Summary:

Tarver was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1984 robbery and murder of Hugh Kite, the owner/operator of Kite's Grocery and Bait Store in Cottonton.

Kite was apparently closing up his store, walked outside and went around the corner of the building where he was shot three times with a .38-caliber revolver and robbed of his cash. "That store was kind of a community center, a gethering place for people in the community. Most everybody in the area knew him, including Tarver and and his accomplice, Andrew Lee Richardson.

At trial, Richardson testified he was with Tarver on the night Kite was murdered. He said the two men were drinking beer in Tarver's late 1970s Chevrolet Impala in a pasture near Kite's store before Tarver, armed with a gun, got out of the car and walked toward the store.

Richardson said Tarver returned, gave him $80, and told him "he had to kill" Kite.

Richardson pled guilty to lesser charges of First Degree Robbery and recieved a 25 year sentence, eligible for parole in April 2001.

Tire tracks matching Tarver's automobile were recovered outside the store, and Tarver's fingerprint was recovered from a beer can nearby. Taking the stand in his own defense, Tarver, who was on parole for a previous robbery conviction at the time of the shooting, said he was nowhere near Kite's store the night of the murder and denied killing him. Instead, he pointed the finger at Richardson, who had shown Tarver the gun he used to kill Kite.

The jury was not convinced. Finding him guilty, it recommended a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Russell County Circuit Court Judge Wayne Johnson overrode the recommendation, however, ordering Tarver put to death/.

ProDeathPenalty.com

Robert Lee Tarver Jr., convicted of robbing and killing a Cottonton store owner and stealing his wallet. Tarver was convicted in the Sept. 15, 1984 death of Hugh Kite.

Hugh was apparently closing up his store, Kite's Grocery and Bait Store located on Alabama 165, for the night as Tarver robbed and fatally shot him.

Hugh's wife had called, asking him to bring a bag of ice home. While a 10-year-old helper waited inside, Kite exited the store and went around the corner of the building where he was shot three times with a .38-caliber revolver and robbed of his cash.

"That store was kind of a community center," said Russell County District Attorney Kenneth Davis and chief prosecutor in the Kite murder trial. "Mr. Kite's death cast a pall over that community. It was frightening and disconcerting and had a chilling effect on everybody there."

Kite's Grocery and Bait Store also served, in a sense, as a crossroads of country culture. Prior to Hugh's death, it was a gathering place for the people of Cottonton, Jernigan, Pittsview, Glenville and other remote places in the county. Kite also operated a post office inside. Most everybody in the area knew him, including Tarver and Richardson.

During his 1985 Russell County trial, co-defendant Andrew Lee Richardson said he was with Tarver on the night Kite was murdered. He said the 2 men were drinking beer in Tarver's late 1970s Chevrolet Impala in a pasture near Kite's store before Tarver, armed with a gun, got out of the car and walked toward the store. Richardson said Tarver returned, gave him $80, and told him "he had to kill" Kite.

Richardson, who lived in nearby Glenville, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of 1st-degree robbery and remains in Alabama's Ventress Correctional Facility, serving a 25-year sentence. He is eligible for parole in April 2001.

Russell County Sheriff Tommy Boswell, then a captain and chief investigator of the Kite murder, introduced the physical evidence that contributed to Tarver's conviction. Mud from the rain yielded footprints that Boswell tracked to the place where Richardson would say the 2 men had parked prior to the murder.

There, Boswell found tire tracks leading away from the scene. He also found an empty beer can. After receiving information on Tarver's possible involvement, he conducted tests that matched the tire tracks near the crime scene with the tire treads on Tarver's car parked at his home in nearby Pittsview.

A fingerprint analysis of the beer can found in the pasture revealed a print matching Tarver's. Boswell also retrieved a pistol that a ballistics report linked to the murder.

Taking the stand in his own defense, Tarver, who was on parole for a previous robbery conviction at the time of the shooting, said he was nowhere near Kite's store the night of the murder and denied killing him.

The jury was not convinced. Finding him guilty, it recommended a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Russell County Circuit Court Judge Wayne Johnson overrode the recommendation, however, ordering Tarver put to death and setting off a chain of appeals that has lasted 15 years.

Tarver, now 52, has maintained his innocence throughout. William Allen Motley, who operated a small grocery store in Jernigan until a few years ago, said Hugh's murder changed the way the community thought about country life. "I think it put everybody around here on their P's and Q's," he said. "Especially those who operated businesses. From that time on I made sure I was never alone when I opened or closed my store."

Killer Executed; Convicted in 1981 Shooting Death

ABCNews.com

Associated Press

ATMORE, Ala., April 14 — More than 15 years after he fatally shot a Russell County store owner, a death row inmate died in Alabama’s electric chair Friday.

