Jeffery Lynn Williams

Overview

Jeffery Lynn Williams was convicted of capital murder for killing Barbara Jackson Pullins during the course of a robbery in Houston, Texas, on Oct. 26, 1994. He was sentenced to death following a separate punishment hearing, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed his conviction and sentence.

The offence

Williams forced his way into the residence of Barbara Pullins at knifepoint. He raped and strangled Barbara Pullins with the cord of an iron she had been using.

After attacking Barbara Pullins, Williams entered the bedroom of her daughter and awakened her by strangling her with his hands. Nine-year-old Jamie Jackson was raped, beaten, and left to die.

Jamie Jackson told police and later testified that she discovered her mother’s lifeless body on the living room floor and then ran to her grandmother’s apartment nearby for help.

Investigators found evidence that Williams attempted to destroy evidence. The autopsy determined that Barbara Pullins died as a result of asphyxia due to strangulation. Medical examiners also discovered second- and third-degree burns to Barbara Pullins’s jaw, neck, upper torso, belly, arm, hand, thighs, and ankles. Examiners concluded that one burn appeared to have been caused by an iron, other burns were caused by a lit cigarette and by burning paper towels, and the burns appeared to have been inflicted after Pullins’ death.

Evidence indicated that Williams touched Barbara Pullins’s body repeatedly with a lighted cigarette to make sure she was dead, then tried to burn the corpse.

Williams stole Pullins’s car and other items before leaving the apartment. The car was found near Williams’s residence, and Pullins’s purse and keys, her television, and a video recorder were found inside his home.

Williams also attempted to suffocate the school bus driver by placing a plastic bag over her head, but the attempt was unsuccessful.

Williams told police that he forced his way inside with a knife, cut Pullins during a brief struggle, forced Pullins to disrobe, and tied her feet together with a phone cord. He described starting to rape the victim, stopping because he did not “get anything out of it,” and then “just went off,” placed a plastic bag over Pullins’ head, and strangled her to death with the cord from an iron. He stated that he burned her body and admitted to having strangled, raped, and injured nine-year-old Jamie.

Jamie Jackson told officers that the intruder stopped choking her and ordered her to take off her clothes, and when she told him she would not let him rape her, he struck her in the mouth. Jamie told officers that the intruder raped her and threatened: “If you tell anybody, I'll kill you.”

Investigation

After arriving at the scene, investigators began interviewing residents of the Pullins apartment complex.

Investigators located Patricia Allen, an acquaintance of Jeffery Lynn Williams. Allen related that earlier that evening Williams came to her apartment acting in a very unusual manner, pacing the floor for about 20 minutes, and then indicating that he was going to the store to buy cigarettes. Allen was able to direct police to an adjacent apartment complex where Williams lived. Police knocked on Williams’s door but did not receive an answer.

Police discovered that Pullins’s car was missing and soon located it parked in Williams’s apartment complex.

The following day, police received a Crime Stopper’s tip that Williams had committed the homicide. Police arranged a photo array in which Jamie Jackson identified a photograph of Williams as her attacker.

Police obtained fingerprints for comparison with the palm and thumb print found in Pullins’s apartment. Both prints matched Williams.

After Houston police obtained search and arrest warrants, investigators returned to Williams’s apartment and placed him under arrest. Investigators searched the residence and found stolen items including Pullins’s purse and keys, a jacket, telephone, VCR, television, and a pistol.

Williams was transported to the police station and gave a series of three videotaped statements. In his final statement, Williams said he had gone to Pullins’s apartment to steal some money but claimed he did not plan to kill her.

Police observed blood on the kitchen floor and in the kitchen sink, and a smoldering cigarette on the stove. Officers found burnt paper towels scattered around the room. Officers also collected an unidentified palm print and thumb print from the kitchen sink and the bedroom door.

Autopsy findings for Barbara Pullins included death by asphyxia due to strangulation, with second- and third-degree burns inflicted after death in an attempt to destroy evidence. Examiners also concluded that Pullins’s fingers had been burned to where one of the fingernails had become charred.

Arrest

Williams was arrested after police arranged for Jamie Jackson to view a photo array and after fingerprints taken from Pullins’s apartment matched Williams.

Trial

Procedural history

• March 9, 1995 — A grand jury indicted Williams in the 174th Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas, for the offense of capital murder. The indictment charged Williams with murdering Barbara Pullins during the course of a robbery.
• May 2, 1995 — A jury convicted Williams of capital murder.
• May 5, 1995 — Following a separate punishment hearing, Williams was sentenced to death.
• December 18, 1996 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Williams’ conviction and sentence.
• January 29, 1997 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied rehearing.
• March 3, 1998 — Williams filed an application for writ of habeas corpus with the trial court.
• November 3, 1999 — The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied habeas relief in an unpublished order.
• January 27, 2000 — Williams filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus with the United States District Court.
• April 5, 2001 — The federal district court denied Williams habeas relief and refused a certificate of appealability.
• January 4, 2002 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed the denial of federal habeas relief.
• February 12, 2002 — The state trial court signed an order setting Williams’s execution for Wednesday, June 26, 2002.
• March 30, 2002 — Williams filed a petition for writ of certiorari with the United States Supreme Court.
• June 10, 2002 — The United States Supreme Court denied Williams’s petition for writ of certiorari.

