Willie James Hemphill an early suspect in the Tardy Furniture murders was charged with disorderly conduct last week. He also tried to shoot his own 12-year-old son who was hiding in a closet, though the boy survived. Saums pointed out that Simpson who has since died lied to police about how he had gotten the gun. A woman who admitted having sex with a 13-year-old boy and becoming pregnant with his baby has avoided jail time. But we found a document showing that another man, Willie James Hemphill, had also been questioned just days after the murders. His age is 79. Whoever did this crime (the Tardy murders) was a good shot.. In 1996, Mississippi investigators told the local paper they were looking into a possible connection. Phone Number: (704) 751-NZMM +2 phones. 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. Jessie Mae Hemphill [1]1923-2006 Blues musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist Blues musician and vocalist Jessie Mae Hemphill [2] was a paradox. In The Dark was clearly righteous in exonerating a black man condemned by a ludicrously unjust system. Prosecutors said repeatedly at trial that the only suspect seriously investigated was Flowers. Later, he said, one of the officers, Vince Small, came by, and he handed the officer the gun. "After a short time, we realized that he didn't know anything about the case.". District Attorney Doug Evans insisted he'd given the defense access to all records of the investigation. 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. APM lead investigative reporter Madeleine Baran found one page among the documents Evans did give the defense attorneys, a form someone named Willie James Hemphill, then 24, of Memphis had signed . The weapon in at least some of the Alabama cases was a .380 handgun that tended to jam. The podcasts reporters spent months methodically proving that prosecutors systematically denied black people a seat in the jury box, and how a man who is likely innocent has been repeatedly sentenced to death. Search by Name. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. According to testimony in Flowers' first trial, authorities found $255 hidden in the headboard of Flowers' girlfriend. 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. She lived in Winston, Mississippi, United States in 1930 and Beat 2, Winston, Mississippi, United States in 1940. 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. Hemphill supposedly had an alibi for the time of the murders, but when In The Dark dug into it, they were able to determine his alibi was barely credible if at all. 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. Prosecutors have always said that Curtis Flowers was the only serious suspect in the Tardy Furniture investigation. Willie James Hemphill was detained for 11 days following the Hardy Furniture murders and wore the same brand of shoes as the bloody footprints found at the scene. But we found a document showing that another man, Willie James Hemphill, had also been questioned just days after the murders. "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. He took the gun and placed it into a nearby shed. 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. Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media. Resides in Greenwood, MS. For Flowers, the new information including Flemings changed story adds weight to his case for a full acquittal. At first he was reluctant to divulge who he was with that morning, but later said it was a woman named Twanda Woods. Prosecutors claimed Flowers wore a size 10.5 shoe, and a state expert testified that the 10.5 size was consistent with the bloody footprints. In The Dark proved that Curtis Flowers was railroaded by an unjust system. Willie James Hemphill Phone Numbers (662) ***-4391 They wanted to ask him about his alibi for the day of the Tardy Furniture murders, an alibi that hadn't checked out. Evidence of false testimony by prosecution witnesses could potentially get Flowers' conviction overturned, Bennett Gershman, a former prosecutor who now teaches law at Pace University, told the APM reporting team. FUNERAL HOMES. Before he left on July 3, he said she gave him $30. Miller, the Mississippi investigator who made the lineup and asked for the two to be interrogated, declined to answer questions from APM Reports. Miller would not comment. Contacts (5) Locations (10) Family (3) Social (2) He died on December 28, 1908, at his home in the section of Abbeville called Fort Pickens, and is buried in Melrose Cemetary, Abbeville. Hemphill was held in jail for 11 days, according to county records, though it's not clear why he was held. During nearly 30 years of crimes, Willie James Hemphill has shown a quick temper, and a penchant for daytime robberies and violence against women. Willie Ray Hemphill, Jr., 49, of Bryan, passed away Thursday, August 13, 2009 at his residence. And the case file doesn't contain the report Goldberg says he would have sent to Mississippi authorities, or any indication of what might have been done to substantiate it. It was either a paid hit on a single individual that went bad when other employees entered the room, or the awful deed was done for the hell of it. Hemphill had previously told police and the podcast that he was not in Winona on the morning of the murders. The podcasts decision to try to figure out who may have actually committed the murders at the Tardy Furniture store in Winona, Mississippi isnt surprising. The July 16, 1996, killings of Tardy Furniture owner Bertha Tardy, 