Robert Lee Tarver Jr., 52, was pronounced dead at 12:11 a.m. at Holman Prison near Atmore. Tarver was convicted in the 1984 killing of Hugh Kite of Cottonton. Kite’s son, Hugh Kite Jr., watched the execution solemnly.

The victim’s daughter, Coty Kite Holmes, stood out of sight of reporters. The two declined comment afterward. Strapped into the chair, Tarver seemed agitated as he talked briefly with his guards, then stared straight ahead and waved briefly to a prison chaplain. Twice, he made eye contact with Kite’s children, but did not attempt to communicate with them.

Delayed From Feb. 4

Tarver, who had maintained his innocence in Kite’s death, was initially scheduled to be executed Feb. 4, but the U.S. Supreme Court granted him a stay with less than three hours to go.

The stay gave the justices time to consider whether to hear arguments on Tarver’s appeal claiming Alabama’s electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment. But on Feb. 22, the justices voted 5-4 not to address the issue, clearing the way for the state Supreme Court to set a second execution date.

Tarver’s most recent appeal, filed April 6, claimed blacks were unfairly excluded from his trial jury. It was denied Thursday by the state Court of Criminal Appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tarver waived a final meal Thursday and spent the day visiting with family members and the chaplain, according to state Department of Corrections officials. He left his watch to his son and left personal papers and other items to his sister.

No Sign of Remorse

“The inmate was very reserved,” Mike Haley, state prison commissioner, said after the execution. He said Tarver “did not indicate any remorse.” Tarver’s defense attorney, Bryan Stevenson of Montgomery, claimed in his appeal that Russell County is 40 percent black, but 13 of 14 qualified blacks were struck from the jury in the trial of Tarver, a black man accused in the slaying of a white man.

Jurors voted 7-5 to recommend Tarver be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, but Circuit Judge Wayne Johnson sentenced him to death. Tarver’s appeal included a signed affidavit from former Russell County assistant district attorney Mark Carter in which Carter said race was a factor in jury selection.

However, Carter admitted to having “no specific recollection as to the jury selection and striking process at Tarver’s 1985 trial,” Russell County Circuit Judge George Greene wrote in rejecting the appeal. “Carter only makes reference to a vague policy that race played a role in jury selection ... although he cannot recall how he came to understand how this policy existed ... .” On Thursday, the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the racial discrimination claims failed “to meet the definition of newly discovered evidence.”

Killer Dies in Alabama's Electric Chair

Won a February Reprieve

APBNews Online

April 14, 2000

ATMORE, Ala. (AP) -- A man who murdered a storeowner in 1984 was executed in the electric chair early today after failing to win another 11th-hour reprieve.

Robert Lee Tarver Jr., 52, was pronounced dead at 12:11 a.m. Strapped into the chair, Tarver talked briefly with his guards, then stared straight ahead. Twice, he turned to look at his victim's children but did not attempt to communicate with them.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Tarver a temporary stay of execution to rule on his claim that Alabama's electric chair is a "cruel and unusual punishment." The court later voted 5-4 not to consider the issue.

'Antiquated' electric chair

Tarver contended that Alabama's "antiquated" electric chair exposed him to a risk of "excessive burning, disfigurement and ... pain and suffering." According to prosecutors, Tarver shot Russell County store owner Hugh Kite several times and stole his wallet as Kite was locking his Cottonton bait shop and grocery for the night.

Tarver maintained his innocence in the killing. Tarver's attorney, Bryan Stevenson of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, also claimed his client was denied a fair trial because blacks were unfairly excluded from the jury that convicted him.

High Court Rejects Challenge to Electric Chair

APBNews Online

February 22, 2000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court rejected an appeal today that called death in Alabama's electric chair a type of "cruel and unusual punishment" the Constitution forbids.

The justices, by a 5-4 vote, turned away Alabama death row inmate Robert Lee Tarver's contention that his state's "antiquated" electric chair exposes him to a risk of "excessive burning, disfigurement and ... pain and suffering." Today's brief order means state officials are free to set a new execution date for him. It is unclear whether the court will use some other case to review the legitimacy of electrocutions -- and whether such review will be granted before Tarver dies in the chair.

Justices John Paul Stevens, David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen G. Breyer voted to hear arguments in Tarver's case, but five votes are needed to grant such review.

Execution delayed

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O'Connor, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas voted against Tarver. Alabama officials had urged the nation's highest court to reject his appeal, saying death in the electric chair is almost painless and instantaneous.

Tarver was to have been electrocuted earlier this month, but the justices ordered his execution delayed just hours before it was to take place. Alabama is just one of three states that use the electric chair as their sole means of execution. The other two are Georgia and Nebraska.

Georgia moves toward injection The Georgia House voted overwhelmingly Monday to phase out electrocution and execute inmates by injection. Legislators said they feared the Supreme Court would ban the electric chair. That legislation now goes to the state Senate.

