True Crime All The Time - Freddie Owens

Episode Date: September 30, 2024

Freddie Owens was convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk in 1997. Twenty-five years after his conviction, he was executed on September 20th, 2024, making him the first inmate executed in the state of South Carolina in thirteen years. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Freddie Owens. Freddie told his girlfriend that he wanted to go down in history for committing the most murders in Greenville, South Carolina, without getting caught. Thankfully, he never reached his goal, but unfortunately for 41-year-old Irene Graves, she happened to be working at a convenience store when Freddie came in to rob it.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello everyone and welcome to episode 403 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And with me as always is my partner in true crime, Mike Gibson. Gippey, how are you? Hey, I'm doing good. How about you? Doing very well. You and I just got done taping our Patreon episode, which when this comes out, we'll have gone out on Saturday night. Yeah. And a very interesting case on the murder of Miranda Fenner. It's a case that took almost 20 years to solve. And the way they solved it was fascinated. It was. So if you're on Patreon, check that out. If you're not, now's a great time to sign up. Get on over there.

We also have a brand new episode out on True Crime All the Time Unsolved where we're talking about the death of 19-year-old Kanika Jenkins. Kineka attended a party at a hotel in Illinois and was later found inside the hotel's freezer. And you know, you see things like that sometimes on. movies and, you know, different TV shows. We see people go into a freezer and get locked in there. And I think that would be scary.

Very scary. If you didn't have the way to get back out. But this is an interesting case because there are differing opinions. Absolutely. On whether her death was an accident, a murder, and we get into all of that. Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Abby Walker. Hey, Abby Texas Walker.

Ranger? Yes. Victoria S. Hey, Victoria. Lydia. What's happening, Lydia? P. Wilder. What's up?

P. Grandma Gigi. Uh-oh. Grandma. Uh-oh. Al-Qatib. Hey, Allah. Deborah Church Ward.

What's going on, Deborah? Michelle Pence. Hey, Pence. Deanna Winland. Well, thanks, Wineland. Devon Brown. Well, thank you, Devon. Or Devin.

Might be Devin. Or just D. D. Don MacArthur self. Hey, Don McArthur. Bart and Stephanie Smith. What's? going on, Bart and Stephanie. And last but not least, Deb Millie. Oh, good old Deb. And then if we go back

into the vault, this week, we selected Tia Javala. Hey, thanks, Tia. Yeah, appreciate all the support. We also had Gibbs, what I believe is the biggest PayPal donation we've ever received. And it came from Jill Peterson. Boom. Boom. Like Mike drop. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Amazing. So thank you, Jill. All right, buddy. Are you ready to get into this episode of true crime all the time? I am ready. We're talking about Freddie Owens. Freddie Owens was convicted of murdering a convenience store clerk in 1997. He was executed just earlier this month, making him the first inmate executed in the state of South Carolina in 13 years.

Wow. Yeah, long time. It is. Between executions. On November 1st, 1997, 41-year-old convenience, store clerk Irene Graves was fatally shot in Greenville, South Carolina. Irene was working at a Speedway convenience store on Lauren's Road in the early morning hours. The shooting occurred at 407 a.m.

Well, we got Speedway around here. Yeah, there's Speedway right down the street from my home. A security camera captured a fuzzy video of two armed masked men entering the store. They pointed their guns at Irene, and she gave them, $37.29 from the cash register. She was unable to open the safe and was shot in the head. Over $37. And it makes you, you know, sick to your stomach.

It does. To think about, you know, this woman being fatally shot. But then when you know these people got away with $37, man, I mean, that just makes it that much tougher. Now, I don't know what their safe system was like. But actually around this time, 1997, I was managing a bunch of gas stations. And the safes that we had were all kind of time delayed. Yeah.

So you couldn't just open them right away. You put in a request and it took some time to get what you wanted. And you didn't just open the safe. You got a roll of quarters or you got. some ones or you got some fives you know what I'm saying you just couldn't open up and take everything no no it didn't work that way and maybe that was part of the problem either she couldn't get the money fast enough or she couldn't open the safe at all like she had no access and they got frustrated and decided to shoot her another clerk was behind the store unloading a freezer when she heard gunshots

and found Irene's body. This clerk didn't witness the shooting, but did see two men run past her. Irene Graves was a single mother to three children. She had one son in college and two children living at home, who were just eight and ten years old. Irene was a devoted mother and worked three jobs to provide for her children. Wow.

She worked at the Speedway store, a local Kmart, and a buy-low grocery store. She was definitely trying to do what she could to take care of her kids. She was doing everything. I don't know how she could have done any more. Her family said she was often tired, but always smiled and joked with others.

And how could you not be tired? You're working three jobs. Yeah. And, you know, you're making meals. You're doing things for your kids. You got two kids that are eight and ten. They can't do everything for themselves. That's true.