59, and three employees, Carmen Rigby, 45, Robert Golden, 42, and Derrick Stewart, 16, have haunted this town ever since. Again, he denied ever being there. Baran found Hemphills booking card showing he had been arrested and jailed a few days after the killing. Me and her was leaving," he said, forfeiting his Memphis alibi altogether and placing himself a short walk from Tardy Furniture. We know that Willie James Hemphill had been residing in Gaffney, Cherokee County, South Carolina 29341. While talking to them, he said he told them about his discovery. After a multistate manhunt, Presley and Gamble were arrested in Norfolk, Virginia. View Actual Score Check Background . And there he was. Share to Facebook. And in the first Flowers trial, in 1997, he testified that "there were numerous suspects" in the early days of the investigation. That night, according to Moore, Hemphill was home with an ounce of marijuana, some of which they smoked together. His mother lived there, and he had gone to school there on and off. Early voting has begun. The obituary was featured in The Bryan-College Station Eagle on August 16, 2009. Simpson's brother Emmett was an early suspect, too a fact Matthews had himself testified to in the second Flowers trial. He allegedly stabbed a woman with a screwdriver, among other violent crimes. However, In the Dark's reporting has uncovered no clear evidence linking him to the Tardy murders. Burial will follow in Hemphill Star Cemetery, Boyce. You said that was an airtight alibi we talked to Twanda and she said she wasnt with you that day., Hemphill: They released me based on that. Not the right Willie? If youve listened toIn the Darkor watchedWrong Manon the Starz channel, you either came away convinced that Curtis Flowers didnt kill four people in cold blood back in 1996 or you werent paying attention. But maybe she didnt see anyone at all. But both denied having committed the Tardy murders and said they'd never even been to Mississippi. Selected filmography. "We did go to the mall, but it wasn't the day of the killing. Flowers gave authorities conflicting statements about the times he went to these places. Name. Also known as Willie L Hemphill, Hemphill Wilie. The ordeal of Curtis Flowers screams for correction. Menu. "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. F.T. A photo array that contains Marcus Presley (No. On July 14, his mother, Lola, died of surgery complications. . She had at least 2 sons and 1 daughter with James Tobias Whitehead. All times AEDT (GMT +11). Police arrived at the factory and interviewed employee Katherine Snow. As far as him telling me he killed some people, hell, naw, he aint ever told me that. He quoted Bertha Tardy as saying he would have to be responsible for paying for the batteries. Right now, Willie Hemphill lives in Rock Hill, SC. That same day, Horace Wayne Miller, a lieutenant with the Mississippi Highway patrol, asked Norfolk officials to keep him apprised of their investigation. I was scared I was going to go to jail.. Hemphill's ex-girlfriend Monkra Moore told In the Dark that she and Hemphill lived together on the east side of Winona in 1996 and that he was at home around 7 a.m. on the morning of the murders when she was leaving for work. We collect and match historical records that Ancestry users have contributed to their family trees to create each person's profile. At a hearing, the attorney generals office told the judge that prosecutors knew of no such gun. And the gun that Armstrong says he discovered is additionally important . This narrative turn places In The Dark firmly, disappointingly, and alarmingly in the mainstream of the True Crime genre. In the Flowers case, Evans and investigators asserted that Flowers was the main suspect from the beginning, including up to his sixthand, so far, final trial. He allegedly stabbed a woman with a screwdriver, among other violent crimes. They contained no mention of the Alabama suspects. And Gamble wore Fila sneakers the same brand of shoe that left a bloody footprint at the Tardy Furniture scene. Thats just standard procedure. While Presley drove the action, Gamble kept his gun trained on the scene in case anyone tried to flee. Afraid that he would be shot on sight if he didnt surrender, Hemphill turned himself in at the local police station (wearing Grant Hill Filas, the shoes investigators had linked to a bloody footprint at the crime scene) and was immediately handcuffed and booked into the local lock-up. Katie Ali had been researching parallels between the Tardy Furniture murders and a string of similar crimes that had happened that same summer in neighboring Alabama. According to Yesko and Mann (2019), Hemphill dropped out of high school and was living back and forth from his mother's house to his grandmother's. Steven McKenzie, the driver of the getaway car in the pawn shop murders, was arrested on August 1 in his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Following a masterful turn as Flowers defense lawyer, the podcast also wanted to play the part of the prosecution. Hemphills name came up briefly in Flowers 2010 trial. We encourage you to research and . In the sixth trial, inmate Odell Hallmon testified that Flowers told him about carrying out the Tardy murders, helping lead to Flowers conviction. He told the Commonwealth, I think these (APM Reports) folks are just coming up with anything they can to discredit the case. The case status is Pending - Other Pending. On July 2, the podcast, which has been downloaded more than 24 million times in its second season, laid out a lengthy argument that a different man, Willie James Hemphill, committed the 1996 murders. He was born on December 6, 1948 in Weir, Mississippi the son of Eddie Allen and Garner Lee Edwards Hemphill. Nor was there any record of the evidence gathered from Hemphill. "False testimony is a corruption of the truth-finding process of a trial," Gershman said. 2) and Curtis Flowers (No. I aint saying nothing bad. Suppressing the evidence theyve already gathered might mean denying justice to the victims. Editor's note: This endorsement editorial was updated on . 