The court last month canceled its review of Florida's use of the electric chair after the state Legislature passed new legislation providing for death by injection as the primary means of execution. Gov. Jeb Bush signed it into law.

The Supreme Court never has found any specific form of execution to be unconstitutional, but Tarver's appeal argued that "a national consensus has emerged rejecting" electrocution. Florida joined Kentucky and Tennessee in moving away from electrocutions in the past two years. Thirty-eight states have death penalty laws.

'Mutilation, burns and botched executions'

"Mutilation, burns and botched executions characterize Alabama's use of the electric chair," Tarver's appeal said. Of the 98 death row inmates executed across the nation in 1999, 94 were killed by injection. Three were electrocuted, and one was killed by cyanide gas.

Tarver, 52, was convicted of the 1984 robbery and murder of Hugh Kite outside the bait shop and grocery Kite owned in Cottonton, Ala., near the Georgia state line. Prosecutors said Tarver shot Kite several times and stole his wallet.

Alabama Killer Executed

American Civil Liberties Union Newswire

April 14, 2000

Atmore, AL -- A man who murdered a store owner in 1984 was executed in the electric chair early Friday after failing to win another 11th-hour reprieve, the Associated Press reported.

According to the AP, Robert Lee Tarver Jr., 52, was pronounced dead at 12:11 a.m. Strapped into the chair, Tarver talked briefly with his guards, then stared straight ahead. Twice, he turned to look at his victim's children, but did not attempt to communicate with them.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court granted Tarver a temporary stay of execution to rule on his claim that Alabama's electric chair is a "cruel and unusual punishment.'' The court later voted 5-4 not to consider the issue. Tarver contended that Alabama's "antiquated'' electric chair exposed him to a risk of "excessive burning, disfigurement and ... pain and suffering.''

According to prosecutors, Tarver shot Russell County store owner Hugh Kite several times and stole his wallet as Kite was locking his Cottonton bait shop and grocery for the night. Tarver maintained his innocence in the killing.

Tarver's attorney, Bryan Stevenson of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, also claimed his client was denied a fair trial because blacks were unfairly excluded from the jury that convicted him. The ACLU is an outspoken opponent of the death penalty and produced a video, "Double Justice," which discusses the racially unfair application of the death penalty.

Alabama execution

Associated Press

March 14, 2000

More than 15 years after he fatally shot a Russell County store owner, a death row inmate died in Alabama's electric chair Friday. Robert Lee Tarver Jr., 52, was pronounced dead at 12:11 a.m. at Holman Prison near Atmore. Tarver was convicted in the 1984 killing of Hugh Kite of Cottonton.

Kite's son, Hugh Kite Jr., watched the execution solemnly. The victim's daughter, Coty Kite Holmes, stood out of sight of reporters. The 2 declined comment afterward. Strapped into the chair, Tarver seemed agitated as he talked briefly with his guards, then stared straight ahead and waved briefly to a prison chaplain. Twice, he made eye contact with Kite's children, but did not attempt to communicate with them. He refused to make a final statement.

Tarver, who had maintained his innocence in Kite's death, was initially scheduled to be executed Feb. 4, but the U.S. Supreme Court granted him a stay with less than 3 hours to go.

The stay gave the justices time to consider whether to hear arguments on Tarver's appeal claiming Alabama's electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment. But on Feb. 22, the justices voted 5-4 not to address the issue, clearing the way for the state Supreme Court to set a second execution date.

Tarver's most recent appeal, filed April 6, claimed blacks were unfairly excluded from his trial jury. It was denied Thursday by the state Court of Criminal Appeals, the Alabama Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Tarver waived a final meal Thursday and spent the day visiting with family members and the chaplain, according to state Department of Corrections officials. He left his watch to his son and left personal papers and other items to his sister. "The inmate was very reserved," Mike Haley, state prison commissioner, said after the execution. He said Tarver "did not indicate any remorse."

Tarver's defense attorney, Bryan Stevenson of Montgomery, claimed in his appeal that Russell County is 40 % black, but 13 of 14 qualified blacks were struck from the jury in the trial of Tarver, a black man accused in the slaying of a white man.

Jurors voted 7-5 to recommend Tarver be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, but Circuit Judge Wayne Johnson sentenced him to death. Tarver's appeal included a signed affidavit from former Russell County assistant district attorney Mark Carter in which Carter said race was a factor in jury selection.

However, Carter admitted to having "no specific recollection as to the jury selection and striking process at Tarver's 1985 trial," Russell County Circuit Judge George Greene wrote in rejecting the appeal. "Carter only makes reference to a vague policy that race played a role in jury selection ... although he cannot recall how he came to understand how this policy existed ... ." On Thursday, the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled the racial discrimination claims failed "to meet the definition of newly discovered evidence."

