Nicholas Lee Ingram (20 November 1963 – 7 April 1995) was a dual British and American national, executed for murder in 1995 at the age of 31 by the US state of Georgia, using the electric chair. He was born in Britain, but had an American father. The British Prime Minister, John Major, declined to intervene and attempt to get him reprieved. He had been imprisoned since 1983 for the murder of J.C. Sawyer, a 55-year-old retired military veteran, and injuring his wife Mary Eunice Sawyer, during a robbery. The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, was one of many who campaigned unsuccessfully for clemency. The case received widespread media coverage in the United Kingdom.[1][2]
Nicholas Ingram | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nicholas Lee Ingram 20 November 1963 |
| Died | 7 April 1995 (aged 31) Jackson, Georgia, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Execution by electrocution |
| Citizenship | Dual British/American |
Early life
editIngram was born in England to a British mother, Ann, and an American father, Johnny Ingram.[3][1][4][5] One year after Ingram's birth, his family relocated to the U.S. state of Georgia.[2]
Murder of J.C. Sawyer
editOn June 3, 1983, 19-year-old Ingram sold car wheels and a ring at a pawn shop while accompanied by a friend. Afterwards, he and his friend retrieved a .38 caliber revolver from his father's house; Ingram told his friend he knew where he could get a vehicle that he would then use to go to California. At approximately 6:30 pm, Ingram's friend drove him to a house in Marietta, Georgia, in Cobb County. Ingram told his friend to wait in the car; before leaving, Ingram stated that he intended to pistol-whip the people in the house, although he was not sure he would be able to kill them. Plummer decided not to wait for Ingram and drove home instead.[3][6]
At approximately 6:30 pm, Ingram entered the Cobb County home of J.C. and Mary Sawyer, demanding that they let him use their phone and later demanding money and the keys to the couple's car, threatening to shoot them if they did not cooperate with him. Mary Sawyer gave Ingram $60, while J.C. Sawyer surrendered the keys to his pickup truck. Ingram then led the couple outside and into the woods surrounding their home. He tied their hands behind them and bound them to a tree using rope and wire. The Sawyers begged Ingram not to kill them while Ingram taunted and threatened them; he ultimately gagged them with his shirt after tearing it in two and stuffing each half into each victim's mouth. He then shot them both in the head at point-blank range. The shots were fatal to J.C. Sawyer, but Mrs. Sawyer survived. She played dead until she heard Ingram drive off with J.C. Sawyer's truck. After confirming that her husband was dead, Mary Sawyer untied herself and went to a neighbor's house to call the police.[6]
Apprehension
editWitnesses observed Ingram at a convenience store later that night, driving a pickup truck matching the description of J.C. Sawyer's pickup truck. Three days later, authorities recovered the pickup truck on the side of Interstate 20 in Mississippi; authorities found a receipt from a motel in Lincoln, Alabama, dated June 3, 1983. Investigators retrieved the motel's portion of the receipt, which had Ingram's handwriting on it, therefore connecting him to the theft of the pickup truck.[6]
Ingram somehow made his way to California, where he stole another car. Afterwards, he fled to Nebraska, where he was arrested for driving under the influence. Police questioned him about one of the stolen automobiles. Ingram then told police that he was wanted for two murders in Georgia; Nebraska authorities contacted Georgia authorities afterwards and extradited Ingram to Georgia for questioning there. Ingram then gave a partial confession to the murders, stating that he remembered his friend driving him to the Sawyers' residence, finding his friend gone, and taking a pickup truck, but that he woke up the next morning in a parking lot in Alabama; he insisted that he had blacked out from drinking too much and that he could not remember a robbery or murder.[6]
Murder conviction
editIngram was convicted of killing J. C. Sawyer, 55, a retired military veteran.[3][5]
Controversy
editIn seeking to halt the execution, Ingram's lawyers argued that they had only recently learned that their client had been heavily drugged and medicated by prison officials before his 1983 trial and therefore was not aware enough of the proceedings to show a contrition that might have influenced jurors not to recommend the death penalty. Ingram's appeal lawyers argued that he was given an anti-psychotic drug during his trial that made him appear to be unemotional and remorseless. They also argued that his lawyer in that trial was not told of a diagnosis that Ingram had psychiatric problems, a diagnosis that might have altered the trying of the case. The Georgia Attorney General, Mike Bowers, countered that those issues had been addressed in previous appeals. The courts agreed. District Judge Horace Ward dismissed pleas by Ingram's lawyers for a new hearing to examine alleged new evidence that he was drugged at his trial in 1983 and unable to brief his defence lawyers.[1][3][4]
