William Hamilton Little

Case record: William Hamilton Little

Timeline

• December 3, 1983 — Michael John Rammel found the body of Marilyn Peter in her home.
• Early morning hours of December 6, 1983 — William Hamilton Little was arrested at his place of residence on another, unrelated charge.
• February 1984 — Little was indicted in the 253rd Judicial District Court of Liberty County, Texas, for the instant capital murder.
• April 3, 1985 — The jury found Little guilty of the capital offense.
• April 5, 1985 — Following a separate punishment hearing, the jury answered affirmatively the three special sentencing issues.
• March 23, 1988 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Little's conviction and sentence.
• April 27, 1988 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied rehearing.
• October 31, 1988 — The United States Supreme Court denied Little's petition for writ of certiorari.
• May 24, 1989 — The Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief on Little's application for state writ of habeas corpus.
• February 19, 1998 — The federal district court denied relief on Little's petition for federal writ of habeas corpus.
• December 10, 1998 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Little's request for a certificate of probable cause to appeal.
• May 17, 1999 — The United States Supreme Court denied Little's petition for writ of certiorari.
• June 1, 1999 — Little was scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m.; he was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m., eight minutes after the lethal dose began flowing.

Background

William Hamilton Little was 38 years old. He was described as a ninth-grade dropout who worked as a roofer.

Little was on probation at the time of his arrest for involuntary manslaughter and had been ordered to a halfway house for drug rehabilitation but refused to comply.

The offence

On the morning of December 3, 1983, Michael John Rammel found the body of Marilyn Peter in her home.

Rammel and Pat Faulkner arrived to install her clothes dryer. After installing the dryer, Rammel went to the front door and found blood on the doorjamb. He knocked on the door and entered after he heard a baby crying.

Rammel found Peter's small son crying on top of the kitchen counter. There was blood all over the kitchen and living room areas.

The body of Marilyn Peter was lying in the living room, with numerous stab wounds on virtually all areas of her body. Robert Dunn, the police investigator, described the scene in like manner, although in greater detail.

Dr. Espinola, who conducted the autopsy on the deceased, testified that Marilyn Peter died from five stab wounds in the chest. Espinola testified that she had been choked, and that she had other lacerations, wounds, and bruises. Espinola testified that a mark on the deceased's neck could have been from contact with the high chair.

Evidence was offered as to the condition of the deceased's house which clearly indicated quite a struggle took place. There was blood all over the living room and kitchen and on a space heater and on a high chair which was broken. Other evidence indicated this was not the condition of the house an hour or so before the alleged offense.

Authorities said that Marilyn Peter had been raped, stabbed more than 19 times, and then raped again after she was dead.

Police found blood-stained jeans and towels at Little's home.

About two pounds of illegal drug were found at her home by police.

Investigation

During interrogation at the police station following Little's arrest, Little gave a written statement which later was introduced at his trial.

The State introduced an edited version of the confession, and Little introduced the balance under the rule of completeness.

In the statement Little admitted that he went to the home of Marilyn Peter on the night of her murder. Little admitted that he had sexual intercourse with her and that he killed Peter with a butcher knife which was in her apartment.

Little claimed that the sexual intercourse with Peter was consensual. Little claimed that he killed her only after she attacked him with the knife, which he took away from her, and after she repeatedly attacked him while he kept her away by stabbing her.

On the way home he threw the knife off a bridge into the water.

Glenn Wesley Harwell testified about events which took place in the company of Little on the night of December 2, 1983, hours before the murder of Peter. Harwell was in the company of Little while at "The Game Room," a recreation facility located in the Old Snake River Subdivision in which both Little and Peter lived.

During this night at "The Game Room," Little consumed beer and marihuana, and Harwell was of the opinion that Little became intoxicated over the course of the evening.

Harwell related that Little was "talking crazy" during the evening, and that Little had claimed to have scalped people and cut them up when he lived in New York.

According to Harwell, Little was carrying a knife that night and tried to start fights with both strangers and friends.

