George Kent Wallace

Case record: George Kent Wallace

Background

George Kent Wallace was executed by the state of Oklahoma by lethal injection on August 10, 2000. He was pronounced dead at 9:27pm.

Wallace had been convicted of abducting and murdering two teenage boys and dumping their bodies in Oklahoma. He was also questioned regarding other bodies previously found in a pond in Oklahoma. While in prison, Wallace confessed to two murders in North Carolina.

On December 10, 1990, George Wallace, then age 50, from Fort Smith, Arkansas, was arrested. Police reports indicated that Ross Allen Ferguson had been picked up in a grocery store parking lot in Van Buren, Arkansas, by a man who posed as a police officer. Ferguson was then taken to a pond east of Greenwood. Ferguson fled his kidnapper after being stabbed at least six times, and he reached a home where residents called the police.

Wallace spent more than 3 decades using the authority of phony badges to pick up unsuspecting teenage boys, who he would then beat with paddles and later kill in at least 4 cases. Wallace posed as a police officer in order to abduct his victims.

Wallace had moved to Fort Smith in 1986 and lived in North Carolina before then.

The offence

Wallace’s guilty pleas culminated a string of assaults against teenage boys.

Murder of William Von Eric Domer (first-degree murder)

Wallace pled guilty to murder in the first degree in LeFlore County cases CRF-91-1. As a factual basis for the Domer murder, Wallace told the court:

"Basically, I picked the boy up, took him out to a secluded area, beat him, and then shot him."

Wallace accomplished this on February 17, 1987, by posing as a police officer and picking up the 15-year-old Domer in Arkansas, handcuffing and shackling him, and transporting him across the state line to Leard Pond near Pocola in LeFlore County, Oklahoma. At the pond, he pulled down the boy’s pants and underwear and began beating him with a paddle. When Domer resisted, he pulled up the boy’s pants, got him out of the car, walked him to a nearby cemetery, and shot him twice in the back with a .25 caliber semiautomatic pistol. He then put the body in the pond.

Domer’s body had been discovered Feb. 22, 1987, in a pond near Pocola in LeFlore County. Domer had been kidnapped a few miles away in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on Feb. 17.

At sentencing, Wallace was sentenced to die by lethal injection on each count.

Murder of Mark Anthony McLaughlin (first-degree murder)

Wallace pled guilty to murder in the first degree in LeFlore County cases CRF-91-2. As a factual basis for the McLaughlin murder, Wallace told the court:

"Impersonating an officer, I picked him up in Van Buren [Arkansas], shackled him, took him out to Leard Pond, beat him, shot him, and then put him in the pond."

The McLaughlin murder occurred November 11, 1990. Wallace had been in prison for a non-related offense in the interim.

Wallace first pulled down McLaughlin’s pants and underwear and beat him with a handle of a plunger used to unstop clogged drains and toilets. After the beating, he pulled up the 14-year-old boy’s pants, got him out of the car, walked him to the pond, and shot him once in the back with a .22 caliber pistol as they walked toward the pond. Wallace would have shot him again, but the gun jammed. After the beating, he pulled up McLaughlin’s pants, got him out of the car, walked him to the pond, and shot him once in the back with a .22 caliber pistol. He then removed the handcuffs and leg irons and threw McLaughlin’s body in the pond.

McLaughlin’s body was found the next day after he had been reported missing from Van Buren, Arkansas, earlier that day. In the mandatory sentence review opinion, McLaughlin’s murder occurred November 11, 1990, and his body was later found on that timeline. Another narrative in the record stated McLaughlin’s body was found Nov. 12, 1990, in the same pond near Pocola in LeFlore County, after he had been reported missing from Van Buren, Arkansas, earlier that day.

Investigation

Wallace was questioned regarding two bodies previously found in a pond in Oklahoma.

On December 20, 1990, the body of Alonzo Don Cade, 12, was found in a gas-well pit near Fort Chaffee. Cade had last been seen alive on November 24, 1990, at a Westark Community College basketball game. Wallace was questioned regarding Cade and regarding two bodies previously found in a Le Flore County pond.

Mark Anthony McLaughlin, 14, was last seen on November 11, 1990, at a Van Buren convenience store, and his body was found the next day. William Eric Domer, 15, was found on February 23, 1987. Wallace led authorities to a pasture near Seminole, Oklahoma, where a .22-caliber pistol was found after a three hour search. According to Le Flore County district attorney investigator Claudie Higgins, McLaughlin and Domer were shot in the back of the head with a small-caliber weapon.

Wallace was also questioned, but not charged, regarding the 1976 death of Jeffrey Lee Foster and the 1982 death of Thomas Stewart Reed, both occurred in Forsyth County, North Carolina.

Arrest

He was charged with the December 9, 1990, kidnapping and attempted murder of Ross Allen Ferguson.

Ferguson advised that he had been picked in a parking lot up by a man posing as a police officer. Ferguson was taken to a nearby pond and stabbed multiple times. He pretended to be dead, then jumped up, pushed down his attacker, jumped in the car and took off. Wallace was arrested later that night walking in the area of the abduction.

Ferguson identified him in a lineup.

