NEWSPAPERS. It would indeed have been a solid alibi except it didn't check out. His website is. 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. Inside the store, authorities discovered bloody footprints left behind by a Grant Hill Fila basketball shoe. A bloody shoe print found in the store (left), and an investigator's sketch comparing the print to the Fila Grant Hill sneakers. He said he wondered what happened with the gun. Share to Reddit. 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. Are you a sl*t? 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. Following a masterful turn as Flowers defense lawyer, the podcast also wanted to play the part of the prosecution. Presley and Gamble were extradited to Alabama, and again Gamble was questioned, almost in passing, about Mississippi. Jessie Mae Hemphill [1]1923-2006 Blues musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist Blues musician and vocalist Jessie Mae Hemphill [2] was a paradox. 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. His father had, for just a few months, been the first sheriff in the county, but returned to farming his land. - Law enforcement had interviewed a different suspect with a violent criminal history, Willie James Hemphill - a fact which was not disclosed to the defense. At the time, investigators in Mississippi told the media they were looking into whether the crimes could be connected to the murders at Tardy Furniture. Prosecutors have always said that Curtis Flowers was the only serious suspect in the Tardy Furniture investigation. 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. Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media. 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. 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. There is little doubt that Hemphill has done terrible things. Willie James Hemphill, Willie J Hemphill, Willie J Hemphill, Willie James Hemphill. All times AEDT (GMT +11). In 1996, central Alabama saw a string of armed robberies, where the criminals told store clerks to lie down and held them at gunpoint, sometimes killing them. He has been behind bars ever since. 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. US States (36975K) Current Events (51K) Celebrity (272) Exonerated (117) Favorites (421) FBI Most Wanted (848) Gangsters (49) Historical (131) Interpol (1.7K) . 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. Twenty-two years on death row. How do we create a person's profile? Follow him onFacebookandTwitter. 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. Six trials and six successful appeals. But perhaps the most intriguing new development is the emergence of a man who verbally attacked journalists on the podcast while denying he was in town on the day of the murders. While that case was delayed for more than two years, Hallmon murdered three people, including his ex-girlfriend, Marquita Hill, and her mother. 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. Other facts may help explain why Hemphill initially was a suspect: The shoes he told In the Dark that he was wearing when he was questioned by investigators on July 21, 1996 Fila Grant Hill high-tops are the same type of sneaker that had left bloody footprints at the scene of the murders five days earlier. Simpson's brother Emmett was an early suspect, too a fact Matthews had himself testified to in the second Flowers trial. They also discovered an unfired .380 bullet, which might suggest the gun jammed. Willie James Hemphill Willie Hemphill (1919 - 2000) Jump to: Bio graphy Family Photos Comments Obit uary. "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. 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. Miller would not comment. James Graham, was a blues pianist and her mother, Virgie Lee Graham, was skilled in many instruments, though she did not . Select this result to view William Thomas Hemphill's phone number, address, and more. He said he would have sent a written report back to Mississippi, so authorities there could check out the stories. Also known as Willie L Hemphill, Hemphill Wilie. Why was he questioned? "Yeah we was leaving. But Curtis Flowers is somehow still not cleared of the gruesome quadruple murder on July 16, 1996. 1809 Gatewood Aven, Greensboro, NC 27405-6727 is the last known address for Willie. He told the podcast he had an airtight alibi. 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. 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. 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. The only other such form in the file was signed by Flowers. Sign the Guest Book . Hallmon is now serving three life sentences in Parchmanwithout the possibility of parole. Injustice flourishes in the darkness, and the sun is now blazing in the heavens (at least for Curtis Flowers). 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. A .380-caliber is hard to control. Phone Number: (704) 751-NZMM +2 phones. It takes no imagination at all to imagine Marcus Presley committing a crime like thatwe have the video from the pawn shop. F.T. Hemphill said investigator took his shoes for a few minutes as well as his fingerprints. Baran said she reached out to the two state investigators who questioned Hemphill, Matthews and Wayne Miller. A series of Willie James Hemphill mugshots ranging from 2000 through 2016. He died on May 27, 2008 at age 66. She said the shoes had belonged to her son, who no longer lived there. Willie James Hemphill was born on May 27, 1919. Hemphill also wasnt held briefly. On April 30, 2018, American Public Medias true crime podcast In The Dark began airing its second season, an investigation of the case of Curtis Flowers, a black man in Mississippi accused of a quadruple homicide at a furniture store in 1996. 1. It was all make believe. 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. 704-***-**** View Phone. 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. Eight days before these murders, a side door key was stolen. This narrative turn places In The Dark firmly, disappointingly, and alarmingly in the mainstream of the True Crime genre. I know he didnt do it, Archie Flowers said. While talking to them, he said he told them about his discovery. But the investigative file turned over to Flowers defense attorneys didnt mention the possible link. A series of Willie James Hemphill mugshots ranging from 2000 through 2016. 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. 