Allen Holman

Case record

Allen R. Holman, Sr. (born March 29, 1959) was sentenced to death for the first-degree murder of his wife, Linda Holman.

The offence

On July 28, 1997, Allen R. Holman, Sr. shot Linda Holman to death in the parking lot of a convenience store. The couple had been married for 7 years.

Linda Holman made a 911 call in the early-morning hours as her husband chased her in her car at speeds that sometimes exceed 85 mph. Linda said: "Help me! My husband is trying to kill me!" The phone call lasted for 5 minutes. Linda reached a food store, and an Apex police officer began chasing Holman. Holman evaded the officer and returned to the store. Holman pulled up next to his wife's car and shot her twice in the back with a pump-action shotgun.

After killing Linda, Holman returned to the couple’s home, engaged in a gunfight with police, and then shot himself in the stomach.

Allen R. Holman, Sr. pled guilty to the murder.

Investigation

An Apex police officer began chasing Holman after Linda Holman reached the food store following the 911 call.

Arrest

Holman was involved in a gunfight with police after returning to the couple’s home and shot himself in the stomach.

Trial

Allen R. Holman, Sr. was sentenced to death in Wake County Superior Court on April 7, 1998 for the first-degree murder of Linda Holman.

Appeals

On August 18, 2005, the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Holman’s conviction and sentence of death.

Holman declined further appeals efforts and requested that an execution date be set.

On December 14, 2006, a federal judge ruled Holman was mentally competent to withdraw his appeals. Holman has fired his attorneys and did not want any additional appeals filed on his behalf; however, his former lawyers asked the judge to stop the execution until legal challenges over lethal injection in North Carolina were settled. They also requested that a court-appointed psychiatrist evaluate Holman’s mental competency.

Holman once wrote a judge demanding that he be executed:

"I'm requesting the state of North Carolina's justice system to do their jobs of seeing my sentence carried out to the fullest!!"

In federal court, Holman testified:

"I would like closure for me and all my ... everybody connected to my case,"
"I would like to drop my appeals and the state to carry out the sentence."

Sentencing

Allen R. Holman, Sr. was sentenced to death on April 7, 1998 in Wake County Superior Court.

Outcome

The North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Holman’s conviction and sentence of death on August 18, 2005.

The execution was scheduled for 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh, with the execution date set as March 9, 2007 by Theodis Beck, the Correction Secretary.

The execution was not expected to take place on that date because there were still appeals pending in this case.

Timeline

• 07/28/1997 — Allen R. Holman, Sr. shot his wife, Linda Holman, twice in the back with a pump-action shotgun in the parking lot of a convenience store after chasing and 911 call events involving her car speeds exceeding 85 mph.
• 04/07/1998 — Holman was sentenced to death in Wake County Superior Court for the first-degree murder of Linda Holman.
• 08/18/2005 — The North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed Holman’s conviction and sentence of death.
• 12/14/2006 — A federal judge ruled Holman was mentally competent to withdraw his appeals.
• 02/13/2007 — Theodis Beck set March 9, 2007 as the execution date for Allen R. Holman, Sr., scheduled for 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh.

Other details

Holman was 47 at the time of the execution-date scheduling.

Linda Holman’s daughter, Deborah Hartless, 39, of Baltimore, said:

"I'm really hoping and praying that this will happen,"

Hartless said she was surprised that Holman took his stepchildren into consideration when he decided to drop his appeals:

"He wants to give some kind of peace to the families, which blows my mind."

Holman’s execution-date request came after Holman declined further appeals efforts.