Isidro Hernandez, 19, also reported that a man claiming to be a police officer tried to pick him up, but Hernandez said he "talked his way out of it."

Another kidnapping victim, James Branson, 18, told police that a man posing as a plainclothes officer picked him up and took him to the Le Flore County pond. Branson was shackled and handcuffed but was set free because of his persistent kicking and screaming.

Trial

Pleas and competency proceedings

Wallace waived extradition. A Le Flore County district judge, Michael Lee, entered an innocent plea for Wallace and set a competency hearing. The judge ordered a mental competency evaluation.

The report, from the Carl Albert Mental Health Center in Heavener, indicated that Wallace was able to "appreciate the nature of the charges… and rationally assist in the preparation of his defense." The judge ordered further psychiatric tests.

Doctors at Eastern State Hospital said that Wallace was competent to stand trial.

Wallace’s attorney, Jeff Smith, entered an innocent plea, but also advised the court that his client wanted to plead guilty. Wallace took the witness stand and told the judge:

he wanted to die as quickly as possible.

Sentencing hearing and aggravating circumstances

At a sentencing hearing on April 4, 1991, the trial court found three aggravating circumstances: Wallace had previously been convicted of a violent felony; the murders were especially heinous, atrocious or cruel; and Wallace posed a continuing threat to society. The trial court sentenced Wallace to die by lethal injection on each count after formal sentencing was delayed for a presentence investigation until April 12, 1991.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set Wallace’s execution for May 26, 1995. This execution was stayed by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Wallace to file a petition for the high court to review his case; the petition was denied on October 2, 1995. On October 29, 1995, the state Court of Criminal Appeals set Wallace’s execution for December 1, 1995. The state Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution on November 21, 1995, because Wallace changed his mind and wanted to appeal his convictions.

Sentencing

Wallace was sentenced to death by lethal injection on each count. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals conducted mandatory sentence review and affirmed the judgments and sentences.

Appeals

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

An opinion on mandatory sentence review affirmed.

The opinion stated that Wallace’s conviction in the murders of William Von Eric Domer and Mark Anthony McLaughlin culminated a decades-long string of brutal, sadistic assaults. The opinion addressed aggravating circumstances and mitigation.

The court considered whether Wallace could waive presentation of mitigating evidence and held he could. The opinion stated that:

"We therefore hold Appellant's decision not to present mitigating evidence did not deprive the State of its interests in seeing that his sentence was imposed in a constitutionally acceptable manner."

The court affirmed the death sentence for both murders after reweighing aggravating circumstances.

The opinion noted the trial court on July 29, 1991, Findings and Conclusions:

"has stated he wishes to waive all appeals other than the mandatory review of his sentence. He has not retracted those statements and this is his position even as of today."

The opinion set execution for May 26, 1995 and later described issuance of mandate and setting of execution date.

United States Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court stayed execution to allow Wallace to file a petition for high court review. The petition was denied on October 2, 1995.

Tenth Circuit

Wallace filed a federal habeas action in federal district court and again moved for discovery and evidentiary hearing. The district court denied all relief and denied a certificate of appealability. Wallace appealed to the Tenth Circuit. On September 10, 1999, the Tenth Circuit rejected his appeal.

The Tenth Circuit described that Wallace entered guilty pleas to two counts of first-degree murder and sought the death penalty, which the state trial court imposed. The court of appeals also described that Wallace argued:

1. that ADEPA application would be impermissibly retroactive,
2. due process rights were violated through use of the “clear and convincing” standard prohibited by Cooper v. Oklahoma,
3. his trial counsel was ineffective due to a conflict of interest and failure to investigate mitigating evidence.

The Tenth Circuit affirmed the district court’s judgment.

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals setting new execution date

On June 9, 2000, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set Wallace’s execution date for August 10.

Outcome

George Kent Wallace was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma on August 10, 2000.

Wallace was the 11th man executed by the state in that year and the 30th since Oklahoma resumed executions in 1990.

Aftermath

After being declared dead, the record included that one of the victims’ family members exulted. A woman’s voice from behind the darkened glass said:

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Wallace declined to offer last words and mouthed “I love you” to one of his witnesses.

A witness to the execution, Fr. Bryan Brooks, described the process and stated:

“It was,” said Brooks after a long silence, “a very difficult experience. There is nothing that I can compare it to. There was no question of his guilt, but the actual experience was very intense as well as disgusting.”

Brooks stated:

“It was particularly difficult,” said Brooks, “because the men killed were the same age as my nephew.”

Brooks also said:

“It took him three minutes to die,” Brooks said.

A victim witness coordinator, Alyson Carson, described the execution process as “Sterile” and stated:

"If we have a family that didn’t know the execution date, we do everything possible to let them know what is going on."

Carson also stated:

"Every time they hear the person’s name it brings them back to the crime."

A statement by appellate lawyer Janet Chesley said her client’s execution was “such a surreal thing,” and Chesley said:

“My soul is going to fly by and wave to you.”

Ross Alan Ferguson witnessed the execution. Ferguson said:

"It has been a long time coming," Ferguson said. "I'm here to honor Eric and Mark. That's why I'm here. "I want him executed for what he did to them -- not me."

