Four murder defendants managed to escape from Georgia State Prison on July 28, 1980 by dressing as corrections officers. One of them was Troy Leon Gregg, an alleged double murderer whose legal case had established the foundation for contemporary death penalty jurisprudence and become a landmark for the US Supreme Court.
Despite their successful escape, Gregg’s freedom was short-lived. The details of what transpired that evening vary, but one thing is certain: Gregg’s body was discovered in a nearby lake, battered and floating.
The night he was freed from death row, he was murdered.
The Crime That Put Troy Leon Gregg At The Center Of A Landmark Supreme Court Case
The story of Gregg’s trial and escape is now inextricably linked to the law governing the death penalty in the United States, but if it weren’t for the Supreme Court decision that condemned him, his name might have been forgotten by history.
On November 21, 1973, 25-year-old Troy Leon Gregg and his traveling companion, 16-year-old Floyd Allen, were hitchhiking north in Florida when they were picked up by two men by the names of Fred Simmons and Bob Moore.
According to court records, the car broke down somewhere along the way. Fortunately, Simmons had enough money on him to buy a second car, and the four travelers continued their journey, eventually picking up Dennis Weaver as a third hitchhiker.
Weaver had been traveling with the others during the day, but as they were passing through Atlanta at around 11 p.m., he requested to be dropped off. Simmons and Moore, however, continued on with Gregg and Allen until the group of four ultimately decided to stop for a break somewhere along the highway.
Simmons became aggressive during their stop, according to testimony given by Gregg later.
Gregg claimed that Fred “hit me on the left jaw and knocked me in the drainage ditch.” I don’t know what he had in his hand; it might have been a knife or a pipe, but when he came at me the second time, I shot him. He hit me the second time and sent me flying back into the drainage ditch.
Allen’s account of the events suggests that Gregg never felt like he was in danger, despite Gregg’s attempts to claim the shootings were carried out in self-defense.
In accordance with Allen’s testimony, Gregg turned to him and reportedly said, “Get out, we’re going to rob them.”
Gregg shot Simmons and Moore three times; as a result, both men were knocked into a nearby drainage ditch. Gregg approached the two men while Allen watched, shot a single shot into each of their heads, and then took whatever was in their pockets. Allen was then instructed to board the vehicle, and they departed.
The following morning, Simmons and Moore’s bodies were discovered in the ditch, and a local newspaper reported their death the following day. Weaver grabbed a piece of paper and headed to the police after spotting the two men. He provided a description of the vehicle and information about his traveling companions, Gregg and Allen, who were found in it the following day.
Additionally, Gregg still possessed the.25 caliber firearm he had used to murder Simmons and Moore as well as bullets that were identical to those discovered in the ditch.
Additionally, Gregg instructed Allen in a letter from solitary confinement what to say in his testimony.
Ultimately, Troy Leon Gregg was accused of both armed robbery and murder, and he was found guilty of both crimes.
Gregg’s trial also took place soon after Furman v. Georgia, a significant decision that raised the issue of whether the death penalty qualified as cruel and unusual punishment. The 1972 case invalidated all then-current death penalty laws, obliging states to enact new ones.
Gregg’s case is noteworthy for this reason: Troy Leon Gregg was found guilty and given the death penalty, which forever altered how the death penalty would be applied in American law.
Gregg v. Georgia: The Supreme Court Case That Restored the Death Penalty.
Following the Furman decision, states started to change their death penalty laws. Many chose to completely abolish the death penalty, while others mandated it as a punishment for murder.
According to The Marshall Project, Georgia just so happened to decide that it could be applied if a jury discovered “aggravating” factors. Georgia would also guarantee appellate review of all death sentences and divide capital trials into phases to determine guilt or innocence prior to sentencing.
Before convicting Gregg, the jury was asked three questions: Did Gregg commit the murders while also committing another capital felony? Did he murder the victims with the intent to steal their money and car? Did the murder involve torture, mental depravity, or an aggravated battery to the victim? Was it outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible, or inhuman?”
The jury quickly decided that the first two requirements had been satisfied because it appeared Gregg had intended to commit an armed robbery. But the third factor required some more explanation.
