Actually,In the Dark hasnt weighed in on the guilt-innocence issue (thats not what they do), but their careful dissection of DA Doug Evans case against Flowers has left the case in a shambles. While Presley drove the action, Gamble kept his gun trained on the scene in case anyone tried to flee. His mothers mutt, Patches, was barking in the crawl space, causing him to find a gunbeneath the house she was renting. He didnt bother anybody.. After a multistate manhunt, Presley and Gamble were arrested in Norfolk, Virginia. So, maybe Curtis didnt steal the gun after all. His alibi is weak, according to In The Dark. He also tried to shoot his own 12-year-old son who was hiding in a closet, though the boy survived. Sure, he had worked at Tardys in the past. One of them, LaSamuel Gamble, had more money in his possession when he returned to Alabama, Presley said. And there he was. Menu. It took the In the Dark team a full year to track Hemphill down in an Indianapolis courtroom (he's still getting into trouble). So where was Hemphill during the day? Law enforcement witnesses had testified under oath in Flowers sixth trial that Presley was never a suspect. 20181228 Willie James Hemphill Criminal Civil Records Item Preview remove-circle Share or Embed This Item. 2. Willie Headen; Willie James Lyons; Willie Love; Willie Mabon; Willie Smith; Willie Trice; Willie Williams; Look, Ive got something yall need to get, he said he told them. Matthews never responded. Born in 2 Jun 1941 and died in 27 May 2008 Gaffney, South Carolina Willie James Hemphill Prior to his death, Doyle came across as a passive man working hard to stay out of trouble. Share to Twitter. Share to Pinterest. It was still in the morning time.". But we found a document showing that another man, Willie James Hemphill, had also been questioned just days after the murders. He didnt mark it or put it in an evidence bag, he told the Clarion Ledger. An investigative team from American Public Media has uncovered evidence that law enforcement had at least two other suspects in the 1996 quadruple homicide in Winona that put Curtis Flowers on death row information that was not shared with his defense attorneys. Because Mr. Evans didnt tell them about the Alabama connection. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window). Flowers has remained imprisoned the entire time, for more than 20 years. But after several hours of interviews conducted over two days, Hemphill finally disclosed his alibi: He said he was at a mall in Memphis at the time of the murders, with a Winona woman named Twanda Woods. You may also light a candle in honor of Willie James . "We have never had any evidence that showed anything other than this defendant's guilt," Evans said. AVERAGE AGE. But In The Dark was apparently unsatisfied with exonerating the innocent: It needed the narrative closure of guilt, and found its key to that in Hemphill. It was all make believe. Share to Reddit. But instead of stopping there, its reporters started snitching to the same system whose injustice they had just unmasked. There are 60+ professionals named "Willie Hemphill", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. We have lots of information about Willie: religious views are listed as Christian . He told them that a day or two after the murders he was driving back to Winona from Memphis when his stepfather called him and told him carloads of law enforcement officers had descending on his parents house looking for him. Eight days before these murders, a side door key was stolen. The second season of the In the Dark podcast is about the case of Curtis Flowers, who was tried six times for the same crime. She said that investigators have never questioned her about Hemphill's story. Search by Name. Baran said she reached out to the two state investigators who questioned Hemphill, Matthews and Wayne Miller. The only other such form in the file was signed by Flowers. Prosecutors have always said that Curtis Flowers was the only serious suspect in the Tardy Furniture investigation. Goldberg doesn't remember the alibis Presley or Gamble gave, but he said following up on those wouldn't have been his job. He said: "If it wasn't for the fact that I had an airtight alibi, I could be the one on death row right now. More importantly, Woods said she was certain that she didn't make the trip with Hemphill that day. They found out later that Flowers uncle, Doyle Simpson, said his .380 automatic had been stolen from the glove box of his car parked at the Angelica Garment Factory where he worked. Search by Name. Check resumes and CV, arrest records, places of employment, social media profiles, photos and videos, public records, skilled experts, publications and memorials . "The best of my recollection, Mississippi was able to determine that our guys weren't the ones, or there was something that didn't make them right for the Mississippi case," said Mike DeHart, the Alabama sheriff's deputy who questioned Gamble. The prosecutors had said repeatedly at trial that the only suspect seriously investigated was Flowers. Willie James Hemphill was born on May 27, 1919. He has been behind bars ever since. 