Terrance Williams

Case record: Terrance Williams

Overview

Terrance Williams was sentenced to death in Pennsylvania on July 1, 1987. He was convicted in Pennsylvania of first-degree murder and sentenced to die for senselessly murdering Amos Norwood during a robbery, with a formal sentencing on July 1, 1987.

Williams was a prisoner sentenced to death for a murder committed at the age of 18. He had been convicted and sentenced to 27 years for a third-degree murder he committed six months earlier, and he was later granted a stay of execution by a Philadelphia judge, Teresa Saramina.

Timeline

• July 1, 1987 — Williams was formally sentenced to death in Pennsylvania for the murder of Amos Norwood.
• December 25, 1982 (approximately 1:00 a.m.) — Williams and a co-defendant broke into an elderly couple’s home in the West Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, robbed them at gunpoint, and stole their car.
• January, 1984 — Williams stabbed to death Herbert Hamilton.
• January, 1984 (six months later) — Williams, then 18, and Marc Draper convinced Amos Norwood to go to a cemetery, where they beat him to death with a tire iron and hid the body behind some tombstones.
• June 10, 1984 — Amos Norwood took Williams to an unlit parking lot and raped him until he bled.
• June 11, 1984 — Williams murdered Amos Norwood with a tire iron.
• July 20, 1984 — Marc Draper was arrested.
• July 23, 1984 — Williams surrendered to the police.
• September 28, 2012 — Judge M. Teresa Sarmina granted a stay of execution.
• October 3, 2012 — Williams was scheduled to be executed; a stay had been granted prior to this date.

Background

Terrance Williams was born in 1968 in Pennsylvania. He was a few months shy of his seventeenth birthday during the December 25, 1982 incident.

Williams had a history of sexual abuse during his childhood. His childhood included being beaten by his mother “with belts, fists, extension cords switches or anything that she could get her hands on,” according to the clemency petition. When he was six, he was sexually assaulted by an older boy in the neighborhood, coming home bleeding from his rectum, and he reported that his mother beat him some more in response, “In private. In public. In school. At home.” When he was 10, he reported that things got even worse; his mother married a man who beat her and was also beaten by her, and he beat Williams as well. Williams reported that at age 13 he was raped by a teacher “not once but over and over again,” and that the teacher used gifts to lure him.

Williams reported that when he was sent to a juvenile facility, he was raped by two older males.

The offence

Robbery and related offences (December 25, 1982)

At approximately 1:00 a.m. on December 25, 1982, Williams and a co-defendant broke into an elderly couple’s home in the West Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They robbed them at gunpoint and stole their car.

Williams was certified for trial as an adult. He was convicted of two counts each of robbery, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, and simple assault, and one count each of burglary, criminal conspiracy, theft and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

He was sentenced to 12 ½ to 25 years imprisonment. While Williams was awaiting trial in the robbery, he murdered Herbert Hamilton. While he was on bail awaiting sentencing for the robbery, he murdered Amos Norwood.

Murder of Herbert Hamilton (January 1984)

In January 1984, Williams stabbed to death Herbert Hamilton, a 50-year-old resident of West Philadelphia. Williams was a 17-year-old at the time of the murder.

Williams lured Hamilton to bed, then stabbed him over 20 times and beat him with a baseball bat. Court-record language described that Williams retrieved a nearby baseball bat, chased after Herbert Hamilton, and chased him before the police shooting Williams later. The description also stated that Williams chased after Hamilton until Hamilton was bloody and severely wounded, recovered the butcher knife, and stabbed Hamilton approximately twenty times with specific locations listed: “twice in the head, ten times in the back, once in the neck, four times in the chest, and once each in the abdomen, arm, and thumb.”

The court-record language further stated: “Finally, Williams drove the butcher knife through the back of Hamilton's neck until it protruded through the other side. He then doused Hamilton's body with kerosene and unsuccessfully attempted to set fire to it.”

Murder of Amos Norwood (six months later; Norwood murder case)

Six months later, Williams, then 18, and Marc Draper convinced Amos Norwood to go to a cemetery. They beat Norwood to death with a tire iron and hid the body behind some tombstones. Williams later returned and set the body on fire.

Williams took Norwood's car, along with cash and credit cards he stole from the body, and drove to Atlantic City with Draper and Ronald Rucker.

Court-record language described the interaction after entering the vehicle:

“Williams exited the vehicle, approached Draper, and said quietly, "Play it off like you going home, like you want a ride home, and we gonna take some money." Draper understood Williams to be proposing a robbery.”

The court-record language stated that the two got inside Norwood’s automobile and Draper began to provide false directions to his “home,” leading Norwood to a secluded area adjacent to the Ivy Hill Cemetery. Draper reached over the backseat, grabbed Norwood from behind, and ordered him “to be quiet and get out of the car.” Norwood stopped the vehicle and complied.

The court-record language described that Williams and Draper led Norwood into the cemetery and ordered him to lie facedown near a tombstone. It described a quick search revealing $20 hidden in his sock. It described that Norwood began to plead for his life, and the assailants responded by removing Norwood’s clothing and tying him up, binding his hands behind his back with his shirt, binding his legs together with his pants, and forcing his socks into his mouth.