Gregg basically proved that Georgia’s method was sufficient to establish non-arbitrariness and that the death penalty satisfied the Constitution when it was not influenced by arbitrary factors. The decision contributed to securing the trial’s now-familiar progression from the guilt or innocence phase to the phases. All death sentences will also be subject to appellate review.
Troy Leon Gregg was the first person whose death sentence was upheld by the United States on July 2, 1976. He also took part in the first successful escape from a Georgia death row. Supreme Court following the Furman ruling.
The Prison Break of Troy Leon Gregg and His Death Right After
Troy Leon Gregg attempted to avoid death on July 28, 1980, nearly seven years after he killed Bob Moore and Fred Simmons.
Gregg and three other murderers were being held at Georgia State Prison, awaiting their execution, when they created a plan to escape, according to a report in True Crime Magazine.
They were able to saw through the bars of their cells and a window in a workout room of the building. Once they arrived at a fire escape, they shimmied along the ledge outside.
Gregg and his fellow escapees also changed their pajamas to resemble corrections officer uniforms. They were apparently convincing enough that when real corrections officers stopped them, they let the escaping criminals go because they thought they were coworkers performing “security checks.”
However, different accounts exist for what transpired after the escape. According to some accounts, Gregg complained to an Albany Herald reporter about “inhumane conditions” just hours after his escape, and the reporter immediately informed the prison authorities.
Others claim that Gregg wrote to his wife about the escape and that when he told the other escapees, they became so furious that they beat him to death and dumped his body in the lake. And according to other tales, the fugitives got into a fight while intoxicated.
Whichever version of events is accurate, Gregg’s body is always discovered in a lake with signs of a fight and bruises on it.
Troy Leon Gregg may have escaped death row, but it seems he could not escape death.
24-year-old burglar beaten by retired boxer victim
A 24-year-old knife-wielding burglar attempted to get into the home of a 72-year-old senior in Oxford, England, in 2009, but was left battered, bruised, and pinned to the ground. Frank Corti, the elderly, turned out to be a former boxing champion.
Beyoncé and Jay-Z's Hospital Security Blocked NICU Access for Father of Premature Twins
A father was denied access to see his premature twins in the NICU when Beyonce and Jay-Z had their daughter at the same time.
Smart guy brings life-sized cutout of his late mother to his graduation
Even though that his mother passed away in 2016, a young man had a clever idea to make a life-size cutout of her and bring it to the event so that she could attend his graduation ceremony.
A man who has been suffering from headaches for nearly six months discovers chopsticks lodged in his brain
When it was discovered that a Vietnamese man with headaches and vision problems had chopsticks lodged in his brain, the doctors were almost as surprised as the man himself.
Estonians save a wolf from the ice by mistaking it for a dog
Two young construction workers in Estonia discovered what they thought was a dog caught in a frozen lake. They carried it to their car and brought him to an animal shelter, not realizing it was a wolf.
A Pilot Survived 20 Minutes Outside A Flying Jet
In 1990, the captain of flight 5390 Timothy Lancaster got sucked out of his own plane when the window of the plane fell off. The crew held the captain’s leg for 30 minutes while the plane performed emergency landing. Everyone survived.
Man uses first-class ticket to eat for free at airport's VIP lounge for almost a year
A Chinese man purchased a First Class Ticket, which included admission to a VIP Lounge with free food. Over the course of a year, he rescheduled over 300 times in order to receive over 300 free dinners. When questioned, it was discovered that he is rescheduling his reservation to another date after eating. He eventually cancelled the ticket and got a full refund.
'Press Your Luck' Was Hacked in 1984 by an Ice Cream Man
in 1984 an contestant made it onto the game show Press Your Luck. He discovered using his stop-motion VCR that the presumed random patterns of the game board were not random and memorized the sequences. On the game he was on, he won 45 consecutive spins. winning $110,237 in cash & prizes.
Unique Dining table with a hole for your cat to peek and join you dinner.
Dinos, a Japanese internet shop, has launched a new range of cat furniture, which includes this oak table with a hole in the middle and a perch underneath. It places your cat companion in the center of the table, making your cat the main focus of your meal, as it should be, because cats are the true proprietors of “your” home.
A story of a man Survived Inside Sunken Ship For Three Days
A man survived a sunken ship for nearly three days, 279 feet underwater and in complete darkness, while listening to fish eat the bodies of his shipmates.