So you're working three jobs, really you're working four jobs when you think about your mom. Yeah. Despite working so much, Irene made time to take her kids to dance lessons and cheer competitions. Her relatives warned her that she was working too hard. But she always said, I never wanted children to feel because they have a single parent. They were denied anything. Wow, that says a lot. So, I mean, this is superwoman mother of the year type.

I stop here. We always say parents will sacrifice a lot of things for their kids. This is a case where she's basically sacrificed everything for her kids. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, she was willing to do anything. That's what it sounded like. Friends recalled that Irene had been threatened by gunmen before, but she couldn't quit her job because she needed money to provide for her kids.

And I think I've told some stories over the years about my time, you know, working third shift when a manager called off at a gas station. You know, there are some scary things that happen when you're working alone at a gas station. I can't even imagine what pops up during those late nights. One time, a guy tried to rob me with a screwdriver. It didn't go well for him, but he tried to rob me with a screwdriver. He wasn't going to not make the effort, I guess.

Yeah, and the fact that there was bulletproof glass did not deter him. And the fact that I could lock the doors from inside the booth. So I just locked the doors and called the police and waited for them to show up. And just watch him stabbing the bulletproof class. Yes, there was nothing he could do. On November 11th, 1997, 19-year-old Freddie Eugene Owens, an 18-year-old Stephen Andrew Golden were jailed on charges of murder and armed robbery in connection with the murder of

Irene Graves. SWAT units arrested the young men at their respective homes without incident. According to the Greenville news, crime stoppers received the tip on November 10th, and informants gave the police information that secured the arrest warrant. These guys were just young men. Yeah, 18, 19 years old. Is it shocking that they probably were not able to keep this to themselves? Oh, yeah, not shocked at all.

But what is amazing is that someone had the courage to call it in because that doesn't always happen. No, it doesn't. A lot of these criminals talk to their friends about what they've done, but for whatever reason, the friends don't take them seriously and they end up not calling the police. But that didn't happen in this situation. But you think, you know, you'd have to be somewhat nervous about doing it because if they were willing to kill a clerk, What are they not willing to do? The Greenville News reported that an armed robbery charge

counted as an aggravating circumstance, which qualified Owens and Golden's cases for the death penalty. It was reported that Owens and Golden participated in a robbery spree from October 31st into the early hours of November 1st with two other young men. They were both charged with the October 31st armed robbery of prestige cleaners.

On South Pleasantburg Drive in Greenville, 22-year-old Nikio Vance and 19-year-old Luster Young were named on the armed robbery warrants in connection with the prestige cleaners robbery. Owens and Vance were also charged with arm robbery, carrying a pistol unlawfully and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime in connection with then October 16th robbery at the value lodge on Deval Drive. two men entered a man's hotel room, brandished a pistol, and stole a pager and a gold watch from him. I just trying to think what you could do with a pager back then. I remember having a pager back in the day. I know you had like five at the same time, strange. I'm just thinking if you took someone to pager, how would that benefit you?

I don't know. I'm assuming you could sell it and they could reset it maybe or something like that. But I think what you have here is a group of young men who were just out robbing anything and everything. Owens was also accused of shooting a man riding in the back of a truck on South Pleasantburg Drive on September 22nd. The driver stopped in the media and offered a ride to a pedestrian. The pedestrian pulled out a gun and shot into the truck. So random. Well, I just talked about, you know, a group of guys out. rob it. Now, what is this? I mean, this just sounds like violence for the sake of being violent.

It's almost like they're saying, we're do whatever we want to do. We're not worried. We're not scared. Finally, Owens was charged with shooting 31-year-old Thomas Davenport on September 29th in a parking lot behind a Lawrence Road business. Davenport was shot in the head but recovered. So no doubt, you know, this is a group that was out-committed. crimes, but you have to look at Owens, especially, as a guy who was out shooting people. Once in the commission of a robbery, it sounds like at least twice for no apparent reason. And clearly didn't seem to be concerned about the outcome. Yeah, but I just question how many of these types of individuals are. Because if you really deep down were concerned about the outcome,

would you do any of this in the first place? I mean, I'm not saying that it's laws or consequences that stop everyone from doing bad things, but I have to believe a lot more people would do or commit crimes if there were no consequences. True. It's just some people don't seem to either weigh them, think they're going to get caught or care one way or the other. Isn't that kind of like the principle behind the purge? There's no one day.

There's no consequences. Yeah. But for these people, it's like their whole life. Yeah. There's no consequences. Right. In March 1998, it was reported that prosecutors would seek the death penalty against Freddie Owens and Stephen Golden.

