The Edwin Turner Story

Edwin Turner was born into a family suffering from mental illness. His grandmother and great-grandmother were both committed to mental hospitals on numerous occasions due to attempted suicides and other behaviors. Turner’s father did commit suicide, in what most consider an unusual way: he fired a shotgun into a shelf filled with dynamite. The explosion killed him.

Turner did not seem to suffer from mental illness until about age 15. His mother took him to the hospital several times when she described his behavior as “acting funny.” His grades began to drop, he could not sleep, and doctors said he suffered from depression.

Turner Attempts Suicide

At age 18, Turned attempted suicide by putting the barrel of a rifle in his mouth. He attempted to pull the trigger but the gun slipped, causing him to blow off part of his nose, jaw, and mouth. He began wrapping a towel around his face due to the disfigurement this left him with.

At age 23, Turner again attempted suicide, this time slitting his wrists.

His mental health declining, Turner spent the next several years in and out of mental hospitals. He sometimes functioned as a happy, normal member of society while at other times he would cry and criticize himself and every choice he ever made.

Turner & a Friend Decide to Commit Robbey

After an evening of drinking and smoking marijuana with his friend, Paul Stewart, the two men drove around town, eventually running off the road and getting tuck in a ditch. They got a ride home from a friend.

Back home, the two men were ready for something exciting. They were bored. The two men decided they’d commit a robbery to cure their boredom.

Armed with high-powered rifles, the men walked into a truck stop demanding cash. Stewart wore a hockey mask and Turner hid his face with the white towel he always wore around town to hide his face. Turner shot the store clerk, but he survived. The man attempted to steal money but could not open the cash register. They beat the machine and even shot the machine with the rifle to no avail. The man turned around and shot the store clerk a second time, killing him.

Second Robbey

The men drove to a second truck stop determined to get cash. This time, Stewart ordered the store clerk to remove the money from the register. Turner stayed behind in the parking lot, robbing a man who had pulled up to the truck stop to fill up his car with fuel. He stole the man’s money, then shot and killed him.

Turner and Stewart drove back home, tallied their earnings of about $400, and then went to sleep.

Police Catch up to Men

Police caught up to the men a short time later. Witnesses saw Turner wearing his signature towel around his face and being a small town, immediately knew that it was him at the robbery. Making matters worse, he also wore a jacket that read TURNER on the back.

Police found a hockey mask and both rifles used by Stewart and Turner during the robberies at the home. Stewart testified against Turner in court and witnesses also pointed him out as he sat in the courtroom wearing his signature towel.

Turner Executed; Stewart Sentenced

Turner was sentenced to death where he sat for 17-years before he was finally executed on February 8, 2012. Stewart was sentenced to life in prison without parole. After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to life without parole, he was resentenced to two life sentences. In 2019, a parole board voted unanimously to release Stewart.