Tarver becomes the 3rd condemned inmate to be put to death this year in Alabama and the 22nd overall since the state resumed capital punishment in 1983. Tarver also becomes the 28th condemned inmate to be put to death this year in the USA and the 626th overall since America resumed executions on Jan. 17, 1977.

The Alabama House voted 71-11 to give death row inmates the option of being executed by lethal injection or by electrocution. The vote Thursday sent the bill sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bill Fuller, D-LaFayette, to the Senate.

Fuller said the bill is intended to avoid any possible delay from a successful appeal claiming that the electric chair is cruel and unusual punishment. If the legislature approves the bill and Gov. Don Siegelman signs it, the more than 185 death row inmates would have 2 days to "make a written request for electrocution," Fuller said. He said the cost of setting up a lethal injection room would total between $250,000 and $300,000.

Rep. Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, voted against the bill, saying murder victims did not have any choice about how they were killed. Clouse said he would prefer passing a bill that would make the change to lethal injection only if the courts stop Alabama from using the electric chair.

Tarver v. State, 500 So.2d 1232 (Ala.Cr.App. 1986) (Direct Appeal).

Robert Lee Tarver, Jr. was indicted for the intentional murder of Hugh Sims Kite, during the course of a robbery, in violation of § 13A-5-40(a)(2), Code of Alabama 1975. The jury found the appellant "guilty as charged in the indictment" during the guilt phase of the trial. At the sentencing phase, the jury recommended the appellant receive a sentence of life imprisonment without parole.

The trial judge rejected the jury's recommendation at the sentencing hearing. He determined the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances and sentenced the appellant to death.

The victim, Hugh Sims Kite, owned Kite's Store on Highway 165 in Cottonton, Alabama. On the evening of September 15, 1984, Jerry Ford, a ten-year-old boy, was helping the victim at his store.

As the victim prepared to close the store, he told Ford to stand out front while he put some ice in the back of his truck which was parked behind the store. While Ford was waiting in the front of the store, he heard two shots. Ford went around to the back of the store and called for the victim but he did not get an answer. Ford returned to the front of the store and remained there until Bennie Davis came by the store.

This same night, Cynthia Sue Howard and her husband were camping in a pasture south of the railroad tracks from Kite's Store. Around 9:15 p.m. (Eastern time), Howard saw some car lights in the pasture about 300 yards away. Some 30 to 45 minutes later, she heard four gunshots.

Bennie Davis testified that he stopped at Kite's Store on the night of September 15, 1984. After finding no one inside the store, Davis asked Ford where the victim was. Ford replied that he had heard some shots after the victim went behind the store.

Ford then got a flashlight for Davis and Davis went behind the store and found the victim lying on the ground. Davis contacted the police and remained at the scene until they arrived. Sollie Pate, a deputy with the Russell County Sheriff's Department, testified that, on the evening in question, he was at his home which is about a mile from Kite's Store.

At 10:30 p.m. (Eastern time), he received a call from the dispatcher that someone had been shot at Kite's Store. Pate went to the scene and, upon his arrival, he found no pulse on the victim.

He then secured the scene and called for an ambulance, the coroner and the investigators. Pate saw some ice in the back of the victim's truck. Lesley Vance, the Russell County Coroner, testified that he examined the victim's body at the scene.

Vance found three gunshot wounds on the victim and determined the victim was dead. Vance stated that the victim's wallet was found on his body and that there was money lying outside the victim's left pocket. Vance was later recalled to the stand and stated that his earlier testimony about finding the victim's wallet was incorrect. He stated that the victim's wallet was not found.

Raymond Smith, an investigator with the Russell County Sheriff's Department, testified that he took photographs of the scene and the victim's body. Smith felt something in the victim's right front pocket which appeared to be folded paper and change in the left front pocket.

The victim's two rear pockets were empty and the left pocket had been turned three-quarters inside out. The inside part of the pocket had been pulled outside the opening of the pocket. Some money was found lying between the victim's left hip and knee. Next to the victim's left foot, Smith saw two credit cards, a Master Card and a Visa. The victim's wallet was not found.

Smith noticed shoe prints, with a distinctive tread design, leading away from the vicinity of the area where the victim was found. The prints led south from the store across the railroad tracks and onto a dirt road in a pasture which was owned by the victim. The shoe prints were also found leading from the pasture towards the store.

The shoe prints were tracked to an area where Smith found scratch marks from a vehicle in the dirt. The scratch marks indicated that the vehicle had left at a high rate of speed. The tire prints led to the highway and it appeared the vehicle proceeded onto the highway in a southerly direction.

Tire prints of all four tires could be seen and the tires all seemed to be different. An attempt was made to locate shoes in area stores which had the same tread design as the shoe prints. These efforts were unsuccessful.