In the part of the statement offered by Little, Little stated that he had gone to the deceased's home on the night or morning of the date of the alleged offense; that she had invited him into the house and offered to smoke a joint of marijuana with him; that they had engaged in sexual intercourse with her consent; that later they argued about the deceased's refusal to "turn me onto some weed;" that the deceased came at him with a butcher knife; and that he took the knife away from her and used it to repel her repeated attacks upon him.

There was a handprint on the inside of the door of her residence in blood that police were able to match up to Little's hand.

Arrest

Little was arrested at his place of residence on another, unrelated charge during the early morning hours of December 6, 1983.

Trial

Little was tried before a jury upon a plea of not guilty.

In February 1984, Little was indicted in the 253rd Judicial District Court of Liberty County, Texas, for the instant capital murder.

On April 3, 1985, the jury found him guilty of the capital offense.

On April 5, 1985, following a separate punishment hearing, the jury answered affirmatively the three special sentencing issues.

Witness testimony and evidence

Katherine Singletary testified that Little assaulted her as she worked as a desk clerk at the Driftwood Motel in Galveston, Texas; Little grabbed her, threw her to the floor, began dragging her toward stairs leading to his room, and choked her saying, "I like to watch people die."

Leo Keys, Little's neighbor in Baytown, Texas, for twelve years, described Little's attempted burglary of his home.

Little was observed furtively entering and then leaving the house of his cousin, Opal Allen, on the day the house was burglarized, at a time when no one was home.

When Allen questioned him about the burglary, Little brandished a knife and asked if she thought he did it.

O.C. Jones, a resident of the Old Snake River Subdivision, testified that his home was burglarized and identified three macrame owls as property taken during the burglary. Law enforcement officials recovered the owls from Little's residence.

Nine witnesses testified that Little's reputation for being a peaceful and law-abiding citizen was bad.

Prior criminal history introduced at punishment phase

At the punishment phase of trial, the State introduced evidence of Little's prior convictions for involuntary manslaughter and assault.

The State introduced testimony from Little's probation officer that Little violated the terms of probation imposed in connection with the involuntary manslaughter conviction and absconded rather than comply with the probation condition of residence at a halfway house for drug rehabilitation.

The State also introduced evidence that Little had been connected to three unadjudicated burglaries.

Evidence was presented that a second man had confessed, but an indictment against him was dropped after it was determined he was mentally incompetent.

Sentencing

Following a separate punishment hearing, the jury answered affirmatively the three special sentencing issues.

Little received the death penalty.

Appeals

Little appealed his conviction and sentence to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which affirmed on March 23, 1988, and denied rehearing on April 27, 1988.

Little's petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court was denied on October 31, 1988.

Little filed an application for state writ of habeas corpus; on May 24, 1989, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied relief.

Little then proceeded into federal court by filing a petition for federal writ of habeas corpus with the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division; the federal district court denied relief on February 19, 1998.

On December 10, 1998, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied Little's request for a certificate of probable cause to appeal.

Little then filed a petition for writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on May 17, 1999.

During Little's appeals, a federal judge ordered DNA testing which eliminated the second man as a suspect but confirmed the likelihood that Little was the killer.

Outcome

Aftermath

Little declined to make a last statement.

Before the drugs were administered, Little told prison officials that he didn't want to cause any problems.

"I've been jealous of people who preceded me, they got to go home and I had to remain,''

Little closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths and gasped.

Little was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m., eight minutes after the lethal dose began flowing.

Five of Marilyn Peter's friends and relatives watched through a death chamber window as he was put to death.

Marilyn Peter's family said in a prepared statement: "Although we feel that nothing can justify the loss of our loved one, we are grateful in knowing that William Little will never be able to kill and destroy another innocent life,''

In one of the more extensive final meal requests by a condemned Texas inmate, Little asked for 15 slices of cheese, three fried eggs, three slices of buttered toast, two hamburger patties with cheese, half a tomato, one sliced onion, french fries with salad dressing, a half pound of crispy fried bacon, one quart of chocolate milk and one pint of fresh strawberries.