0 Add Rating Anonymously. We know that Willie James Hemphill had been residing in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina 29341. Now the spotlight is on three other deaths that are linked to the case. Whoever killed the four victims in Winona was beset by demons. He's also targeted women in general and often women carrying purses. Wrong Manpresented us with a small group of criminal justice professionals who started out believing that Curtis was probably the killer. Username. Eight days later, Tardy and three others working for the store were killed execution-style. He lived near Tardy Furniture at the time of the murders, and near where a gun that might have been the murder weapon was found. 1. Whoever did this crime (the Tardy murders) was a good shot.. Grief Support. That brings us to a theory that has been explored extensively by some of the folks currently representing Mr. She had at least 2 sons and 1 daughter with James Tobias Whitehead. The second season of the In the Dark podcast is about the case of Curtis Flowers, who was tried six times for the same crime. But both denied having committed the Tardy murders and said they'd never even been to Mississippi. In the Dark has previously reported that Hemphill was an initial suspect in the days after the July 1996 murders in Winona, Mississippi. We encourage you to research and . Presley and Gamble made three runs to Boston during the summer of 1996: once after their June crime spree, once after the pawn shop murders and once immediately after the furniture store murders in Winona. In the sixth, he was again convicted and sentenced to death, and his latest appeal was ongoing when the podcast started. "Best I remember is somebody brought it to the attention of the investigators that they wanted us to talk to him, and he came in and we talked to him," Matthews said on the stand in the sixth trial. He lived near Tardy Furniture at the time of the murders, and near where a gun that might have been the murder weapon was found. Winona, Mississippi lies three hours west of Birmingham on Highway 82. Episode 10 of the In the Dark Podcast was largely dedicated to the strange case of Willie James Hemphill, a local bad boy with a violent streak who was continually getting cross-ways with the law. Investigators John Johnson and Jack Matthews denied on the stand knowing anything about them. 5 Visits. Gamble never discharged his weapon. 23 Matches for Willie Hemphill . It wasn't that day." A series of Willie James Hemphill mugshots ranging from 2000 through 2016. Hemphill said investigators tape recorded the interrogation and took notes, none of which was in the file given to Flowers defense attorneys. However, In the Dark's reporting has uncovered no clear evidence linking him to the Tardy murders. In the months before the Tardy Furniture murders, Presley hit a grocery store, a fireworks retailer, three gas stations and three liquor stores. We encourage you to research and . A series of Willie James Hemphill mugshots ranging from 2000 through 2016. He allegedly stabbed a woman with a screwdriver, among other violent crimes. Hallmon has since admitted he lied. Contact Jerry Mitchell at 601-961-7064 or jmitchell@gannett.com. Goldberg couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth. APM Reports recently interviewed a man named Willie James Hemphill, who said he was a suspect early in the investigation. In a remarkable turn of events almost 23 years after four people, including a 16-year-old boy, were gunned down and left inside the Tardy Furniture store in Winona, Mississippi, three things have happened. It was a .380-caliber automatic handgun, coated in dirt and rust. The officer who was with Small when they pulled over Armstrong for speeding told APM Reports that Armstrong had indeed given them a handgun, which was turned over to the district attorneys office. That night, according to Moore, Hemphill was home with an ounce of marijuana, some of which they smoked together. Each victim of the July 16, 1996 murders was murdered execution styleone or two bullets to the back of the head. The police there picked up the investigation and also apparently probed the Tardy Furniture connection. That same day, Horace Wayne Miller, a lieutenant with the Mississippi Highway patrol, asked Norfolk officials to keep him apprised of their investigation. Visitation will be observed from 10:00 a.m. until the time of service. "I don't know nothing about it.". It took theIn the Dark team a full year to track Hemphill down in an Indianapolis courtroom (hes still getting into trouble). But Flowers