Jeremiah McCray

Little is known about McCray's life. Born in 1935 in Buchanan, Georgia, he was the son of black sharecroppers and supposedly had up to nineteen or twenty brothers. According to his own claims later on, he studied in school for about three years, but never learned to read or write. Eventually, he dropped out altogether and started working as an itinerant farm laborer, but would occasionally turn to thefts and burglaries if he desperately needed money.[1]

In early 1956, McCray was working on a farm in Talladega, Alabama, when he was approached by an acquaintance who claimed that he knew a place from where they could steal some cash.[2] Deciding to accompany him, the pair traveled to Anniston on February 27, where they broke into the home of 73-year-old Daisy F. Gilbert. Upon encountering her, the two men murdered her by beating her to death with sticks before stealing $80 and a pistol from the house and fleeing.[3] Gilbert's body was later discovered by her daughter-in-law, Ezmi Clifford, who immediately notified the authorities. A few days later, Gilbert's adopted son Kenneth, who worked at a Standard Oil plantation in Venezuela, went back to Alabama to accompany his wife, who was considered the prime suspect in the case.[4] Up until McCray's arrest, Ezmi was repeatedly called in for questioning by authorities and was regarded with suspicion by the locals, which greatly impacted her and her family's social life and led to friends and acquaintances severing ties with her.[5]

After Gilbert's murder, McCray is not known to have committed any further violent crimes until July 1, 1957, when he and another acquaintance broke into a small home in Washington Court House, Ohio, where they killed 86-year-old Sarah DeWitt.[n 1] Afterwards, the pair stole $250 and left.[3] McCray then celebrated Independence Day at his home in Alabama, and three days later, he traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, where he was hired to do some work for 79-year-old Carrie B. Hanbury. Upon arriving, McCray grabbed a shovel and beat to death her 53-year-old son, Robert, on the porch. He then entered into the house and proceeded to attack Carrie with a flashlight and a screwdriver, beating and stabbing her into unconsciousness. Believing she was dead, McCray stole $90, an electric and safety razor, and two men's shirts from the house before fleeing.[3] Robert's body was later found by a newspaper delivery boy, and after authorities searched the house, they located the still-unconscious Carrie inside. She was then driven to hospital and had her injuries treated for the next few weeks – in the end, she managed to survive, but was left physically disabled and mentally scarred from the attack.[6]

The next morning, Griffin's 14-year-old Jimmy found his mother's body and immediately notified the police. After interviewing several witnesses, the people residing in the same house as McCray said that he had apparently gone somewhere on the night of the murder, and when he returned, he had a new pair of pants similar to the one stolen from the Griffin household. Due to this, both he and Reager were arrested and charged with the crime, with the former being brought for interrogation at the police barracks in Richmond.[1]

During this interrogation, McCray shocked investigators by suddenly admitting to four other murders, including the Stevens murder of which he had previously been cleared.[10] While he did not provide an abundant amount of detail and refused to name the accomplices in the earlier slayings, the police eventually managed to connect him with the respective murders. Due to his modus operandi, McCray was investigated for possible additional crimes committed around the Atlanta area from 1955 to 1957, but no further accusations were leveled against him due to lack of evidence.[11]

While he was charged with murder in Virginia and Alabama, it was decided that McCray's first trial would take place in the former since he was already jailed there.[2] Per court procedure, he was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation at a hospital in Bowling Green, where he was to be examined by three court-appointed psychiatrists.[12] The results showed that while he was of low intelligence, McCray could differentiate between right from wrong, and was thus ruled sane to stand trial. At a preliminary hearing, he pleaded guilty but later changed his plea to not guilty, which meant that he would be tried before a jury.[13]

During the murder trial, the prosecution brought forward a dozen witnesses to testify about what had transpired on the day of Griffin's murder, including her own son and the family with which McCray lived. In addition, an overwhelming amount of evidence was presented against the defendant, ranging from the stolen clothing to his mysterious blood stains on McCray's shoes, shirt, and ear.[13] When placed under cross-examination, McCray admitted to physically assaulting and robbing Griffin but claimed that he did not rape her and was unsure whether he had actually killed her or not.[1] In the end, he was found unanimously guilty on all counts and sentenced to death. When asked if he had something to say, McCray simply replied that he hoped everyone was satisfied with the verdict. At that time, his court-appointed attorney claimed that he did not plan to pursue further appeals at the time.[14]

On April 10, 1958, McCray's plea for clemency was denied by Governor J. Lindsay Almond, setting his execution date for April 18.[15] On the aforementioned date, he was executed at the Virginia State Penitentiary's electric chair.[16] Two months later, Reager was convicted for rape for his role in the Griffin case and was sentenced to life imprisonment.[17]

• Capital punishment in Virginia
• List of serial killers in the United States