U.S. Supreme Court denies Stocking Strangler’s last-minute appeals

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied two eleventh hour appeals by condemned Columbus Stocking Strangler Carlton Gary, according to Georgia’s Attorney General’s office.

Sabrina D. Graham said the appeals were denied around 9:45 p.m. and the state of Georgia is moving forward with the execution.

Update:

Gary, 67, was scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

In 1986 he was convicted in three of the seven Columbus ritual serial killings that were dubbed the “Stocking Stranglings” because the killer usually strangled women with their stockings, knotting the hosiery to tighten his grip. He beat and raped each woman as she died, then left her body covered.

Gary contends that his innocence has been proven by the recent DNA testing results and other evidence, including a footprint at one of the crime scenes and a bite mark on one of the victims, according to the news release from the state Supreme Court.

He has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to stay his execution while the U.S. Supreme Court considers his claims But with today’s order, the Georgia Supreme Court has dismissed Gary’s motion for a stay of execution. The high court has determined that procedurally, Gary should have brought an application for a discretionary appeal to the Court. Instead, he brought what is deemed an “original motion” – one that originates in this Court rather than coming to this Court as an appeal of a decision by a lower court.

“We conclude that Gary has failed to show why this Court must exercise its original jurisdiction in his case, something that this Court will do only in ‘extremely rare’ cases, which this case is not because the relevant recent decision in the trial court could be raised before this Court through an application for discretionary appeal,” today’s order says.

About a dozen protesters have gathered outside of the prison. They are part of a group called Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Mary Catherine Johnson of Atlanta said the group gathers for every execution.

“We would be here no matter who it is,” she said. “We are opposed to all executions.”

The execution was scheduled to start at 7 p.m., but the prison spokespeople have not given an official word on the status.

He was convicted in these three murders:

• The Oct. 21, 1977, rape and strangling of Florence Scheible, 89, in her 1941 Dimon St. home. Gary’s right thumbprint was found on a door frame leading into Scheible’s bedroom.

• The Oct. 25, 1977, rape and strangling of Martha Thurmond, 70, in her 2614 Marion St. home. Police said Gary’s fingerprint was found on the frame of a rear bedroom window.

• The Dec. 28, 1977, rape and strangling of Kathleen Woodruff, 74, in her 1811 Buena Vista Road home, which since has been demolished. Gary’s fingerprints were found on a rear window.

Convicted and sentenced to death in August 1986, Gary’s appeals went on for 30 years through state and federal courts, as his defense attorneys found exculpatory evidence not presented at his trial.

Failing to win him a new trial last year after a series of hearings before Superior Court Judge Frank Jordan Jr., the defense in the end argued Gary should not be executed because the evidence casting doubt on his guilt meant Georgia could be killing an innocent man.

Jordan ruled such evidence was not sufficiently “material” to have altered the outcome. The Georgia Supreme Court upheld his decision.

This story was originally published March 15, 2018 at 10:00 PM with the headline "U.S. Supreme Court denies Stocking Strangler’s last-minute appeals."