The tires of area vehicles and the parking lots of several country stores were checked in an attempt to locate similar tire prints to those found in the pasture. These efforts, too, proved to be fruitless.

While making a search of the pasture, Smith found a Salem cigarette butt in the grass area where the vehicle that made the tire prints had been parked. The butt appeared to be fresh because the ash of the cigarette was in good, complete condition and was lying right off of the end of the butt.

On October 11, 1984, Thomas Boswell, the chief investigator for the Russell County Sheriff's Department, received some information concerning this case from a Robert Jackson.

Based on this information, Boswell asked Investigator Herbert Parker to locate Andrew Richardson. Richardson was located and came to the Sheriff's office and made a statement.

Following his statement, Richardson was arrested for the victim's murder. Boswell then went to the residence of Esther Dennis and asked her about a gun. After Richardson, who had accompanied Boswell, made a comment to Dennis, she produced a Colt single shot revolver. The gun was unloaded.

Boswell also went to the home of Addie Upshaw, the occasional residence of the appellant. At Upshaw's residence, a Chevrolet automobile was found with a distinctive set of tires which had characteristics similar to the tire prints found in the pasture.

The car was impounded and towed to the jail yard. A search of Upshaw's home was made and a pair of Nike tennis shoes was found. The tread on these shoes looked similar to the shoe prints in the pasture.

Boswell testified that, on October 4, 1984, a request had been made to the Governor to authorize payment of a reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the victim's murder.

However, Boswell stated that Jackson never mentioned a reward. In fact, Boswell already had the name of the appellant along with 25 other names, when he talked to Jackson. Boswell testified that Richardson has also been indicted for the victim's murder.

Esther Dennis testified that the appellant came to her house alone one Saturday afternoon and asked to borrow her gun. She lent it to him and he returned it about a week and a half later.

Richardson was with the appellant when he returned the gun. Dennis stated that she didn't remember if the gun was loaded when the appellant borrowed it or if he borrowed it before or after the victim was killed.

Dr. Thomas Gilchrist performed the autopsy on the victim. His examination revealed the victim had sustained a gunshot wound to the chest and two gunshot wounds to the right thigh. Gilchrist removed two bullets from the victim's body.

The third bullet had exited the body. Gilchrist determined the victim's cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the chest. Lonnie Harden, a firearms and toolmark examiner for the Department of Forensic Sciences, examined the two expended .38 bullets which were removed from the victim's body and test fired the gun which was obtained from Dennis.

He determined that the two bullets had been fired through this particular gun. Harden also examined the shirt and pants the victim was wearing on the night of his death. He found no gunpowder residue around the bullet holes in the shirt and pants. This indicated to Harden that the gunshots had been fired from a distance of in excess of 30 inches away.

Joe Edwards, a Phenix City police officer, assisted the district attorney's office in this investigation. He testified that, on the morning of September 16, 1984, he found a Budweiser beer can beside the tire tracks in the pasture behind Kite's Store.

When he poured the beer from the can, it began to foam. This indicated to Edwards that the beer in the can was relatively fresh. Gloria Walters, a latent print examiner with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, lifted a latent fingerprint from the Budweiser can.

This print matched the known fingerprint of the appellant's right thumb. John Perdue testified that he is a trooper with the ABI and he assists law enforcement agencies in criminal investigations. He participated in the investigation of the victim's death.

He stated that he was present during the interviews of Richardson and the appellant. During these interviews, he made notes that both Richardson and the appellant smoked Salem cigarettes.

Tellis Hudson, a criminalist with the DFS, assisted in the investigation. He examined the shoe prints found in the pasture and made photographs of the prints. He also made a plaster cast of one of the shoe prints.

Hudson stated that the shoe prints had an unusual tread design. He also said that part of the impression of the shoe print was probably made by the person's pants' legs being too long and dragging the ground. Hudson compared the Nike tennis shoes to photographs of the shoe prints found in the pasture.

He stated that the tread design of the tennis shoes was fairly similar to the design of the shoe prints but they did not match. Hudson also examined and made photographs of the tire tracks in the pasture.

He also examined the tires of the Chevrolet and made tire prints from these tires. By comparing these tire prints to photographs of the tire tracks found in the pasture, Hudson determined that one of the prints in the pasture could have been made by the left, and possibly the right, front tire of the Chevrolet.

Prentiss Griffith, the Sheriff of Russell County, also examined the shoe prints which were found leading back and forth between the pasture and the rear of Kite's Store.

He stated that the stride of the prints leading away from the store to the pasture were longer than those leading from the pasture to the store. This indicated to him that the person was running away from the store.

Griffith said that his observation of the tire prints indicated that the vehicle turned into the pasture from Highway 165 onto a dirt road. The vehicle proceeded down the dirt road until it forked. The vehicle then pulled in the middle of the fork next to a tree and then backed into a grassy area.

