putman, 59, canceled his hearing before the Pardons and Paroles Board on Tuesday to spend time with his family on death row in Jackson in the hours before his 7 p.m. Wednesday execution. Putman would be the eighth man put to death since Georgia adopted lethal injection _ instead of electrocution _ as its method of execution.

A notice of appeal was filed with the Georgia Supreme Court, but further steps to delay the execution had not been taken and time appeared to be running out, said court clerk Lynn Stinchcomb.

The Pardons and Paroles Board was meeting Tuesday to consider granting Putman clemency anyway, as it does for every execution, said spokeswoman Heather Hedrick. "Mr. Putman preferred to spend his final days with his family," Hedrick said. "Regardless, based on legal advice, the board is going to go ahead and review the case."

Earlier that day, the body of William Gerald Hodges had been found slumped over the wheel of his automobile in the parking lot of a truck stop in Valdosta. A .38-caliber bullet was recovered from inside his skull. Ballistics tests showed the three fatal bullets were all fired by the same gun _ the .38 caliber revolver found in Putman's truck.

Putman got a life sentence for Hodges' death and later was sentenced to death for killing the couple. On appeal, he claimed his attorneys didn't adequately represent him during the sentencing phase of the Hardin trial.

Parole Board Meeting with Condemned Man's Representatives

Valdosta Daily Times

November 12, 2002

ATLANTA - The State Board of Pardons and Paroles will meet with representatives for condemned inmate William Howard Putman, 59, at 9 a.m. today. They are expected to ask the board for executive clemency for Putman, who is scheduled to die by lethal injection at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The investigation revealed that in July 1980, Putman, a semi-truck driver, murdered three victims during a killing spree after delivering a load of steel to Florida.

Reports indicate that in the early morning hours of July 10, 1980, Putman stopped at a rest area near Lenox in Cook County. His two victims, David Hardin, 22, and Katie Back, 28, were sleeping in their vehicle along with four children, including the 8-month-old daughter of Back. Without warning, Putman shot Hardin in the back of the head, and after a struggle, shot Back in the face.

Hardin's 14-year-old niece escaped the vehicle and sought help. Georgia State Patrol later arrested Putman in Dooly County.

A jury of the Cook County Superior Court sentenced Putman to death in September 1982. Putman is also serving a life sentence for the earlier murder of William Gerald Hodges at a truck stop in Lowndes County. Hodges, 49, was found in his vehicle fatally wounded by a shot to the mouth and to the shoulder.

Execution Scheduled Tonight for Death Row Man

By Marie Arrington - Valdosta Daily Times

November 13, 2002

ADEL - A former Alabama truck driver sentenced to death row 20 years ago after being convicted of fatally shooting a Kentucky couple traveling through Cook County is scheduled to be executed today in Jackson. He was also convicted of the murder of Hamilton County, Fla. school teacher William Hodges, 49, in Lowndes County. He was sentenced to life for Hodges murder.

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles met with representatives for condemned inmate William Howard Putman, 59, Tuesday. Although Putman canceled his hearing to spend time with his family, the board still considered - and denied - his clemency request. Appeals have continuously been made to both the State Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was sentenced Sept. 17, 1982.

According to court documents obtained from the Cook County Superior Court Clerk's Office, Cook County shootings occurred in the early morning hours of July 10, 1980.

The Lowndes County shooting was said to have occurred at a Truckstops of America in Valdosta on July 9, 1980. Hodges was shot while in his vehicle. Putman was also at the rest area. According to his statement, he had a few alcoholic beverages while at the truck stop around 10 p.m. He had in his possession a .38-caliber revolver. Hodges' body was found around 2 p.m. July 10, 1980.

Later in the night, the Kentucky couple, David N. Hardin, 22, and his wife, Katie Back, 28, were asleep in a rest area near Lenox. They had their three children and Hardin's niece in the back seat, and were returning home from a Florida vacation.

Court documents mention several eyewitnesses saw a dark-colored semi pulling an empty yellow flatbed parked in the lot, and saw the driver approach the Hardin's car, a Dodge sedan. They also heard a sound which sounded like firecrackers. The sound awakened Hardin's niece, and she joined the other eyewitnesses in saying she saw a man grab Back. She struggled, refusing to go with him, and screamed for her husband, who had been shot. The man also shot Back.

The witnesses called law enforcement, describing the semi they'd seen. The vehicle's description matched the one Putman was driving, and police arrested him in Dooly County at another rest station. They transported him back to Cook County.

While at the Cook County Jail, Putman's clothing and personnel effects were inventoried. Among the things they found in Putman's possession were Hodges' insurance card, a watch and two rings, also belonging to Hodges. Alapaha Circuit District Attorney Bob Ellis, who was an assistant district attorney at the time, said when Putman first arrived at the Cook County jail, Cook law enforcement wasn't aware of a fatal shooting occurring in a Lowndes County rest area.

Around noon on July 10, Cook law enforcement learned about the deceased Hodges. Ellis said the person who answered the phone asked for the name of the deceased person, and the name, William G. Hodges, sounded familiar to her. His insurance card had been in Putman's possession. That piece of paper, Ellis said, indicated the Lowndes County murder was connected to the Cook County murder.

Also a point in the state's case was the fact the bullets used to fatally wound Hodges, Hardin and Back were the same. "The ballistics matched," Ellis said.

Ellis also said the case has been going through the appeals process since the Cook County jury sentenced Putman to death. He added that the victims - the children who were in the back seat of the Hardins' vehicle - have had to live their lives without their family members.

One of the children, Shannon, who was only a few months old when her parents died, is now in her 20s with a child of her own. He added that the execution would be some sort of closure for the family. Attempts to contact the victims' families for comment were unsuccessful.