Once Norwood was bound, Williams said to Draper:

“Wait, I'm going to the car. We're getting ready to do something.”

Williams walked off. He returned with a tire iron and a socket wrench, the latter of which he gave to Draper. Draper urged Williams to leave, and Williams replied:

“I know what I'm doin, I know what I'm doin. Don't worry about it, I know what I'm doin.”

The court-record language stated Williams began battering Norwood’s head with the tire iron. When Williams noticed Draper was frozen in place, Williams said:

“Man, you with me[?] We got to do this together.”

Draper then struck Norwood repeatedly with the socket wrench. The violence continued until Norwood lay motionless and dead.

Investigation and arrest

Police investigation began with the use of Norwood’s calling card, which led police to Rucker, who implicated Williams and Draper.

Draper was arrested on July 20, 1984. During questioning, Draper gave a full confession to police.

A search was conducted of Williams’s residence, and Norwood’s jacket was found.

Williams surrendered to the police on July 23, 1984. Although Draper was in protective custody, he was able to send several letters urging Draper to change his story. Draper turned the letters over to police.

Trial

Conviction and sentence in the Hamilton murder case

Williams was convicted of third-degree murder in the death of Hamilton and sentenced to 27 years.

Conviction and sentence in the Norwood murder case

Williams was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Norwood and was sentenced to death.

In the Norwood murder case, the convictions in the robbery case and the case involving Herbert Hamilton were used as aggravating circumstances to secure the death sentence.

Sentencing

Williams was sentenced to 12 ½ to 25 years imprisonment for the robbery-related convictions and he received an additional sentence of 27 years for third-degree murder in the Hamilton death.

Williams was formally sentenced to death on July 1, 1987 for the Norwood murder case.

Appeals, clemency, and related proceedings

Stay of execution

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court halted Williams’s execution scheduled for October 3, 2012. The halt upheld a stay granted by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas on September 28, 2012.

The decision upheld the stay on the ground that prosecutors had withheld evidence at Williams’s 1986 trial that could have led to a lesser penalty. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied an emergency application by the Philadelphia district attorney, R. Seth Williams, to overturn Sarmina’s ruling.

The Supreme Court’s ruling also granted a new sentencing hearing. Williams remained under sentence of death unless and until the State Supreme Court upheld the ruling for resentencing and a new jury commuted the sentence to life without parole.

The court gave no reason for its decision. Defense arguments included that the murder victim had sexually abused Williams for most of his adolescence and that prosecutors had withheld that evidence from the jury. Five jurors signed affidavits saying they would have voted instead for life in prison without parole if they had known about the history of abuse, and that they were unaware that in Pennsylvania a life sentence means permanent incarceration.

Petition for executive clemency and commutation efforts

A petition for commutation of Williams’s sentence by the Governor of Pennsylvania was signed by nearly 150 former judges and prosecutors, child and health specialists, and former jurors at his trial. It included claims that Williams was a victim of sexual abuse during childhood and killed two of his alleged rapists.

Jurors who signed the petition in September 2012 indicated that if they had been aware of the facts, they would not have requested the death penalty, but life in prison. The widow of Amos Norwood argued for commutation of the sentence as well.

A bipartisan force led by State Senator Daylin Leach and State Senator Stewart Greenleaf asked Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett for clemency.

A clemency hearing before the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons in Harrisburg was described as taking place before the Board of Pardons on September 15, 2012. Lawyers for Williams would attempt to convince state officials that his life should be spared and that he should instead be permitted to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. It was described that the vote of the Board of Pardons must be unanimous in Williams’s favor, and that Governor Corbett could disregard the recommendation and push on with the execution.

Statements attributed to lawyers and officials

Shawn Nolan, a lawyer for Williams, called for the death sentence to be vacated, and said in a statement:

“The Philadelphia district attorney’s office should stop its pursuit to execute Terry Williams,”
“The time has now come for them to heed the call from the victim’s widow, jurors, child advocates, victim’s rights advocates and over 380,000 people who do not want Terry executed.”

A statement attributed to District Attorney R. Seth Williams said that although the court denied an immediate review of Judge Sarmina’s ruling, the case would proceed as a normal appeal and the court would have time to examine the facts. The statement also said:

“I continue to believe that this defendant received an appropriate sentence and that his new claims are not true,”

It was described that Marc Draper, a co-defendant serving a life term for his part in the killing, testified that he had told the police and prosecutors the attack was caused by rage after years of abuse, but that officials were interested only in robbery as a motive.

Other details

Prior convictions and aggravating circumstances

At the time of Williams’s 1986 trial, he had already been convicted of murder and robbery in two separate cases. Those prior convictions were used as aggravating circumstances to secure the death sentence in the Norwood murder case.

References to age and prison status

Williams was described as an inmate now 46 in relation to October 3, 2012 reporting, and the case description stated he was scheduled to be executed on October 3, 2012.

Murder-related context described in narrative material

The Hamilton stabbing included an attempted attempt to set fire to the body after dousing it with kerosene.

The Norwood murder involved beating Norwood to death with a tire iron, hiding the body behind tombstones, and later returning to set the body on fire. Williams also stole cash and credit cards from the body and drove to Atlantic City with Draper and Ronald Rucker.