Their trial was scheduled for February 1999. On February 9th, 1999, Stephen Golden pleaded guilty to murder, criminal conspiracy, possession of a weapon in the commission of a violent crime, and three counts of armed robbery. His guilty plea occurred after two days of jury selection in their trial. He agreed to testify against Freddie Owens. Prosecutors promised to consider his testimony in his favor, but they didn't take the death penalty or even like. in prison off the table. So you get two days into jury selection and say, hmm, yeah, I think I'm going to plead guilty.

You're going to testify against your buddy, but you're not getting a lot. No, not a lot in return. They'll take it into account. You're not getting any guarantees at all. I'd feel pretty uneasy about all that. Well, he must have felt very uneasy about the case against him, is my thought. In opening arguments, solicitor, Bob, Rob Ariel told the jury that Freddie Owens, Stephen Golden, and two others went on an armed robbery spree on Halloween night, 1997.

They robbed prestige cleaners, then a Canoco hotspot convenience store. At 4 a.m., two robbers, Stephen Golden and Freddie Owens, entered the Speedway on Lauren's Road, where Irene Graves was working. The prosecution argued that Freddie was the shooter. the jury would see a tape from the security cameras and hear from two key witnesses, one who participated in the robbery and one who drove the getaway car. And it was said gives that in total, the four men took $700 from three stores during their crime spree. Just doesn't seem like it's enough money to make it worth your while. I hate saying it like that.

Well, again, back to consequences. $700 versus the death penalty or life in prison. I mean, if you want to play let's make a deal, that's a pretty easy game to play. Yeah, and when you think about the fact that they're probably splitting that 700 by four. Right. Not really taking home a lot of money there. No, it's just, it's so hard to comprehend how someone or a group of people can get together and say, yeah, this is a great idea.

This is what we should be doing. Defense attorney John Rollins argued that Freddie Owens was not responsible for the robbery and murder. He claimed Owens had an alibi and the evidence would show Stephen Golden was the real killer. Deputy James McNeely testified that minutes before the Speedway shooting, he was moonlighting at a hotel across the street and drank coffee with Irish. Irene Graves and a coworker. He warned them about a robbery earlier that night on Augusta Road. 20 minutes later, McNeely heard about the robbery at the Speedway store and drove across the street to find Irene lying in a back room surrounded by a pool of blood.

Freddie's mother, Dora Mason, testified that in November 1997, Freddie pulled her aside. While she was playing cards with her boyfriend, he said he was high on marijuana. And before he knew what was happening, he killed a woman. He cried and asked her not to hate him. Makes you wonder the mindset there. What was she thinking? Hearing this. That, but also, what was he thinking?

You know, are these real tears? Is this real sorrow? I get it. People do some strange things while they're high. I don't know how often marijuana makes people kill. Yeah, I have a hard. time visualizing the fact that marijuana was the driving factor for this for him now if he had said i was high on meth or you know crack or i don't know what some of the other drugs are that can make

you do some things bath salts or you know whatever it would sound more plausible yeah i'm thinking high on marijuana what would you do do you go to speedway and still a bunch of Doritos. Dritos and Cheetos and took them home, you know? According to Solicitor Bob Ariel, Dorah Mason gave a statement to police the day Freddie was arrested in connection with the murder. However, at trial, Dora denied giving that exact statement and said she couldn't read. She testified per the Greenville News.

I did not read it, period. I signed it. Defense attorney Carl Allen suggested deputy strong armed. Dora Mason into giving the statement. The words weren't hers, but were crafted by law enforcement. Look, I know in the past, and I don't know if they'd do it today, but in the past, you'd hear stories where somebody would come in and say, all right, tell me, tell me what you know. And they'd run by it, and another officer would come in, tell him what you just told me.

And they would tell the story again. And at the end of the day, somebody from the police department would go write it out as a statement for the individual and say, okay, we took what you said to us, wrote it out, just need you to sign it, saying that's what you told us. Now, if they read it or don't read it, I don't know, but that becomes an official statement. I thought you were going to say back in the day they were slamming people's heads off of desks and stuff to get them to talk. Potentially.

Because I think some of that happened as well. I think so too. Investigator Jeff Kinley testified that he went over the document with Dora, word for word. He asked her if she could read and she said yes, Dora signed the document twice and initial the change of her daughter's name, which led the prosecution to argue that she could read. So I think, you know, you have to figure this out.

Is, you know, this is a woman who really was coerced by police into giving a statement? Or did she give a statement? But now she's worried about her son. And regretting it. and regretting that she said what she said. Dora testified that Freddie did confess to a crime, but it wasn't murder.