When the car left the pasture, it turned south onto Highway 165. Griffith examined the tires of the Chevrolet when it was parked in the jail yard. This vehicle's tires' tread design and wear had the same characteristics as the prints found in the pasture. Griffith stated that it had rained in the area on the afternoon of the victim's death. The rain had covered all prints in the area except the ones found.

Andrew Richardson testified that the appellant came to his house at 8:00 p.m. (Central time) on the evening of September 15, 1984.

The appellant asked Richardson to go for a ride and said he wouldn't be gone long. He stated he had some business to do with a white man. The appellant had with him some coveralls, a wig and a stocking mask. He put on these items and asked Richardson if he would fool anyone.

The two then left Richardson's house in the appellant's Chevrolet. The appellant drove down Highway 165 and passed Kite's Store. They drove to ML's Club where Richardson went inside to find his brother. When Richardson returned to the car, the appellant drove back down Highway 165 and turned off into a pasture.

The appellant drove down a dirt road and then backed up the car and headed it towards the highway. The two sat and talked for a while. The appellant was drinking a Budweiser beer at this time.

At some point, the appellant told Richardson that he hated to do it but he had to, and told Richardson to take his car home and park it if he didn't come back. The appellant then got out of the car and put on the wig and mask.

He then headed towards Kite's Store. Approximately five to 10 minutes after the appellant left, Richardson heard three shots. Although scared, Richardson remained at the car until the appellant returned. When the appellant got back to the car, he did not have the mask or the wig. He told Richardson to drive after he got in the passenger seat.

As Richardson was driving, the appellant told him to stop. The appellant then left his clothes in some bushes. When the appellant got back to the car, he told Richardson that he had messed up and killed the victim. Richardson then drove to his house. The appellant counted some money and gave Richardson $80. He stuck the gun in the inside arm of the couch in Richardson's house.

The two then went to Mary's Lounge. After the lounge closed, Richardson went to Robert Hardaway's house and the appellant went to see a girl friend. The next day, Richardson accompanied the appellant and Bossie Edmonds to the appellant's mother's house in Brundidge.

Once there, the appellant stayed and Richardson and Edmonds returned home. The following Friday, the appellant came to Richardson's house and got the gun from the couch. Richardson went with the appellant to return the gun to Dennis.

On the way home, the appellant told Richardson that, if he said anything about it, he'd wind up the same way. Richardson told Robert Jackson what happened. Some time later, he came to the Sheriff's office with Officer Parker and Jackson.

Richardson testified that he had been indicted for this offense and he had not been promised anything in exchange for his testimony. Richardson admitted to some inconsistencies between his statement and his testimony. He also stated that he sometimes wears his pants legs rolled up.

Bossie Edmonds testified that he drove the appellant to Brundidge the day after the victim was killed. He stated that Richardson rode with them. When Edmonds dropped off the appellant at his mother's house, he gave Edmonds a $20 bill.

Edmonds also saw some additional money folded in the appellant's hand. Edmonds then drove Richardson home. Robert Jackson testified that he and Richardson were raised together and Richardson told him what had happened concerning the victim's death. Jackson told Richardson to turn himself in.

The next day, Jackson contacted Officer Parker. Parker came to his house and waited for Richardson. When Richardson arrived, Jackson told him Parker needed to see him and Richardson agreed. Jackson then went to the Sheriff's office with Parker and Richardson. Jackson stated that he was unaware of the reward when he talked to Richardson. He stated that he had not asked for the reward but he thought he'd probably receive it.

Officer Parker took possession of the personal effects of the victim on the night in question. Inside and just outside the victim's left front pocket, there were $36 in $1 bills, $50 in $5 bills, and $3.96 in change and a set of keys. In the right front pocket, there were $15 in $1 bills, $50 in $5 bills, and 35 cents in change, along with two sets of keys, some medication and a pocketknife. Next to the victim's left leg, there were a Master card and a Visa credit card.

No wallet was found on the victim. Parker interviewed the appellant on October 12, 1984. The appellant was told Parker was investigating the murder of the victim. He was advised of his Miranda rights and the waiver of those rights. The appellant stated that he understood his rights and signed this waiver. Parker testified that no threats, inducements, or promises were made to the appellant in return for his statement.

During this interview, the appellant told Parker that he was nowhere near Cottonton on the night in question. He said that he had been at Mary's Lounge that night playing pool with Richardson from 7:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. He stated that he drank Budweiser that night and Richardson drank whiskey.

The appellant stated that he spent the night with his girl friend. He went to Brundidge after he was told by Bruce Person that the victim had been killed. Once the appellant was told that they (the investigators) had talked to Richardson, he became very nervous.

When the appellant was charged with the victim's murder, he said he had nothing else to say. The appellant also told Parker that he'd been out of work one month before the victim was killed. Parker acknowledged several differences between Richardson's statement and his testimony.

