Wendell Flowers

Timeline

• 1981 — Wendell Flowers was serving a life sentence for the murder of 81-year-old Thomas Greer, who owned a country store in Wilkes County.
• 1989 — Wendell Flowers stabbed fellow prison inmate Rufus Watson 31 times with a homemade knife at Piedmont Correctional Institute near Salisbury.
• April 23, 1998 — The courts last granted Flowers a stay.
• August 17, 1998 — Flowers selected execution by lethal injection.
• August 19, 1998 — U.S. District Court Judge Frank Bullock issued a stay halting the execution of Wendell Flowers after lawyers presented a petition signed by Flowers indicating he wanted to continue his appeals.
• June 10, 1994 — Wendell Flowers was sentenced to death for the 1989 slaying of another inmate at Piedmont Correctional Institution near Salisbury.
• December 15, 1999 — Gov. Jim Hunt commuted the death sentence of Wendell Flowers and ordered that he be locked up for life without parole for the 1989 prison slaying.
• December 17, 1999 — An execution date was set for December 17, 1999.

Background

Wendell Flowers was serving a life sentence for a 1981 murder in Wilkes County when he committed the 1989 prison killing at Piedmont Correctional Institution near Salisbury. At the time of the 1989 killing, Flowers was serving a life sentence in the death of 81-year-old Wilkes County storekeeper Thomas Greer.

Flowers was described as having a homosexual relationship with the inmate he killed.

The offence

1981 murder of Thomas Greer

Wendell Flowers was convicted of the December 1981 murder of Thomas Greer, who owned a country store in Wilkes County. After a night of drinking, Flowers and two friends broke into Greer's house by crashing through a bedroom window. They beat Greer to death and severely wounded his 76-year-old wife, Clara Greer. They made off with about $2,000 in cash, a watch, two cases of cigarettes and .22-caliber pistol.

1989 prison slaying of Rufus Watson

While serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder, Wendell Flowers stabbed inmate Rufus Watson to death with a homemade shank at the Piedmont Correctional Center in Salisbury. Flowers stabbed Watson 31 times with a homemade knife at Piedmont Correction Institute.

Flowers said Watson was mistreating an inmate with whom Flowers was having a homosexual relationship. At trial, Watson was described as a homosexual pimp, drug dealer and loan shark. Flowers said he acted alone, but a witness said Flowers was helped by three other inmates.

The three were charged with murder. Two other inmates were convicted on murder charges. Neither was sentenced to death.

Investigation

Flowers testified at the others’ trials that the slaying was his idea.

Arrest

Flowers had fired his attorneys and dropped appeals. He was scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at 2 a.m. Friday in Central Prison.

Trial

Wendell Flowers was convicted of the May 1989 stabbing death of fellow prison inmate Rufus Watson at Piedmont Correctional Institution, a medium security state prison near Salisbury. Flowers was sentenced in Rowan County Superior Court on June 10, 1994.

In addition to the death sentence, Flowers received two life sentences, plus sentences for armed robbery, assault and kidnapping.

Sentencing

Wendell Flowers was sentenced to death on June 10, 1994.

Flowers had two life sentences, plus sentences for armed robbery, assault and kidnapping. Flowers also faced multiple convictions related to prison and the earlier murder of Thomas Greer.

Appeals

The courts last granted Flowers a stay April 23, 1998. U.S. District Court Judge Frank Bullock in Greensboro issued a stay on August 19, 1998 after lawyers presented the judge a petition signed by Flowers indicating he wanted to continue his appeals.

For the second time that year, Flowers had his planned execution stopped after he had earlier indicated he was dropping all appeals and wanted to proceed with the execution. Flowers’ mother interceded and called for a competency hearing, leading the NC Supreme Court to issue a stay hours before the scheduled execution.

Outcome

Clemency and commutation

On December 15, 1999, Gov. Jim Hunt commuted the first death sentence of his career and ordered that Wendell Flowers be locked up for life without parole for the 1989 prison slaying.

Flowers said in a handwritten statement:

"I am thankful for the governor for commuting my death sentence and I thank the many people that went to the governor."

Gov. Jim Hunt said:

"I am convinced from all that I have learned about this case that several inmates were involved in this murder." "From the testimony of the eyewitness, it is not clear exactly what role Flowers actually carried out."

Ken Rose, director of the North Carolina Center for Death Penalty Litigation, said:

"I think the governor did the right thing." "This is what clemency should be about. It should be about considering the relative culpability of defendants for their crimes, the fairness of the sentences."

State Appellate Defender Malcolm Hunter, who argued alone on Flowers’ behalf before Hunt and his legal counsel Jack Jenkins last week, said:

"I think the governor has taken a lot of hits for not commuting sentence when people thought he should," "This is what clemency should be about." "Here's a case where he did and he should get credit for it." "There's no way this is something he thinks he's getting political credit for."

Malcolm Hunter said:

"I think it came down to the facts,"

In a statement, Malcolm Hunter said:

"it is clear as a bell that Flowers did not kill Rufus Watson alone. None of the other participants in the crime received the death penalty. 2 of them are in prison for life, and one was never convicted. I believe the right and fair thing to do is to commute Wendell Flowers' sentence to life in prison without parole."

Malcolm Hunter added that Flowers remains:

"a very dangerous criminal. He should, and will, spend the rest of his natural life in prison with absolutely no possibility of parole."

Execution proceedings and witness selection

Central Prison Warden James B. French named six official witnesses and five media witnesses for the August 21 execution of Wendell Flowers. Under Department of Correction policy, the district attorney and sheriff in the county of conviction nominate the official witnesses.

The official witnesses were District Attorney William D. Kenerly, Captain L.M. Wilhelm, Rick L. Jackson, Special Agent Donald A. Gale, Captain John Lookabill, and Sergeant Terry Agner. The media witnesses were John Patterson from the Salisbury Post, Beth McLaughlin from the Concord Independent Tribune, Estes Thompson from the Associated Press, Trey Hardison from WXLV-TV, Winston-Salem, and Bob Costner from WSJS Radio, Winston-Salem.

The six official witnesses would witness the execution and then sign an affidavit of execution. The North Carolina Press Association and the Radio Television News Directors Association of the Carolinas each selected two media witnesses. The media witnesses would relate their experience to reporters waiting in Central Prison’s visitors center.

Flowers notified Warden James French that he would prefer execution by lethal injection. The death row inmate had to notify the warden of Central Prison in writing at least five days before the execution that he would prefer to die by lethal injection. Otherwise, the execution would be carried out with lethal gas. Lethal gas had been used to execute North Carolina inmates since 1936, and lethal injection had been made an option in 1983.

The execution date had been set for December 17, 1999, and Correction Secretary Theodis Beck set an execution date for death row inmate Wendell Flowers for December 17, 1999.

Flowers was scheduled for execution Friday, August 21, 1998 at 2 AM at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Other details

Wendell Flowers was described as an Alexander County, NC native.

Wendell Flowers was described as 45 years old in the December 15, 1999 commutation report.