deserves to have a fair trial and prosecution, he said. It was Geraldine. The judge denied Flowers' request to attend his mother funeral here on July 21. Burial will follow in Hemphill Star Cemetery, Boyce. Sarah Warnock and Jerry Mitchell/Clarion Ledger, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Baran found Hemphills booking card showing he had been arrested and jailed a few days after the killing. But it isnt necessary to prove a case against any of these people; the real scandal is that the existence of alternative suspects was systematically withheld from defense counsel. Curtis Flowers was raised in a loving home by a gospel-singing father and a mother known for her culinary and entrepreneurial abilities. And then Hemphill stormed off, ending the interview. As the investigators interviewed for theWrong Man episodes on Flowers point out, the family members of the victims should have been considered suspects until evidence suggested otherwise. A shoeprint in a pool of blood found in the Winona furniture store was found to be from a Grant Hill Fila shoethe footwear Gamble, McKenzie (and just about every other young man in America) was wearing while in Mississippi. Before he left on July 3, he said she gave him $30. Law enforcement clearly saw Hemphill as a prime suspect. Gamble and Presley are serving life in prison for their Alabama crime spree. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. Told that Woods had a clear memory of being in Winona on the morning of July 16 and learning, outside the Piggly Wiggly, that the murders had just happened, Hemphill interrupted and altered his story. Early voting has begun. According to testimony in Flowers' first trial, authorities found $255 hidden in the headboard of Flowers' girlfriend. "[I]t's almost like a hair trigger that would cause a reversal if you've got false testimony that is significant.". Sign the Guest Book . "It just kind of jumped out," Ali said. Who was he? Back in 1996, there had even been speculation in the media that the crimes could be connected, and investigators had told the local paper they were looking into it. Willie James Hemphill has done many terrible things. If you recall our last conversation, I wasnt in the city., Reporter: You said you were in Memphis with Twanda Woods. Mississippi Smoldering: Tom Mangold reports on the Curtis Flowers case in 2009, Dwelling in a land of disbelief: My University Years . If it hadnt been for a single slip of paper in the prosecutors file with Willie James Hemphills name on it, theIn the Dark squad wouldnt have known about the man. That discovery will very likely win Curtis a new trial, but it doesnt necessarily finger the new guy as the killer. It is with deep sorrow that we announce the death of Willie James Hemphill (Rock Hill, South Carolina), who passed away on November 9, 2017, leaving to mourn family and friends. Willie Hemphill in Virginia. He said that side door leads to a ditch that would have provided a better escape route than simply walking back through town as authorities claimed Flowers had. Reporters from In the Dark tried to contact Hemphill online to present him with these findings. Find Willie Hemphill's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. And maybe his girlfriend, Katherine Snow, told the authorities that she saw Curtis leaning up against Doyle Simpsons car because thats what investigators wanted to hear. And the gun that Armstrong says he discovered is additionally important . Later, he said, one of the officers, Vince Small, came by, and he handed the officer the gun. That might not be so if the whole world wasnt watching, but it is. And if the two had spent just an hour at the mall assuming the mall, which is now closed, opened as early as 9 a.m. they'd have needed to leave Winona no later than 7 o'clock that morning. Just weeks ago, however, reporters discovered that Hemphill had an upcoming court date in Indianapolis and met him there. But that doesnt make Doyle a cold killer. "I haven't heard anything about them," John Johnson, the investigator for the District Attorney's office, had said when questioned about the Alabama suspects at the sixth Flowers trial. Although authorities quicklysettled on Flowers as their main suspect, he wasnt arrested until seven months later. 