Alberta Williams testified that she was at ML's Club on the night of September 15, 1984. At approximately 10:00 or 10:30 p.m., she heard three shots. She said she did not see Richardson or the appellant's car at ML's Club that night. Robert Hardaway testified that he was at Mary's Lounge on the night in question from 7:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. (Central time).

He did not see Richardson and the appellant at Mary's until 11:30 or 12:00. He said Richardson's pants legs were not rolled up that night. Clarence Diggs, Jr., was the DJ at Mary's Lounge on September 15, 1984. He said no one played pool once the music started playing.

Hugh Sims Kite, Jr., testified that he was the victim's son and sometimes worked at his father's store. He stated that he was familiar with his father's habits about the store money and his personal money. Kite said his father had a wallet and kept it in his left hip pocket. His father kept large bills and other money for special purposes in his wallet.

He also carried money elsewhere on his person. Kite saw his father early on the evening of his death. The victim and his son had a $3,000 obligation to meet and the victim told his son that he thought he had enough money to meet this obligation.

Kite saw his father's wallet that night when his father pulled it out to give him some money. However, Kite told his father to keep the money until the next day. At this point, the State rested its case.

Addie Upshaw, the appellant's grandmother, testified that the appellant was living with her on September 15, 1984. Two cancelled checks made out to the appellant and signed by Upshaw were admitted into evidence. Upshaw stated that these checks were paid to the appellant for working around her house. Debra Upshaw, Addie Upshaw's daughter and the appellant's aunt, testified that she was at her mother's house on the afternoon of September 15, 1984.

That afternoon, the appellant and Richardson were at the house. The appellant told Upshaw that there was a gun in the pocket of the chair in which Richardson was sitting. He said the gun was for protection. Upshaw testified that the Chevrolet initially belonged to her but she had given it to the appellant.

Upshaw stated that she brought to court with her the personal articles of the appellant that she had signed for at the Russell County Jail. One of the items that she had was a bullet.

During the State's rebuttal, two witnesses, Bill Landreau and Tom Woodard of the Russell County Sheriff's Department, stated that they had seen the bullet which the appellant had at the jail, which was released to Upshaw.

They testified that the bullet they had seen was a revolver bullet. However, the bullet Upshaw brought to court was a rifle bullet. Cleopus Jones testified that he worked at ML's Club on the evening of September 15, 1984. He stated that Richardson never came into ML's Club that night. Rosa Henry, the wife of the owner of ML's Club, was also working at ML's on the evening of September 15.

She didn't see Richardson at the club that night. Sarah Mays and Matthew Richardson testified they saw the appellant and Richardson at Mary's Lounge around 10:30 to 11:00 p.m. (Eastern time) on the night of September 15, 1984.

The appellant testified that he was living with his grandmother on September 15, 1984. At approximately 7:00 p.m. (Central time), he drove to Knott's Grocery and bought two cans of Budweiser beer.

The appellant put the beers on the front seat and drove to Richardson's house. When he arrived, around 7:30 or 8:00, Richardson asked the appellant to take him to ML's Club so he could look for his brother.

The appellant told Richardson he couldn't take him because he had some business to take care of. Richardson then asked the appellant if he had a gun and the appellant said that he did. The appellant said he had borrowed the gun a week earlier from Dennis for his grandmother's protection.

Richardson then asked the appellant if he could borrow the gun. The appellant told him no and said he had to go. Richardson wanted to go with the appellant and the two drove to the appellant's grandmother's house.

On the way, Richardson kept asking to borrow the gun. He said "Redbone" had threatened him and he needed the gun for protection.

The appellant then told Richardson he could borrow the gun but he had to bring it back. He told Richardson to sit in a certain chair at his grandmother's house and he would find the gun in the chair. Once at Upshaw's house, Richardson sat in the chair while the appellant took a shower.

After this, the appellant and Richardson left Upshaw's house in the appellant's car. Richardson gave the appellant the gun and he put it under the front seat of the car.

The appellant and Richardson then went back to Richardson's house. Richardson asked the appellant to take him to ML's Club. When the appellant said he had something else to do, Richardson asked to borrow his car.

The appellant agreed and Richardson said he'd be back in 15 minutes. The appellant went to his car and got one of the Budweiser beers before Richardson left, around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. (Central time).

The appellant remained at Richardson's house until he returned one hour and a half later. When Richardson returned, he gave the gun to the appellant and told him he'd shot somebody.

The gun was loaded when the appellant gave the gun to Richardson. It was empty when he got it back. The appellant wiped the gun with a rag and threw the empty shells away. He then stuck the gun in a hole in a couch in Richardson's house.

Richardson changed clothes and the two went to Mary's Lounge. They arrived around 10:00 or 10:30 p.m. (Central time). The appellant stayed there until early the next morning.

