Kilgore v. State

In the early morning of July 8, 1981, the victim, Mr. Norman, was traveling south on Interstate 59 to his home in Alabama. While driving he was shot in the head and killed. At trial, the state introduced evidence of a conspiracy to kill Mr. Norman. In particular, the state introduced evidence of three different attempts on Mr. Norman’s life. For the first attempt, David Oldaker (Oldaker) testified that on February 6, 1981, Greg Benton (Benton) asked Oldaker to travel to Mr. Norman’s home to kill him. Benton told Oldaker that he was hired by a man name Tom who lived in Soddy-Daisy Tennessee and sold pharmaceuticals. Oldaker and Benton were unsuccessful in their attempt to kill Norman. As to the second attempt, Ed Williams (Williams), an employee of a truck stop located off the interstate testified that on the evening of June 8, 1981, he witnessed two cars traveling close together over a bridge on the interstate. Williams testified that he heard sounds like a car backfiring and later, that Mr. Norman’s vehicle pulled into the truck stop while the other vehicle continued on the interstate. Williams testified that Mr. Norman had been shot in the back. Further, Sheriff Steele of Dade County testified that Mr. Norman told him that the perpetrator had been driving a 1962 or 1963 rambler with Tennessee plates. Constance Chambers (Chambers), the Defendant’s ex-girlfriend, testified that she allowed the Defendant and Lee Berry to use her 1964 Rambler, with Tennessee plates. Chambers testified that the day after she allowed the two men to use her car, the Defendant returned and told her that they had killed a man near Trenton, Georgia. Chambers testified that the Defendant later received a call from Tom Carden (Carden), during which she heard the Defendant say “apparently we didn’t get him.” Chambers also testified that on June 15, 1981, the Defendant received a phone call from Carden, during which the Defendant told Carden that more money and another man was needed to complete the job. Chambers testified that she drove with the Defendant to Carden’s trailer where the Defendant took $15,000 from Carden’s mailbox. Chambers testified that she later spent time in Florida with the Defendant and that the Defendant told her that he had killed a man.