How Magic Johnson Missed Out On $7 Billion Nike deal
Magic Johnson turned down a deal with Nike in 1979 that offered him 100,000 shares of stock and $1 for every pair of shoes sold. Instead, he chose Converse, which offered him $100,000 per year. Johnson lost about $5 billion by declining the Nike deal.
The accidentally discovery of Riace bronzes
Stefano Mariottini was snorkeling off the coast of Monasterace near Riace in 1972 when he noticed a human hand sticking out of the sand and called the police, thinking it was a corpse. It was actually two statues of "Warriors from Riace" - 5th century BC Greek bronze statues.
The Terrifying Mount St. Helens Eruption is Captured by the Robert Landsburg Photographs
Robert Landsburg, a photographer who upon realisation that he is going to die in the mount St. Helens eruption of 1980 lay down on top if his equipment to preserve the photographs he had taken of the events. Landsburg‘s body was found 17 days later, buried in ash with his film intact.
Frank Lentini, The Three-Legged Sideshow Performer
Francesco Lentini was a man with three legs, four feet, sixteen toes, and two sets of functional male genitals. He worked for the circus and lived to be 78 years old.
Before Hollywood, Christopher Walken Was a Teenage Lion Tamer with a Lioness Named Sheba
Before acting, Christopher Walken worked as a lion tamer in a circus at age 16. He performed with a lioness named Sheba and described the job as surprisingly calm—just another day before Hollywood stardom.
chand baori stepwell in Rajasthan India, Ancient cooling technique
This Chand Baori stepwell in Rajasthan, India is over 1200 years old. It’s called Chand Baori. The air at the bottom of the well is 5-6 degrees cooler than at the surface, so in addition to being a water source, it was used as a community gathering place where locals could escape the heat.
ILOVEYOU Virus, the worst computer virus of all time
The ILOVEYOU Virus, also known as Love Letter for You or Love Bug, had a high infection rate due to its ability to spread itself by copying entries from users' email address books. It is a virus that was created in 2000 by a college student in Manilla, Philippines, and was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the worst computer virus of all time, causing more damage than anything before it.
Kipekee, the world's only spotless giraffe, was born at Brights Zoo
The world's only spotless giraffe was born at a zoo in the United States. The giraffe born without spots on July 31 is the only one of her kind on Earth.
Abraham Crijnssen – The Ship That Disguised Itself As An Island
During World War II a Dutch minesweeper evaded the Japanese for eight days disguised as an island. The crew covered the decks in cut trees and painted exposed surfaces to look like rocks. They moved only at night and anchored closed to shore by day, eventually escaping to Australia.
Before "The Rock," There Was "Rocky Maivia"
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s first WWF persona was Rocky Maivia, a face (good guy). The audience rejected him due to his cheesy character, with chants of “Die, Rocky, die!”. After this, he became a heel (villain), referring to himself in the third person as “The Rock” and insulting the audience.
People are freaked out because they keep finding 'help me' messages under the cap of Sobe bottles
With their bottle caps that said, "Help me, I'm trapped in SoBe factory," SoBe Beverage discovered the hard way that forced labor is serious business. This is an example of when humor can be overdone.
Self-taught William Kamkwamba built a windmill for his town
A Malawian teenager who taught himself how to build a windmill out of junk and bring power to his village. He then went on to build a second, larger windmill to power irrigation pumps. He did this all from books he read in the library.
Woman had no idea she had an identical twin until she saw a 'lookalike' on YouTube
When Anais Bordier saw a YouTube video of Samantha Futerman, who looked exactly like her, she messaged her on Facebook and discovered they were both adopted and born on the same day. They were identical twins who had been separated at birth and had found each other by chance and on social media.
China Weather Control on 2008 Olympics with missile
One thing is certain: when it comes to ensuring nice weather for the world's largest party, the Chinese cannot be accused of being subtle. The Chinese government authorized the use of 1,104 cloud seeding missile launches from 4:00-11:39 p.m. on Friday night to reduce the possibility of rain ahead of the 29th Olympic opening ceremony in Beijing
Inspiring story of Emma Schols who Saved Her Six Kids From A Burning House
Emma Schols, a Swedish mother, saved all six of her children from a devastating house fire in 2019, running from room to room through flames while bleeding and losing skin. Against all odds, she survived with severe burns covering 90% of her body.
