William Gregory Thomas

Case information

William Gregory Thomas (DC #311509; DOB: 07/22/60) was convicted in the Fourth Judicial Circuit, Duval County (Case #93-5394).

The sentencing judge was The Honorable David Wiggins. The criminal trial attorney was Richard Nichols, Esq. The direct appeal attorneys were Nancy Daniels – Public Defender & Steven Seliger, Esq. The collateral appeals attorney was Mary Catherine Bonner.

The registry date of offense was 09/12/91. The date of sentence was 07/22/94.

The offence

William Thomas was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of his wife, Rachel Thomas. To avoid paying his portion of their impending divorce settlement, William Thomas planned to kidnap and kill his wife.

On 09/12/91, Thomas and his friend, Douglas Schraud, went to Rachel’s house in order to kidnap her. Thomas beat Rachel and then tied her up. Rachel attempted to flee by hopping outside, but Thomas dragged her back into the house by her hair. Thomas then put Rachel into the truck of her car and left the scene. Rachel Thomas was never seen again. Thomas was eventually indicted for the murder of his wife in May, 1993.

William Thomas made numerous inculpatory statements about Rachel Thomas’ disappearance; however, suspicion fell heavily upon Thomas after his mother was murdered. Authorities believed that Thomas killed his mother in order to prevent her from implicating him in the murder of Rachel Thomas.

Thomas was also convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment (CC #93-5393) for the 05/04/93 murder of his mother, Elsie Thomas, who he killed in order to keep her from talking to the police about the death of Rachel Thomas. On 07/14/94, Thomas pled guilty to the murder of Elsie Thomas. In exchange for a recommendation of life in this case (CC #93-5393), Thomas waived his right to appeal any guilt phase issue arising out of the trial for the murder of his wife, Rachel Thomas (CC #93-5394).

Codefendant information

Douglas Schraud was convicted of Kidnapping. On 10/07/94, Schraud was sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was released 11/08/98 after serving only four years.

Trial

Indictment and charges

Thomas was indicted on 05/20/93 on:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder
• Count II: Burglary
• Count III: Kidnapping

Verdicts

Thomas was found guilty on all counts charged in the indictment on 03/24/94.

Sentencing

On 03/30/94, upon advisory sentencing, the jury, by an 11 to 1 majority, voted for the death penalty.

On 07/22/94, the defendant was sentenced as followed:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder – Death
• Count II: Burglary – Life
• Count III: Kidnapping – Life

Investigation and evidence relevant to corpus delicti and statements

On 08/25/94, Thomas filed a Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court. In that appeal, he argued that the State failed to prove corpus delecti.

The Florida Supreme Court noted:

In the present case, the State's evidence showed the following: Douglas Schraud was present when Thomas beat, bound and abducted Rachel in the trunk of her car. Later that day, Thomas met a friend at the Roosevelt Mall and the friend saw him park and abandon Rachel's car after wiping it down with a towel. Thomas's palm print was found on the hood of the car. Rachel has not been seen or heard from since. It was uncharacteristic of Rachel to miss appointments or to leave behind her family and son--she had never even stayed out all night before. She not only missed a planned evening with a friend, she left behind her gym bag, purse, driver's license, a photograph of her son, twenty dollars in cash she had obtained only an hour before she disappeared, all her clothes, and the $ 750 she had in her bank account. Moreover, she disappeared the day before payday. She had given coworkers no indication she was unhappy in her job, and had never expressed to her family any desire to leave or get away from it all. Although Rachel was a neat person and kept her home immaculate, after her disappearance her garage door was left standing wide open and the door into the house from the garage was left unlocked. There were signs of a struggle in the foyer, as well as blood on the baseboard and on the vent. Blankets were missing from the garage. Witnesses testified that Thomas wore tennis shoes the evening of the murder and there was a tennis shoe print on the floor of the garage. When asked by police, however, Thomas denied owning any tennis shoes, and the next day he collected all his tennis shoes and threw them away. Based on the foregoing, we conclude that the State introduced sufficient evidence to prove the corpus delicti of the murder and to lay the predicate for admission of Thomas's inculpatory statements. We note that Thomas made many inculpatory statements and admissions. The State introduced sufficient evidence to show that Rachel is dead and Thomas killed her.

The Florida Supreme Court also addressed Thomas’s argument that the court erred in failing to consider mitigating evidence in the sentencing order.

Appeals and post-conviction history

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentence of death on 03/20/97.

Thomas next filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the United States Supreme Court, which was denied on 11/17/97.

Next, Thomas filed a 3.850 Motion in the State Circuit Court, which was denied on 04/26/01. He then filed an appeal of that decision in the Florida Supreme Court on 06/29/01, in which the denial of Thomas’ 3.850 was affirmed. A mandate was issued 03/03/03.

Thomas filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court, Middle District on 03/22/04. The petition is pending.

FloridaCapitalCases.state.fl.us

Timeline

• 05/20/93 — Thomas was indicted on Count I: First-Degree Murder, Count II: Burglary, Count III: Kidnapping.
• 05/04/93 — Thomas was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment (CC #93-5393) for the murder of his mother, Elsie Thomas.
• 07/14/94 — Thomas pled guilty to the murder of Elsie Thomas.
• 03/24/94 — Thomas was found guilty on all counts charged in the indictment.
• 03/30/94 — Upon advisory sentencing, the jury voted for the death penalty by an 11 to 1 majority.
• 07/22/94 — Thomas was sentenced: Count I First-Degree Murder—Death; Count II Burglary—Life; Count III Kidnapping—Life.
• 08/25/94 — Thomas filed a Direct Appeal in the Florida Supreme Court.
• 03/20/97 — The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and sentence of death.
• 11/17/97 — The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari.
• 04/26/01 — Thomas’s 3.850 motion was denied in the State Circuit Court.
• 06/29/01 — The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Thomas’s 3.850.
• 03/03/03 — A mandate was issued.
• 03/22/04 — Thomas filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus in the United States District Court, Middle District; the petition was pending.

Outcome

William Gregory Thomas was condemned on one count and sentenced to life terms for the second count (burglary) and kidnapping, 1994.

Other details

Thomas’s convictions and sentences were reflected in:

• 693 So. 2d 951; March 20, 1997 (Florida Supreme Court Briefs and Opinions Docket #84256: William Gregory Thomas, Appellant, vs. State of Florida, Appellee).
• 838 So. 2d 535; January 30, 2003 (Docket #SC01-1439: William Gregory Thomas, Appellant, vs. State of Florida, Appellee).

Sex and race were listed as: SEX: M; RACE: W.

The case listed motive as: CE MO: "Bluebeard" slayer of ex-wife and mother.

The source listing included: “The body of his wife was never found.”