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 . And that's what I know," said David Goldberg, now retired from his job as a detective in the Norfolk Police Department. According to the ledger, about$287 was missing from the cash drawer the morning of the murders. Where were you?, Hemphill: I was in your p***y. Visitation: 6-8 pm Friday, March 2, 2012 at Laurel Land Funeral Home. He told APM Reports that he was arrested and questioned in the early days of the investigation. Case Details. Following their Alabama crime spree, Presley and Gamble fled north to Boston, where Gamble had relatives. Willie James Hemphill, age 37, Justice, IL Search Report. In the sixth, he was again convicted and sentenced to death, and his latest appeal was ongoing when the podcast started. The day in photos. Now the spotlight is on three other deaths that are linked to the case. Evans didnt want jurors comparing his tortured theory with a simple and sensible alternative. James Mather at IMDb; This page was last . (1870), A.M. (1872), and LL.D. Convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh has been sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife and son. 0 Rate Willie. Case Details Parties Documents Dockets . Photos. INDIANAPOLIS At first, Willie James Hemphill was calm. After finding the weapon, Armstrong wondered how the gun had wound up under the house his mother was renting on Knox Street, only 700 feet or so from the furniture store. After examining the autopsy reportsand crime scene photographs, Baden said the evidence suggests one person maintained control while another person carried out the execution-style killings. Eight days later, Tardy and three others working for the store were killed execution-style. Evans has spoken to the Greenwood Commonwealth, most recently about APM Reports analysis of his record of striking potential black jurors vs. white juries 4 1/2 times more often. In a sworn statement, one of those criminals, Marcus Pressley, told Flowers' lawyers thattwo of his accomplices in the Alabama crimes were in Mississippi at the time of the Tardy murders. 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. Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m . He told APM Reports that he was arrested and questioned in the . He wouldnt have had the (mental) capability, he said. 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. Prior to his death, Doyle came across as a passive man working hard to stay out of trouble. There are 60+ professionals named "Willie Hemphill", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. Gamble never discharged his weapon. Includes Address(1) Phone(2) Email(1) See Results. This case was filed in U.S. Courts Of Appeals, U.S. Court Of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit. Evidence suggests that Marcus Presley was a psychopath who enjoyed random violence for its own sake. An APM Reports investigation of Hallmon's criminal history shows that at least seven felony charges against him fell away between 2001 and 2016. … A bunch of lies., Asked about Hallmons recantation, District Attorney Doug Evans, who has prosecuted Flowers in all six trials, said, Thats why the judge instructs the jury that a jailhouse informant is not very reliable, because they can change their statements very easily, for any reason. Menu. Mississippi Smoldering: Tom Mangold reports on the Curtis Flowers case in 2009, Dwelling in a land of disbelief: My University Years . Willie James Hemphill didn't come up until the sixth Flowers trial, and law enforcement officers said he was eliminated as a suspect in about five minutes. Obituaries Section. 1809 Gatewood Aven, Greensboro, NC 27405-6727 is the last known address for Willie. ", "I was nowhere near the scene," he said. Ive been confused of the day from the beginning. Reporters also poked holes in Hemphill . Quantico . He said he would have sent a written report back to Mississippi, so authorities there could check out the stories. Baran said she reached out to the two state investigators who questioned Hemphill, Matthews and Wayne Miller. 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. 704-***-**** View Phone. The suspicion that the crimes could be connected was a matter of public record at the time. He said he began working at Tardy Furniture on June 29, 1996. In The Dark also found out that prosecutions star witness, Odell Hallmon, secretly received special treatment prosecutors dropped charges in seven felony cases against him in exchange for his false testimony that Flowers made a jailhouse confession. Share to Tumblr. Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media. . Hemphill was born on September 10, 1971. Willie James Hemphill has done many terrible things. Surveillance video from John's 280 Pawn Shop broadcast by ABC News. It took the In the Dark team a full year to track Hemphill down in an Indianapolis courtroom (he's still getting into trouble).