Officials and witnesses attended the execution. Charlie Price, a spokesman for Attorney General Drew Edmondson, said:

"No, there are no appeals outstanding," Price said. "We don't see anything to stop this."

Wallace waived his right to a clemency hearing by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. The record stated that all petitions for clemency have been denied and that there had never been a vote in favor of clemency.

Family attendance included that 7 members of the families of Domer and McLaughlin were planning to attend, and the record later stated that 9 members of the two boys’ families attended the execution.

Other details

Case style and mandatory sentence review details

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals case was listed as: 1995 OK CR 19 893 P.2d 504, GEORGE KENT WALLACE, APPELLANT, v. THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA, APPELLEE. Case number C-91-309. The court decided: 03/27/1995. The appeal was from the District Court of LeFlore County; Ted A. Knight, Associate District Judge.

The opinion described that Wallace entered pleas of guilty to two charges of Murder in the First Degree in LeFlore County Cases No. CRF-91-1 and CRF-91-2 and the trial court found three aggravating circumstances.

Direct quotes from the competency evaluation report and judge-related findings

The mental competency evaluation report stated Wallace was able to "appreciate the nature of the charges… and rationally assist in the preparation of his defense."

The Tenth Circuit narrative included a competency hearing judge statement:

"the defendant is presumed to be competent for purposes of the allocation of the burden of proof, and the burden of going forward with the evidence. . . . I think that puts the burden on the defendant to go forward with the evidence."

Confession-related weapons

The record stated Wallace led authorities to a pasture where a .22-caliber pistol was found, later identified as the same gun used to shoot both McLaughlin and Domer in the back of the head. According to the confession, Wallace paddled both teenagers with a paddle during the abduction.

Oklahoma bond and charge information

Wallace was held on a $1.5 million bond after the December 9, 1990, kidnapping and attempted murder of Ross Allen Ferguson.

North Carolina killings

The record included that Wallace confessed to the 1976 murder of Jeffrey Lee Foster and the 1982 murder of Thomas Stewart Reed in North Carolina. Wallace was also questioned, but not charged, regarding those deaths.

Requested clemency hearing waiver and timing of federal proceedings

Wallace filed his application for Post-Conviction Relief on June 3, 1996. On June 19, 1996, the court issued an order granting additional time to comply with the rules of the court. Wallace filed his revised application on July 9, 1996.

On March 18, 1997, the court issued an Order Denying Post-Conviction Relief, Denying Request for Evidentiary Hearing and Discovery, and Denying Extension of Time to Amend. Wallace commenced a habeas action in federal district court and again moved for discovery and evidentiary hearing. The federal district court denied all relief and denied a certificate of appealability.

Appeal timeline items with real dates

• On March 27, 1995, the state Court of Criminal Appeals set Wallace’s execution for May 26, 1995.
• On October 2, 1995, the petition was denied.
• On November 21, 1995, the state Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution.
• On June 3, 1996, Wallace filed his application for Post-Conviction Relief.
• On June 19, 1996, the court issued an order granting additional time.
• On July 9, 1996, Wallace filed his revised application.
• On March 18, 1997, the court issued an order denying Post-Conviction Relief.
• On September 10, 1999, the Tenth Circuit rejected Wallace’s appeal.
• On August 10, 2000, Wallace was executed by lethal injection.

Timeline

• December 9, 1990 — Wallace was charged with the kidnapping and attempted murder of Ross Allen Ferguson
• December 10, 1990 — George Wallace, age 50, was arrested in Fort Smith, Arkansas
• December 20, 1990 — The body of Alonzo Don Cade, 12, was found in a gas-well pit near Fort Chaffee
• February 17, 1987 — Wallace posed as a police officer and picked up William Von Eric Domer in Arkansas; Domer was taken across the state line and later shot
• November 11, 1990 — Wallace murdered Mark Anthony McLaughlin, 14
• February 23, 1987 — William Eric Domer, 15, was found
• February 22, 1987 — Domer’s body was discovered in a pond near Pocola in LeFlore County
• February 13, 1991 — Wallace waived preliminary hearing
• March 12, 1991 — Wallace pled guilty to both murders
• April 4, 1991 — The court found three aggravating circumstances at a sentencing hearing
• April 12, 1991 — Wallace was sentenced to die by lethal injection on each count
• May 26, 1995 — An execution date for Wallace was set by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
• October 2, 1995 — Wallace’s petition was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court
• December 1, 1995 — Another execution date for Wallace was set by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
• November 21, 1995 — A stay of execution was granted because Wallace changed his mind and wanted to appeal his convictions
• June 3, 1996 — Wallace filed his application for Post-Conviction Relief
• July 9, 1996 — Wallace filed his revised application for Post-Conviction Relief
• March 18, 1997 — Post-Conviction Relief and discovery and an evidentiary hearing were denied
• September 10, 1999 — The Tenth Circuit rejected Wallace’s appeal
• June 9, 2000 — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set Wallace’s execution date for August 10
• August 10, 2000 — Wallace was executed by lethal injection in Oklahoma; he was pronounced dead at 9:27pm