2) and Curtis Flowers (No. In the sixth trial, inmate Odell Hallmon testified that Flowers told him about carrying out the Tardy murders, helping lead to Flowers conviction. Baran noted that Hemphill was known to love the song Nasty Bitch by Bust Down it was not for kids, Baran said which he would sing and dance to on Winonas streets in those days. Saums said it makes sense the killers would have left through the side door, rather than go out the front door onto busy Front Street, the small towns main drag. The second best result is William E Hemphill Sr . A burglary took place at Tardy Furniture just eight days before the killings. This narrative turn places In The Dark firmly, disappointingly, and alarmingly in the mainstream of the True Crime genre. ", If Evans and his prosecution witnesses knowingly or unknowingly withheld evidence from the defense of other suspects in the Winona killings, they could be in violation of the Brady rule, named after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that says a criminal defendant must be given evidence that could point toward his innocence. Nor was there any record of the evidence gathered from Hemphill. The investigative file contained no indication of what Hemphill said or why he was eliminated as a suspect. They wanted to ask him about his alibi for the day of the Tardy Furniture murders, an alibi that hadn't checked out. Jessie Mae Hemphill [1]1923-2006 Blues musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist Blues musician and vocalist Jessie Mae Hemphill [2] was a paradox. Both his father, Archie, and his sonbelieve he will be free one day. We went to boot camp together., The officers denial dont make me mad, he said. They wanted to ask him about his alibi for the day of the Tardy Furniture murders, an alibi that hadn't checked out. By the end of the two episodes devoted to the Flowers case, they had all abandoned Curtis as a suspect. His full criminal history is too lengthy to reproduce here. You can send your sympathy in the guestbook provided and share it with the family. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. In The Darks reporting on the case documented the inequities and outright barbarism of Mississippis criminal justice system. Police received a call about the murders at 10:21 a.m. The best result we found for your search is William Thomas Hemphill age 80+ in Highlands, NC. After learning that Willie James Hemphill was an initial suspect in the murders at Tardy Furniture, reporters for In the Dark wanted to find out if he'd ever broken the law before. ADVERTISEMENT BY ANCESTRY.COM. The suspects include the gunman in an Alabama crime spree that summer that bore several similarities to the Winona killings and a violent career criminal who at the time of the murders was living with a girlfriend across from the furniture store. Willie James Hemphill was confronted in an Indianapolis courthouse last week, 23 years after police deemed him an initial suspect but later pursued leads against Flowers. Could those responsible for Tardy Furniture murders have escaped a different way? Maybe Doyle did the deed and reported his gun stolen to throw everyone off the scent. The news was quickly followed by a shocking revelation in American Public Media podcast In The Dark. But if Curtis Flowers doesnt get relief in the face of these well-publicized facts there will be hell to pay. Saums pointed out that Simpson who has since died lied to police about how he had gotten the gun. One, Rigby,was killed with two shots to the head. Not long after Armstrong found the gun in October 2001, two police officers happened to pull him over for speeding. A surveillance camera revealed that the killer was wielding a 380 pistol that jammed repeatedly. And why did Doyles brother, Emmett, run from law enforcement when they came to question him on the morning of the crime? Willie James Hemphill Birth 27 May 1919 Death 14 Jul 2000 (aged 81) Burial. (1909). Menu. The podcast, which uncovered evidence used by Flowers to get his conviction overturned, spoke with witness Clemmie Fleming. Finding the truly guilty person (or people) strengthens the case that Flowers is innocent. When Armstrong first saw the gun in 2001, he thought back five years to the quadruple murder at Tardy Furniture, remembering that authorities had never found a murder weapon. Phone Number: (704) 751-NZMM +2 phones. ROCK HILL - Willie Abraham Williams, 69, of 1138 Hickory Lane, Rock Hill, S.C., was called home Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2008, at Hospice & Community Care.He was born Sept. 7 . Inside the store, authorities discovered bloody footprints left behind by a Grant Hill Fila basketball shoe. Reporters spent months combing through police and court records in Mississippi, Tennessee and Indiana to compile his extensive, and at times violent, criminal history. And in the first Flowers trial, in 1997, he testified that "there were numerous suspects" in the early days of the investigation. Free this man. Only now, a new name has surfaced. And Hemphill had a history of committing crimes in Winona and Memphis. Each victim had been murdered execution styleone or two bullets to the back of the head. Willie James McDaniel Funeral services for Willie James McDaniel will be held at 12:00 p.m., Wednesday, January 26, 2022, at Hemphill Star Church in Boyce, La. As far as him telling me he killed some people, hell, naw, he aint ever told me that. The Tardy murders