ATLANTA, GA- An execution date for William Sallie has been set for December 6, 2016. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr offers the following information in the case against William Sallie for the 1990 murder of John Moore.

Scheduled Execution

William Sallie's direct appeal proceedings have been concluded. Accordingly, on November 17, 2016, the Superior Court of Bacon County issued an order setting a seven-day period of time during which the execution of William Sallie may take place. The period of time ordered by the Superior Court will last from noon, December 6, 2016 to noon on December 13, 2016. The execution has been set for Tuesday evening, December 6, 2016.

Sallie’s Crime (March 29, 1990)

The Georgia Supreme Court summarized the facts of the case as follows:

The evidence presented at trial showed the following: William Sallie and his wife, Robin, separated in December 1989 and Robin sought a divorce. Sallie had been physically abusive to Robin during their marriage and his striking her with a belt had precipitated the separation. They had a two-year-old baby named Ryan. Robin and Ryan went to live with her parents, John and Linda Moore, in their rural house in Bacon County. Robin's seventeen-year-old sister, April, and her nine-year-old brother, Justin, also lived there. Shortly thereafter, under the pretense of seeing Ryan at the Moores’ house, Sallie abducted Ryan and went to Illinois, where he lived. However, an Illinois court awarded temporary custody of Ryan to Robin, and she returned with him to the Moores’ house in February 1990.

In March 1990, Sallie returned to Georgia and rented a mobile home in Liberty County using the name Bill Simons. Also in March, he had a friend purchase a nine millimeter pistol for him in Illinois. On March 28, 1990, Sallie dressed in green camouflage and went to the Moores’ house at night; he carried the pistol, a roll of duct tape, and four sets of handcuffs. At approximately 10:00 p.m., April was talking to her boyfriend when the phone line went dead. She did not think this was unusual and went to bed. It was later discovered that Sallie had ripped the wires from the phone box on the outside wall. At 12:45 a.m., after everyone inside was asleep, Sallie pried open the back door and entered the house. He went immediately to the master bedroom, flicked on the lights, and shot John and Linda Moore as they lay in bed. John was struck by six bullets, including two that damaged his heart. He tried to get out of bed, but he collapsed, fell on the floor, and died. Linda was shot in the thumb, the shoulder, and both thighs. Sallie then fled outside and reloaded. When Robin and April were in the master bedroom trying to help their parents, Sallie fired two more shots through the bedroom window, hitting no one. They doused the light and pleaded with Sallie to let them get help for their parents. April tried to leave the house to get help (the nearest neighbor was 1/4 of a mile away), but Sallie confronted her on the porch and told her to stay in the house or he would blow her head off. Sallie eventually re-entered the house and handcuffed Justin and Linda, who was still bleeding from her wounds, to each other and to a bed rail. He bound Robin and April to each other with handcuffs and duct tape, and he abducted them to his Liberty County mobile home where he raped them both. He left his two-year-old son in the master bedroom. After a few hours, Linda and Justin managed to extricate themselves from the bed rail and reach a neighbor, who summoned the police. Sallie released Robin and April in Bacon County the night of March 29 after asking them not to press charges. He was arrested shortly thereafter. The police found the murder weapon in his mobile home.

Sallie v. State, 276 Ga. 506, 506-507 (2003).

The Trial (2001-2002)

Sallie was indicted in the Superior Court of Bacon County, Georgia for malice murder, felony murder, burglary, aggravated assault, kidnapping with bodily injury (two counts) and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Sallie was originally convicted and sentenced to death on March 30, 1991; however, his convictions and death sentence were subsequently reversed by the Georgia Supreme Court who held that one of Sallie’s trial attorneys was laboring under a conflict of interest when he represented Sallie at trial while employed as the full-time law clerk for the Waycross Judicial Circuit. Sallie v. State, 269 Ga. 447-448(2) (1998). Sallie’s resentencing trial was conducted on February 16 to March 5, 2001. Sallie was convicted on all counts and resentenced to death. Thereafter, Sallie filed a motion for new trial, which was denied on June 17, 2002.

The Direct Appeal (2003)

The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Sallie’s convictions and death sentence on March 24, 2003. Sallie v. State, 276 Ga. 506 (2003). The United States Supreme Court denied Sallie’s request to appeal on October 6, 2003. Sallie v. Georgia, 540 U.S. 902 (2003), rehearing denied, Sallie v. Georgia, 540 U.S. 1086 (2003).

State Habeas Corpus Proceedings (2004-2011)

Sallie filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Superior Court of Butts County, Georgia on October 14, 2004. An evidentiary hearing was held on April 19-20, 2007. On June 29, 2009, the state habeas corpus court entered an order denying Sallie state habeas relief. The Georgia Supreme Court denied Sallie’s appeal on January 14, 2011.

Federal Habeas Corpus Proceedings (2011-2016)

Sallie filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia on February 28, 2011. On July 15, 2014, the district court dismissed Sallie’s federal habeas corpus petition as untimely. Thereafter, Sallie filed a request to appeal in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, which was denied September 29, 2014. Sallie filed a motion for reconsideration in the Eleventh Circuit, which was denied March 28, 2016. The United States Supreme Court denied Sallie’s request to appeal on November 14, 2016. Sallie v. Sellers, 2016 U.S. LEXIS 6849 (2016).