FUNERAL HOMES. 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. 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. The shooter, Marcus Presley (16) and his accomplice, Lasamuel Gamble (18) were arrested in Norfolk, Virginia on August 9, 1996 after two weeks on the run. He explained his suspicion that the gun might have something to do with the Tardy murders. It happens. Illuminating Journalism from American Public Media. 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. "They were investigating that intently back then. Each victim had been murdered execution styleone or two bullets to the back of the head. 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. In the midst of the probe, the Mississippi Crime Lab sent a copy of the bloody shoeprint found at Tardy to the lead Boston investigator. As I argue in the course of the program, Simpson seemed to be bending over backwards to let the world know that a gun had been stolen from his car in the parking lot of the garment factory where he worked. The fourth and fifth trials ended with hung juries. 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. In the months before the Tardy Furniture murders, Presley hit a grocery store, a fireworks retailer, three gas stations and three liquor stores. Willie Hemphill is 80 years old and was born on 04/13/1942. In the past, Willie has also been known as Willie James Hemphill, Willie A Hemphill, Willie James Hemphill, Willie J Hemphill and Willi Hemphill. William is related to Alicia Kristen Hemphill . Willie James Hemphill Obituary. Are you a sl*t? Hemphill says he was in Memphis on the day of the murder and his alibi might check out. 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. Resides in Greenwood, MS. Gamble told me that they saw a few licks while they were in Mississippi. F.T. Willie James Hemphill has done many terrible things. Share via email. Goldberg couldn't tell whether he was telling the truth. Find Willie Hemphill's phone number, address, and email on Spokeo, the leading people search directory for contact information and public records. When In The Dark spoke to Woods, she denied the two were together. He said he wondered what happened with the gun. A Hearing. The whole time Ive been telling them, I dont remember the day, Fleming said. Nine days later, on July 25, 1996, the bodies of two innocent people were discovered in a pawn shop in Birmingham, Alabama. 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. 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. Prosecutors have always said that Curtis Flowers was the only serious suspect in the Tardy Furniture investigation. In The Darks reporting on the case documented the inequities and outright barbarism of Mississippis criminal justice system. Just after the murders, police arrested and jailed him as a suspect, but then let him go. "I can't recall seeing him that day," Woods said. He told the podcast he had an airtight alibi. Prosecutors said repeatedly at trial that the only suspect seriously investigated was Flowers. 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. December 6, 1948 August 11, 2018. Willie James Hemphill's alibi doesn't check out TIMELINE: Hemphill's long criminal record. And why did Doyles brother, Emmett, run from law enforcement when they came to question him on the morning of the crime? No one was going to all that trouble over the approximately $400 investigators say was in the till that morning. When he showed up the Montgomery County Sheriffs Department two days later, he said, they immediately cuffed him and that the investigators made it clear he was a suspect. Hemphill said investigators told him he was a suspect because witnesses had placed him on Front Street near Tardy Furniture Store on the morning of the murders and because of the kind of shoe he wore: Fila Grant Hills, the shoe investigators determined had made the bloody shoe prints inside the store. An August 15, 1996, article in The Winona Times reported that law enforcement officials in three states "released statements that they believe [Presley and Gamble] could be linked to Winona's case.". But the investigative file turned over to Flowers defense attorneys didnt mention the possible link. Willie James Hemphill, Willie J Hemphill, Williae Hemphill. Grief Support. Their size was a.380. He spent 11 days in jail before authorities released him. Photos. Jessie Mae Hemphill [1]1923-2006 Blues musician, singer, songwriter, guitarist, percussionist Blues musician and vocalist Jessie Mae Hemphill [2] was a paradox. His website is. Hallmon has since admitted he lied. At first, Willie James Hemphill was calm. Montgomery County Sheriff Bill Thornburg searched Moores home and found a size 10.5 Fila Grant Hill shoebox in a dresser at her house. 1 hr 4 min . (Although that figure is, at best, an educated guess.). Evans didnt want jurors comparing his tortured theory with a simple and sensible alternative. He quoted Bertha Tardy as saying he would have to be responsible for paying for the batteries. The murder weapon in the Tardy Furniture case was a .380, and an unfired round was found at the scene; investigators believe that might indicate that the gun had jammed. So, if I am forced to pick an alternative perpetrator in this awful case I would lean toward the Birmingham Boys, Presley in particular. 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. Like LaSamuel Gamble, Hemphill wore Fila shoes and had a criminal record. … 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. 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. 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. His age is 79. NEWS & ADVICE. Name. 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 at the Winona Police Department five days after the murders waiving his rights to an attorney. INDIANAPOLIS At first, Willie James Hemphill was calm. Saums pointed out that Simpson who has since died lied to police about how he had gotten the gun. Willie James Hemphill Willie Hemphill (1919 - 2000) Jump to: Bio graphy Family Photos Comments Obit uary. Photos. Small is now claiming that I never gave (the gun) to him, Armstrong said. If you recall our last conversation, I wasnt in the city., Reporter: You said you were in Memphis with Twanda Woods. Presley and Gamble did four of the June heists together and one crime was perpetrated by Presley alone. The district's Republicans should nominate James Hemphill as their candidate for Congress in the May 3 primary. Share Obituary. For Ali and the other lawyers working on Flowers' appeal at the time, this was a significant revelation. Username. Usually if somebody starts shooting, he said, others will run.. Quantico . Law enforcement clearly saw Hemphill as a prime suspect. We encourage you to research and . The killer or killers could have used the key to enter the side door, perhaps hiding before the store opened. 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. And Hemphill had a history of committing crimes in Winona and Memphis. <p>Prosecutors have always said that Curtis Flowers was the only serious suspect in the Tardy Furniture investigation. It would indeed have been a solid alibi except it didn't check out. Early voting has begun. Memphis is two hours north of Winona, just across the border with Tennessee. 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. 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. So, maybe Curtis didnt steal the gun after all. Visitation will be 10 a.m. to 7 p.m . OBITUARIES. He said he told investigators he was shopping with a woman in Memphis. She lived in Winston, Mississippi, United States in 1930 and Beat 2, Winston, Mississippi, United States in 1940. Who was he? The two men had family in both Boston and Norfolk. 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. 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 FBI checked it out. The suspicion that the crimes could be connected was a matter of public record at the time. He is aiming to get bail, which is rare in capital murder cases. The host, Madeleine Baran, carefully noted that only some of evidence seemed to point in Hemphills direction, even though a flimsy case was enough to almost execute the man her show just found innocent. You may also light a candle in honor of Willie James .