Howard Willis

Background

Howard Willis was accused and later convicted in a capital murder case involving the killing of Adam Chrismer and Samantha Leming Chrismer, a newlywed teenage couple from Chickamauga, Georgia.

The offence

Willis was convicted in connection with the dismemberment killing of Adam Chrismer and Samantha Leming Chrismer. The boy’s head was found in Boone Lake in October 2002, and his severed hands were found nearby. Both teens’ bodies were found in a rented storage unit in Johnson City.

Prosecution evidence described that investigators believed Willis cut off Adam’s head and hands with a chainsaw and stuffed the bodies into large storage totes before storing them in a rented warehouse storage facility in Johnson City.

Investigation

Forensic evidence during the trial included autopsy findings and physical evidence from the storage unit and the Willis residence at 104 Brentwood Dr. A forensic process using flies and their larvae and pupae was presented as a method to determine a near-approximate time of death in bodies discovered without a known time of death.

Law enforcement testimony described:

• The presence of flies and larvae, and that a foul odor was detected at the Willis residence.
• The discovery of an extremely foul smell coming from storage unit X47, with larvae and maggots seen coming from under the door.
• Evidence handling and a chain of evidence involving recovery and transport of a chainsaw and other physical items.

Witnesses included individuals connected to discovering remains in Boone Lake, and other witnesses associated with the storage facility.

Arrest

Willis was in federal custody in Johnson City on charges stemming from an unrelated drug case. He was arrested on an Oct. 10 federal warrant after a federal drug violation.

Trial

The trial took place in Jonesborough, Tennessee, with Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood presiding. The jury in the capital case was a six-man, six-woman jury.

Willis was convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of:

• Adam Chrismer, 17
• Samantha Leming Chrismer, 16

The jury convicted Willis early Monday afternoon and sentenced him less than two hours later.

Willis represented himself in the death penalty case after the former judge ruled he had abused the judicial system because he did not cooperate with several court-appointed attorneys. Attorney Jim Bowman acted as Willis’s “elbow counsel.”

Evidence and testimony

Forensic and physical evidence included:

• Autopsy photos and graphic evidence presented during the trial and penalty phase.
• Photographs shown during the sentencing phase, described as so gruesome that one juror became physically ill, requiring a recess until the jury felt well enough to continue.
• Testimony that Samantha Chrismer was bound and gagged prior to her death and died later than Adam Chrismer.
• Testimony that Samantha’s cause of death involved two gunshot wounds to the back of the head, “execution style,” and that only fragments of one bullet were found in the body.
• Testimony that Adam’s cause of death was by a gunshot wound from under the throat towards the top of the skull.
• Testimony that markings on a body were consistent with body parts being removed via a chainsaw, and that bits of bone and clothing in the chainsaw blade were recovered in Bradley County.
• Testimony that fly pupae were found in the container with Adam Chrismer’s torso but not inside the container with his wife’s body, indicating Adam had been deceased for a longer period.

Recorded conversations and statements attributed to Willis were presented through testimony from Wilda Gadd, the former wife of Howard Willis. The jury heard Willis’s recorded statements including:

• “Yeah. I blew their brains out. (Portion omitted). I just pulled the trigger right then and there on them”
• “I don’t know Wilda, I just don’t know.”
• “No, not that I’m aware of.”
• “Adam and Samantha? Yeah, I blew their brains out.
• “He told me that he had cut Adam’s hands and head off and threw them in the river,” off DeVault Bridge, as described through Gadd’s testimony.
• “to get rid of it.”
• “If Bradley County had not falsified a bunch of (expletive) and had me arrested, it would have been over a long time ago,” followed by statements about wanting to record it and take it to the police.
• “I waive my statement, your Honor.”
• “I’ll let the record speak for itself, your Honor.”
• “Not necessarily. I didn’t premeditate it.”

Willis asked questions during cross-examination aimed at challenging aspects of expert testimony, including qualifications and methods for determining time of death through entomology. The judge instructed the jury that some questions were hypothetical and answers should be disregarded as part of decision-making.

Named evidentiary and procedural details

Assistant District Attorney Dennis Brooks presented aggravating factors in the penalty phase. District Attorney Tony Clark addressed the jury, including the following statements:

• “Howard Hawk Willis made a decision about human life, we are now asking you to make a decision concerning the life of another human being.”
• “Mr. Willis chose death, we are asking you to do the same.”

When the autopsy photos were discussed during sentencing, one juror became ill and Judge Jon Kerry Blackwood called for a recess.

Willis declined to submit mitigating circumstances in open court after being briefed by Judge Blackwood, stating:

Willis later submitted mitigating factors in writing. District Attorney Tony Clark took immediate exception, asking if the prosecution would have the opportunity to rebut the written circumstances. This caused the court to be held in further recess while the jury charge regarding the death penalty was re-written.

The jury heard that Willis had submitted he had no prior criminal activity when, according to testimony in the proceedings, he had been arrested and served time in the state of New York on a drug-related charge.

Sentencing

After the jury found Willis guilty, it sentenced him to death. The sentence was imposed less than two hours after the verdict, on June 21, 2010.

The state sought the death penalty. Willis could face the death penalty, life without parole, or life in prison as sentencing options.

The jurors found that the killings met all four mitigating circumstances for the death penalty.

Prosecution aggravating factors presented for Adam Chrismer included that the defendant knowingly mutilated the body of the victim after death.

For Samantha Leming Chrismer, the state assigned the following aggravating factors:

1. The murder was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel in that it involved torture or serious physical abuse beyond that necessary to produce death.
2. The murder was committed for the purpose of avoiding, interfering with or preventing the lawful arrest or prosecution of the defendant or another.
3. The murder was knowingly committed while the defendant had a substantial role in committing the first-degree murder of Adam Chrismer.
4. The murder was knowingly committed by the defendant while the defendant was knowingly committing the kidnapping of Samantha Chrismer.

Outcome

A jury sentenced Howard Willis to death for the murders of Chickamauga teenagers Adam and Samantha Chrismer on June 21, 2010.

Other details

• Adam Chrismer’s head was found in Boone Lake in October 2002; his severed hands were found nearby.
• Samantha Leming Chrismer’s and Adam Chrismer’s bodies were found in a rented storage unit in Johnson City.
• Willis’s ex-wife, Wilda Gadd, provided testimony about recorded jailhouse conversations.
• The trial included testimony from forensic witnesses and medical examiners, including Dr. Mona Stephens and Dr. Mark Koponen.
• During sentencing testimony, mothers of the victims took the stand. Teresa Chrismer testified about Adam Chrismer and her inability to hold down a job after learning of his death. Patty Leming testified about her sadness and fear of taking her own life.
• Willis continued to show no emotion during the penalty phase and was described as staring straight ahead or being in conference with his “elbow counsel,” Attorney Jim Bowman.