Attempts to seeking clemency
editIngram's case had been taken up by the British media, prompting a flood of pleas for clemency – including one from the Archbishop of Canterbury – to Georgia's governor at the time, Zell Miller.[1] Ingram's mother, Ann, and other relatives solicited and received statements appealing for clemency from 53 members of Parliament, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the president of the European Parliament and a number of human-rights groups. Mrs Ingram appealed for the intervention of Prime Minister John Major in a letter she delivered to him while he was visiting Washington. In a handwritten response, the Prime Minister replied: "I found your letter very moving and I can imagine the profound distress you must be feeling. But I have concluded, with deepest regret, that there are no proper grounds for the British Government to intervene with the State of Georgia."[3]
Execution
editThe day before Ingram's execution, his surviving victim, Mary Sawyer, was interviewed by WSB-TV. She voiced her support for Ingram's execution, stating, "[J.C. Sawyer and I] begged for mercy and were given none. He was the judge, jury and executioner – all in a manner of minutes. He certainly did not intend for me to live."[7]
In an "open letter to the British people" published in London newspapers, Ingram thanked those who had appealed on his behalf, adding: "If I die, I hope it is not for nothing. I hope people will see that a ritualistic killing in the electric chair solves nothing."[3] Ingram declined a final meal, but later ate some crackers and chips bought by relatives from a prison vending machine.[1][4]
According to Steve Boggan, Ann and Johnny Ingram last saw their son eight hours before his execution. Ingram's head was already shaved and he had worn a baseball cap to spare his parents the traumatic sight of his shaved head. Shortly after Ingram's execution, his father stated, "Well, he's dead now and they can't hurt him no more" [sic], while his mother said, "There's nothing to be said. It has happened and nothing's going to bring him back. Now we must pick up the pieces of our lives."[5]
Ingram's execution took place at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison in Jackson, Georgia.[5] There were two chaplains and officials from Georgia's prison service that were with him in the execution chamber when he died as well as six media representatives who went into the prison to view the execution.[1][4] Ingram's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, also witnessed his execution.[1] Witnesses said Ingram glared at them while guards strapped him into the electric chair. When the warden, Albert "Gerry" Thomas, asked Ingram if he had any last words, Ingram spat at him. When he was asked whether he wished to have a final prayer, some sources suggested Ingram replied, "Let's get on with it".[1][5] Other sources stated Ingram simply closed his eyes and did not mention Ingram speaking.[2] Ingram was pronounced dead at 9:15 p.m. according to Vicki Gavalas, the prison department spokeswoman for the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center where the execution took place.[3][1][5] He died in Georgia's electric chair, Old Sparky.[5]
See also
editGeneral:
- Tracy Housel - another British-American who was also executed by the state of Georgia
Execution:
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i Death Row Briton is executed. BBC (8 April 1995). Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ a b c "British-Born Killer Dies in Electric Chair". Ledger-Enquirer. 7 April 1995. pp. B2. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e f g Smothers, Ronald (8 April 1995). "British-American Is Executed in Georgia". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d Cornwell, Rupert (7 April 1995). "Ingram dies in electric chair". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 February 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cornwell, Rupert (8 April 1995). "Nicholas Ingram goes to the chair, hoping for something better in the next life". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Nicholas Lee INGRAM v. State, No. 41100". vLex. 12 December 1984. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ "Ingram Goes to His Death in Chair". Macon Telegraph. 7 April 1995. pp. 1A, 7A. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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