Later that morning, the appellant went to Matthew Richardson's house and collected a $30 debt from him. Bruce Person was there and told him the victim had been killed.

That afternoon, Edmonds took him to Brundidge. He paid Edmonds $20. When the appellant returned from Brundidge a few days later, he was told that Richardson wanted to see him because he was in some kind of trouble.

The appellant then went over to Richardson's house to see if he'd gotten rid of the gun. When Richardson said he hadn't, the two returned the gun to Dennis. The appellant admitted his grandmother sometimes wore a wig. He said that he didn't tell Parker that Richardson told him he'd shot somebody because he didn't think it was important.

During the sentencing phase, Tharon Alford, the appellant's parole officer, testified that the appellant was placed on parole in October of 1982. His parole was revoked because he failed to report, maintain employment and pay fees. On September 15, 1984, the appellant was under a sentence of imprisonment in Alabama. A stipulation was entered that the appellant was arrested while at work.

Johnny Blue, the appellant's uncle, testified that he and the appellant grew up together. He said that the appellant had a normal childhood although the family was poor. The appellant had married at 18 but his wife died of cancer in 1968. Blue was aware of some of the appellant's previous convictions.

Al Garcia, a certified polygraph examiner, testified that he performed a polygraph examination on the appellant. The appellant exhibited no deceptive responses when he was asked questions about this offense.

Garcia admitted there is a lot of controversy about the reliability of polygraph examinations. He said that the results of the appellant's test did not mean that he wasn't necessarily lying.

The jury, by a vote of seven to five, recommended the appellant be sentenced to life imprisonment. A sentencing hearing was held by the trial judge. Following this hearing, the trial judge sentenced the appellant to death.

Robert Lee Tarver Jr., convicted of robbing and killing a Cottonton store owner and stealing his wallet. 

Robert Lee Tarver Jr. was convicted in the Sept. 15, 1984 death of Hugh Kite.

Hugh was apparently closing up his store, Kite's Grocery and Bait Store located on Alabama 165, for the night as Tarver robbed and fatally shot him.  Hugh's wife had called, asking him to bring a bag of ice home.

While a 10-year-old helper waited inside, Kite exited the store and went around the corner of the building where he was shot three times with a .38-caliber revolver and robbed of his cash. 

"That store was kind of a community center," said Russell County District Attorney Kenneth Davis and chief prosecutor in the Kite murder trial. "Mr. Kite's death cast a pall over that community. It was frightening and disconcerting and had a chilling effect on everybody there." Kite's Grocery and Bait Store also served, in a sense, as a crossroads of country culture. Prior to Hugh's death, it was a gathering place for the people of Cottonton, Jernigan, Pittsview, Glenville and other remote places in the county. Kite also operated a post office inside. Most everybody in the area knew him, including Tarver and Richardson.

During his 1985 Russell County trial, co-defendant Andrew Lee Richardson said he was with Tarver on the night Kite was murdered. He said the 2 men were drinking beer in Tarver's late 1970s Chevrolet Impala in a pasture near Kite's store before Tarver, armed with a gun, got out of the car and walked toward the store.

Richardson said Tarver returned, gave him $80, and told him "he had to kill" Kite. Richardson, who lived in nearby Glenville, pleaded guilty to lesser charges of 1st-degree robbery and remains in Alabama's Ventress Correctional Facility, serving a 25-year sentence. He is eligible for parole in April 2001.  

Russell County Sheriff Tommy Boswell, then a captain and chief investigator of the Kite murder, introduced the physical evidence that contributed to Tarver's conviction.  Mud from the rain yielded footprints that Boswell tracked to the place where Richardson would say the 2 men had parked prior to the murder.

There, Boswell found tire tracks leading away from the scene. He also found an empty beer can. After receiving information on Tarver's possible involvement, he conducted tests that matched the tire tracks near the crime scene with the tire treads on Tarver's car parked at his home in nearby Pittsview. A fingerprint analysis of the beer can found in the pasture revealed a print matching Tarver's.

Boswell also retrieved a pistol that a ballistics report linked to the murder.  Taking the stand in his own defense, Tarver, who was on parole for a previous robbery conviction at the time of the shooting, said he was nowhere near Kite's store the night of the murder and denied killing him. 

The jury was not convinced. Finding him guilty, it recommended a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Russell County Circuit Court Judge Wayne Johnson overrode the recommendation, however, ordering Tarver put to death and setting off a chain of appeals that has lasted 15 years. 

Tarver, now 52, has maintained his innocence throughout.  William Allen Motley, who operated a small grocery store in Jernigan until a few years ago, said Hugh's murder changed the way the community thought about country life. "I think it put everybody around here on their P's and Q's," he said. "Especially those who operated businesses. From that time on I made sure I was never alone when I opened or closed my store."