took place during a 24-day gap when the group carried out no robberies in Alabama. "I was out of the whole jurisdiction in another state.". Evidence that prosecution witnesses may have given false testimony could potentially get Flowers' conviction overturned, said Bennett Gershman, a former prosecutor who now teaches law at Pace University. Despite raising earthshaking doubts about the justice system, the show ultimately conforms to the systems logic that crime, denuded of context, must be solved and punished. The Dallas Morning News. I knew Curtis had started to get involved in crack. Obituaries Section. Again, he denied ever being there. Share via email. Suppressing the evidence theyve already gathered might mean denying justice to the victims. Record for Willie James Hemphill 27 May 1919 - 14 July 2000 in Quantico National Cemetery, Triangle, Prince William, Virginia, United States from BillionGraves GPS Headstones. Presley wasnt the only suspect defense attorneys didnt know investigators had seriously considered. Maybe he and Doyle were co-perpetrators. In The Dark proved that Curtis Flowers was railroaded by an unjust system. While he was working July 3, he loaded golf cart batteries into the back of a truck. The crime itself was extraordinary, but the case drew In The Darks attention because a local prosecutor had tried Flowers six times for the murders. Search by Name Search . Hallmon told APM Reports that he became a prosecution witness in spring 2001 after being arrested on multiple drug charges. View More. He's shown a fearlessness about committing brazen attacks and thefts in daylight with high risks and low payoff, in places close to where he's lived and where people are more likely to recognize him. Willie James Hemphill is confronted by reporters at an Indianapolis courthouse in June 2019. LOW HIGH. Find an Obituary. Yet despite a number of theft and drug charges, probation violations, at least four domestic violence convictions and a girlfriend who alleges he stabbed her 13 times Hemphill has managed to avoid a long stint in prison. After months of looking for Twanda Woods, In the Dark reporters located her a few months ago at her trailer in Winona, half a mile south of Tardy Furniture. The second season of the In the Dark podcast is about the case of Curtis Flowers, who was tried six times for the same crime. listing of 6209011-20040428-Willie-James-Hemphill-Criminal-Civil_jp2.zip; file as jpg timestamp size; 6209011-20040428-Willie-James-Hemphill-Criminal-Civil_jp2/ Presley and Gamble were extradited to Alabama, and again Gamble was questioned, almost in passing, about Mississippi. Its almost impossible to not hate him and to believe he is guilty. Share to Facebook. But there was a three-week gap in the Alabama crime spree right at the time of the Tardy murders. In addition, one jailhouse snitch has recanted, he said. By his own account, someone told investigators that they'd seen him on Front Street that morning, though Hemphill has said repeatedly that he wasn't there. Case Details. It was June 21 just an hour before the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Curtis Flowers' conviction and reporters for In the Dark had intercepted Hemphill at a courthouse in Indianapolis. "Yes, sir," Snow replied. The killer or killers could have used the key to enter the side door, perhaps hiding before the store opened. The district attorneys office isnt commenting. Obituaries Section. I was scared I was going to go to jail.. He testified in multiple trials that the other images in the photo lineup were just "filler pictures," chosen "at random" based on some resemblance to Flowers. He told us the truth … The statement that he gave in court I made sure was the truth before we used it.. Are you a wh*re?, Reporter: Did you commit the murders on Front Street? 1.58 3.33 /5. UNLOCK PROFILE. The weapon in at least some of the Alabama cases was a .380 handgun that tended to jam. It's not like you're going to say, 'Yeah I robbed this 7-11, but I didn't rob that 7-11.'". Relatives were alarmed to see a swarm of police cars descending on their homes in search of Willie James. He was born on December 6, 1948 in Weir, Mississippi the son of Eddie Allen and Garner Lee Edwards Hemphill. The Dallas Morning News Homepage. Name. During nearly 30 years of crimes, Willie James Hemphill has shown a quick temper, and a penchant for daytime robberies and violence against women. The district's Republicans should nominate James Hemphill as their candidate for Congress in the May 3 primary. Hemphill's Timeline Willie James Hemphill has an extensive criminal record starting in 1990, just when Hemphill was eighteen-years old. In total, he killed four people and wounded three others in the space of just three months. For Flowers, the new information including Flemings changed story adds weight to his case for a full acquittal.