Man Murdered the Same Night He Escaped From Death Row

Troy Leon Gregg escaped from death row but could not escape death. He was beaten to death the same night he escaped from a Reidsville, Georgia prison with three other death row inmates.

Gregg rightfully earned a spot on death row after committing an armed robbery and double murder, killing a couple of guys who picked him and his friend up as they hitchhiked down the highway.

He became the first person whose death sentence the Supreme Court upheld after the 1976 Furman v. Georgia ruling, which reinstated the death penalty in U.S. prisons.

The Crime

On November 21, 1973, 25-year-old Troy Gregg and his 16-year-old friend, Flloyd Allen, were hitchhiking in Florida when Fred Simmons and Bob Moore picked them up. It’s unclear exactly what transpired during the ride, although it is known that at some point, the vehicle broke down.

Simmons purchased another vehicle with cash he took from his pocket and the four men carried forward with their journey. The men eventually picked up a third man named Dennis Weaver, who was dropped off in Atlanta later that evening.

According to Gregg’s version of events, Simmons became violent after dropping Weaver off in Atlanta. He said in court, “Fred hit me on the left jaw and knocked me in the drainage ditch.” This led to Gregg’s argument that he killed the men in self-defense. Unfortunately for Gregg, that story was the complete opposite of Allen’s version of events.

Allen testified that Gregg told him to get out, “We’re going to rob them.”

Gregg then fired three shots at the men, knocking them into a drainage ditch. Gregg walked up to the men, fired one shot into each of their heads, and grabbed the money and valuables from their pockets. The men stole Simmon’s vehicle and sped away.

Gregg, Allen Arrested

Simmons and Moore’s bodies were found in the lake the next day. When the story hit the newspapers, Weaver saw it and immediately recognized the men; he went to the police, providing a description of the car. Gregg and Allen were caught the following day. Gregg still possessed the handgun he used to shoot the men.

The men were taken into custody and charged with murder and armed robbery. Gregg wrote Allen a letter instructing him what to say during his trial.

Gregg and Allen were convicted on both charges. Gregg was sentenced to death, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court after the Furman v. Georgia ruling. He was slated to die by the electric chair on July 30, 1980.

Escape From Death Row

On July 28, 1980, Troy Leon Gregg and three other convicted murderers on death row escaped the prison by fashioning their prison uniforms to look like guard uniforms. The uniforms looked so real, that the men passed several security checks inside the prison. Inside the exercise room, the men sawed through the bars of their cells and a window in an exercise room, and then escaped, scaling the ledge until they reached a fire escape. One of the inmates' family members had a car waiting for them a short distance from the prison.

The exact events that transpired after the men escaped are unclear since there are a couple of different accounts. In each story, however, the ending was the same: Troy Leon Gregg was murdered shortly after he escaped death row.

Guards discovered the four death row inmates missing from the prison hours later after Gregg called the Albany Herald to complain about the “inhumane conditions” in the prison. The reporter Gregg spoke to reported the call to prison officials.

Inmate Escapee Charged With Murder

Police initially suspected one of the inmates Gregg escaped with had beaten him to death and then tossed his body in the lake where officials discovered it two days later. Timothy McCorquiodale escaped with Gregg that evening. He and a man named James Horne were charged with Gregg’s murder after their capture three days after the escape. Charges were later dismissed due to a lack of evidence.

Other accounts say a man at a biker bar beat Gregg to death and tossed his body into the Catawba River. The fight began after a heavily intoxicated Gregg harassed a bartender and became violent toward her when she rejected him. The unnamed man came to the woman's defense, beating Gregg to death.

Gregg’s official cause of death was determined to be suffocation caused by swelling. Gregg’s killer(s) remain unknown more than 40 years after his murder.

The escape marked the first time in Georgia history that an inmate had escaped from death row.