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. Menu. Their pattern was to spend a week or so lying low before going on another rampage. In total, he killed four people and wounded three others in the space of just three months. . That same day, Horace Wayne Miller, a lieutenant with the Mississippi Highway patrol, asked Norfolk officials to keep him apprised of their investigation. In the 1980s and '90s, Hemphill spent time in Memphis. Montgomery County Sheriff Bill Thornburg searched Moores home and found a size 10.5 Fila Grant Hill shoebox in a dresser at her house. Surveillance video from John's 280 Pawn Shop broadcast by ABC News. They wanted to ask him about his alibi for the day of the Tardy Furniture murders, an alibi that hadn't checked out. Selected filmography. Find an Obituary. District Attorney Doug Evans insisted he'd given the defense access to all records of the investigation. 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. 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. Yes and no. Evidence suggests that Marcus Presley was a psychopath who enjoyed random violence for its own sake. 5 Visits. Not long after Armstrong found the gun in October 2001, two police officers happened to pull him over for speeding. In the course of these crimes, one employee was shot in the leg and another in the back (both survived) and Presley was the shooter in both cases. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results Willie James Hemphill (1952 - 2006) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. She lived in Winston, Mississippi, United States in 1930 and Beat 2, Winston, Mississippi, United States in 1940. 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. Photos. We developed information that Doyle was missing from work that morning for about 30 or 40 minutes, which was about the time of the murders, he said. He allegedly committed robberies to fund a drug habit. Officers gave him a gunshot residue test, finding oneparticle of residue. Doug Evans, the district attorney who prosecuted Flowers in all six trials, has declined to be interviewedby APM Reports and has not returned calls from the Clarion Ledger. Quantico . The Dallas Morning News. Visitation: 6-8 pm Friday, March 2, 2012 at Laurel Land Funeral Home. Both his father, Archie, and his sonbelieve he will be free one day. Wiilie Hemphill passed away in Bryan, Texas. I dont think they learned anything.. 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. The killer or killers could have used the key to enter the side door, perhaps hiding before the store opened. Goldberg couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth. They wanted to ask him about his alibi for the day of the Tardy Furniture murders, an alibi that hadn't checked out. He freely admitted that he had been a suspect and even says that, although innocent, he would have made a more convincing suspect than Curtis. Are you a wh*re?, Reporter: Did you commit the murders on Front Street? What follows are selected incidents from his past. He explained his suspicion that the gun might have something to do with the Tardy murders. Each victim had been murdered execution styleone or two bullets to the back of the head. Why was he questioned? How did your name get involved in this?, Hemphill: I wasnt in the city. But at Curtis Flowers' trials, the prosecution downplayed any investigation of other suspects. The police there picked up the investigation and also apparently probed the Tardy Furniture connection. Willie James Hemphill's alibi doesn't check out TIMELINE: Hemphill's long criminal record. Marcus Presley sometimes accompanied by LaSamuel Gamble had committed a string of robberies in 1996 in and around Birmingham, with the same modus operandi. Goldberg doesn't remember the alibis Presley or Gamble gave, but he said following up on those wouldn't have been his job. Only now, a new name has surfaced. Soon that would change. Hemphill was born on September 10, 1971. Search by Name. How do we create a person's profile? Burial will follow in Hemphill Star Cemetery, Boyce. 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 similarities between the crimes were striking. Early voting has begun. Contact Jerry Mitchell at 601-961-7064 or jmitchell@gannett.com. "It just kind of jumped out," Ali said. In other words, Evans committed two egregiousBrady violations that will, in the days that lie ahead, force the courts to grant a new trial and, just as likely, insist that Doug Evans recuse himself from this case. 0 Rate Willie. On November 16, 2015, Marcus Presley signed an affidavit claiming that Lasamuel Gamble and Steven McKenzie (the driver of the getaway car) had been in Mississippi the day of the Winona murders and had returned with several hundred dollars in their pockets after claiming to have hit a lick (committed a crime). Hemphill's Timeline Willie James Hemphill has an extensive criminal record starting in 1990, just when Hemphill was eighteen-years old. Historical Person Search Search Search Results Results willie james hemphill (1955 - 2006) Try FREE for 14 days Try FREE for 14 days. You may also light a candle in honor of Willie James . And in searching for Hemphill, she came upon a cousin with the same name who recalled three carloads of deputies showing up at his mobile home in 1996 looking for the other Hemphill. Add a Memory. When we finally found Hemphill, living in Indianapolis, he had some very surprising things to say about the case . He attended Erskine College, where he earned a A.B. Lab officials, however, say the gun never arrived and was never tested. Fleming had said six times since 1996 she saw Flowers running from the store on the morning of the murders. He didnt mark it or put it in an evidence bag, he told the Clarion Ledger. During the sixth Flowers trial, Matthews, who worked with Miller at the Mississippi Highway Patrol, said the only suspect in the case aside from Flowers was Doyle Simpson, whose gun the prosecution argued Flowers stole and used as the murder weapon. 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. Between June 19th, 1996 and June 30thof that year, Presley was involved in five robberies at gunpoint. Before he disappeared into a men's bathroom, he once again dodged the question of where he was on the day of the murders and insulted two female reporters with vulgarities. Hemphill says he was in Memphis on the day of the murder and his alibi might check out. But we found a document showing that another man, Willie James Hemphill, had also been questioned just days after the murders. 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 that's what I know," said David Goldberg, now retired from his job as a detective in the Norfolk Police Department. We went to boot camp together., The officers denial dont make me mad, he said.