Billy Wayne Hayes

Case summary

Billy Wayne Hayes was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced in 1968 to serve 10 years in prison at the Tennessee State Prison for the shooting death of William Howard Ferguson, a Nashville paint contractor. Hayes was assigned to a work release program and never returned after signing out for work on Dec. 21, 1972. After escaping, he was on the lam for 33 years.

Hayes was arrested by marshals and police at a gas station in Dothan, Alabama, nearly 350 miles from Nashville. U.S. Marshals announced that he had been captured in Alabama where he had been working construction jobs using his real name. Hayes was 57 at the time of the arrest.

Officers said Hayes was surprised when arrested. He acknowledged that he escaped and told them he had no idea why he fled.

Authorities in Alabama said they found crack cocaine inside Hayes’ clothing when they arrested him and charged him with possession. Hayes was taken to the Dothan city jail with plans to transfer him to the Houston County jail, where he would face extradition. A warrant was issued for his return to custody of Tennessee authorities.

Timeline

• 1968 — Hayes was sentenced to 10 years in prison at the Tennessee State Prison for second-degree murder for the shooting death of William Howard Ferguson.
• December 21, 1972 — Hayes signed out for work on a work release program and never returned.
• Friday night (date not stated) — Hayes was arrested by marshals and police at a gas station in Dothan, Alabama.
• Saturday (date not stated) — U.S. Marshals announced the capture.
• December 3, 2006 — The arrest and capture were reported.

The offence

Billy Wayne Hayes was sentenced in 1968 to serve 10 years at the Tennessee State Prison for second-degree murder in the shooting death of William Howard Ferguson, a Nashville paint contractor.

Background

Hayes was assigned to a work release program after being sentenced in 1968. He never returned after signing out for work on Dec. 21, 1972.

Arrest and capture

Hayes was arrested by marshals and police Friday night at a gas station in Dothan, Alabama, nearly 350 miles from Nashville, where he had been imprisoned. U.S. Marshals announced that he had been working construction jobs in Alabama using his real name.

Hayes acknowledged that he escaped and told them he had no idea why he fled. U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Danny Shelton said: “He knew his run had come to an end.”

Tennessee Department of Corrections spokeswoman Dorinda Carter said Hayes’ case was so old that information on it was not in the department’s current computer system and would not be available until Monday.

U.S. Marshals in Nashville received information earlier in the week that Hayes might be in Mobile, Alabama, or Dothan. A call to Dothan police Saturday was not answered.

A warrant had been issued for his return to custody of Tennessee authorities.

Other details

Hayes stated in an interview that he had “walked away from a prison detail” and disappeared for 30 years. He also said: “I made a terrible mistake, and I pray to God to forgive me for it.”

“What's it like to be back in prison?” the I-Team’s Jeremy Finley asked Hayes.
“It's not that bad,” he said.

Hayes said: “I just didn't want to leave my family. I thought they'd lost my records.”

“Only thing I could say is I'm sorry. I apologize. There's nothing I can do to change it,” he said.

Debra Ferguson said: “I will never forgive Billy Wayne Hayes.” She also said: “They describe you as a coward. They say you got to live a whole life while their father's life was cut short. What would you say to them?” Finley asked Hayes. She responded: “I'm not sure if he could grasp what he did to us.”

Hayes said he used his real name, real Social Security number, and lived in Tennessee two years after he escaped. He said his ex-mother-in-law eventually turned him in.

The interview stated that Hayes was sentenced to an extra year in prison after pleading guilty to felony escape. It also stated that because he had almost finished his original sentence when he escaped, he would be out of prison in a bit more than a year.

The interview included references to William Ferguson’s grown children and that they felt their father was denied justice.

A detail presented for identification included “Billy Wayne Harris, 1968,” “Billy Wayne Hayes, 2006,” and “William Ferguson, the victim,” along with “Debra Ferguson Shales, left, and her brother Dan Ferguson” discussing the 1967 murder of their father, William Ferguson, who was shot by Billy Wayne Hayes, who escaped from prison in 1972 and was on the lam until being arrested in 2006.