At trial, Jamie Jackson positively identified Williams as her attacker.

Sentencing

Williams received a death sentence, and the jury deliberated for 23 minutes before returning the death sentence.

Appeals

Williams pursued habeas corpus proceedings in state and federal court. The trial court and appellate courts denied habeas relief, and federal appeals were unsuccessful. The United States Supreme Court denied Williams’s petition for writ of certiorari.

Williams described his own claims, including ineffective assistance of counsel, alleging failures involving lesser included offenses and suppressed information, and asserted that his habeas corpus was denied.

Other details

Prior criminal history

During Williams’s state capital murder trial, the prosecution presented evidence of Williams’s lengthy criminal history, including:

• April 28, 1989 — At age 17, Williams was adjudicated as an adult for the first time. He pleaded guilty to auto theft based on an incident that occurred on March 31, 1989. He was placed on probation, ordered to pay a $400 fine, and ordered to spend 30 days in the Harris County Jail.
• June 12, 1989 — Williams and another man crashed a pair of stolen vehicles into a ditch. Sivco Volchev saw the two men emerge and initially tried to ask if they needed help. Volchev realized the cars were stolen, told a neighbor to call police, and set out in his own car to find the two men. When Volchev pulled up next to Williams, Williams pulled a gun on him and Volchev sped away. Williams fired a shot that struck and flattened his rear tire.
• June 30, 1989 — Williams pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and theft of a motor vehicle based on the Volchev incident. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in the Texas Department of Corrections on each offense to be served concurrently. His prior probation from his April 1989 conviction was revoked, and he was sentenced to four years confinement.
• January 30, 1990 — Williams was paroled from the Texas Department of Corrections.
• June 27, 1990 — Williams pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of a motor vehicle committed on April 27, 1990. He was sentenced to 10 years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections.
• April 26, 1991 — Williams was paroled from the Texas Department of Corrections.
• July 15, 1991 — Williams pleaded guilty to auto theft committed on June 22, 1991. He was sentenced to 25 years confinement in the Texas Department of Corrections.
• March 11, 1994 — Williams was paroled from the Texas Department of Corrections.

Williams had four prior convictions since 1989 for auto theft, and one prior conviction for aggravated assault for shooting a man who tried to chase him after a theft.

Williams was paroled from prison seven months before the murder.

Barbara Pullins and Jamie Jackson

Barbara Pullins was found dead on her living room floor after police arrived at the apartment. Jamie Jackson was nine years old.

Pullins was found wearing only a pair of panties, and her feet had been bound together by a telephone cord.

Jamie Jackson was unable to awaken her mother, and after running to her grandmother’s apartment nearby, police were summoned.

Videotaped statements and confession

Williams gave a series of three videotaped statements. In his final statement, Williams indicated he forced his way inside with a knife and cut Pullins during a brief struggle, forced Pullins to disrobe, tied her feet together with a phone cord, and began to rape the victim before he claimed he did not “get anything out of it.” He then described strangling Pullins to death with the cord from an iron after placing a plastic bag over Pullins’ head, and then burning her body.

Williams admitted to having strangled, raped, and injured nine-year-old Jamie.

Outcome

Williams was executed by lethal injection in Texas on June 26, 2002.

Last meal and last words

Williams’s final meal consisted of six pieces of fried chicken, French fries, six rolls, Tin Roof ice cream, strawberry soda, and chocolate cake.

Williams recited: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

After completing the entire 23rd Psalm, Williams said: “Amen.”

Williams then said: “Lord, I thank you for all the good things you've given me. Bless my family.”

Execution proceedings and pronouncement

Williams was strapped to the death chamber gurney. His last statement began with “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” After completing the entire 23rd Psalm, he said “Amen,” which was echoed by his mother, aunt, uncle, and two friends who were on hand as personal witnesses. Williams was silent for a few moments as the dose of chemicals that ended his life was started, then said “Lord, I thank you for all the good things you've given me. Bless my family.”

Williams was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.

His mother was Veronica Green.

An account of the execution included that Williams gurgled and gasped before slipping into unconsciousness. Another account indicated his mother began sobbing as an unidentified family friend told Green: “He's with Jesus now,” and “He won't ever be isolated again.”