He said he shot a man for making advances toward him. The jury watched a video that showed two masked men entering the store with handguns. Irene rushed open the register and then fell behind the counter after she was shot. Irene's co-worker Mary Boehner testified that she was outside getting eyes when she heard what, sounded like a water balloon popping. Two men ran past her. She entered the store, locked the doors,

and found Irene behind the register. Aisha Austin, Freddie Owens' girlfriend testified that he told her he robbed a store and shot a woman. He bragged that he wanted to go down in history for committing the most murders in Greenville without getting caught. Wow. This is something that he said when he was 19 years old. Well, he either said this to his girlfriend and, you know, had these thoughts of wanting to commit, you know, a whole slew of murders or she wasn't real happy with him and decided to stick it to him, one way or the other. Yeah. I think that's a big statement to make, even if you're upset with somebody. It's a big statement to make up. Yeah. For sure. I'm not saying that's what happened. But again, when you talk about, you talk about it. You're not saying, you talk. I'm not. You're not. You're not saying, about, you know, a jury or a judge having to determine someone's credibility. Well, you know, these are big things being said. Sure. Who's telling the truth and who's not?

Well, with a statement like that, if it is true and he didn't get caught, what would it happened? Well, I'm assuming he would have gone on shooting and killing people and racking up, you know, a significant body count. On the stand, Stephen Gold, admitted he. he changed his statement and lied under oath throughout the investigation, the defense questioned his credibility and accused him of being the shooter. Well, it's not too hard to question someone's credibility when they admit to lying under oath and they know that he was there. So does it make

sense that they're going to try to, you know, shift the blame to him as being the actual shooter? Why wouldn't they? You know, I mean, they're there to, to try to put reasonable doubt into the juror's heads, that's one way to do it. Stephen told the jury that he, Owens, and two others got into his grandmother's vehicle on Halloween night, 1997. They each carried handguns and wore dark clothing. He and Owens entered the Speedway store with their guns out. Owens went behind the counter and Golden stood in front of Irene Graves.

He prompted her to move with his gun. She opened the first cash register and Owens grabbed the money. Owens instructed her to open a safe below the counter, but Irene said it was Jan and told Owens to check for himself. When she couldn't open the safe, Owen said, oh well, and shot her in the head. Well, but now knowing that he just wanted to go around and kill people, okay, I guess this is what he's going to do. When I was originally thinking, man, what a terrible thing to do just because she couldn't

get the safe open. Right. So if you believe Stephen, if you believe Freddie's girlfriend, Aisha, he was out to kill people. Yeah. So maybe the I couldn't get the safe open wasn't the deciding factor. Maybe he was going to kill her either way. Yeah, regardless. Now, the identity of the shooter could not be determined with certainty based on the security footage. Additionally, an investigator testified earlier at trial that the murder, weapon was never found. So basically you have the prosecution saying it was Freddie, the defense offering up that no, Stephen was the shooter. The prosecution also called on Nikio Vance, who participated in the robbery spree that night. Vance also testified that Owen said he killed a clerk. He confirmed that

the four of them were smoking marijuana and drinking when they decided to go on a robbery spree. They split up in the early morning hours to rob a waffle house and the speedway. Vance and his accomplice decided not to rob the waffle house and met Golden and Owens at their vehicle, which was parked behind an abandoned restaurant. Vance testified that Freddie Owen said he shot the whore because she wouldn't open the safe. So again, damning testimony, all of it. Right. If you believe that these people on the stand, or telling the truth. I can't believe he called her a whore.

Well, you know, if it's true, I think it just shows you the level of callousness, you know, the way he shot her. If he said, oh, well, now he's calling her a whore. He doesn't know this woman. No. He doesn't know that she has three jobs and children at home. Owens borrowed Vance's gun to commit the crime.

Vance realized Owens was telling the truth when he looked at his gun the next. day and saw a bullet was missing. He threw it off a bridge into a river because he was scared of being charged. Well, good. It came back on him. I understand why he did what he did. In closing, the defense argued that the prosecution presented inconsistent testimony, unreliable witnesses, and there was a lack of scientific evidence. The defense also suggested a conspiracy among Owens' incarcerated friends. And there would have to be a conspiracy. right because all of these people are testifying that he's the shooter so if they're lying i think

by definition it would have to be a conspiracy they would have had to have gotten together and decided here's what we're going on on february 15th 1999 freddie owens was convicted of murder armed robbery possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and conspiracy to commit armed robbery that's a laundry list of convictions. Yeah, yeah, and it's going to land you in prison for a very long time. That is if you don't get the death penalty in the early morning hours of February 16th. So this is just the day after he was convicted. Freddie Owens murdered 28-year-old Christopher Lee, a fellow inmate at the Greenville County Detention Center. Lee was serving a 90-day sentence

for misdemeanor traffic violations. It's like running a red light or something. Or maybe too many parking tickets or whatever. Owens was housed in a dorm style cell with 11 others. Officials explained that Owens and Lee were classified as medium to high security prisoners. Lee's classification was based on a habitual driving offense to domestic violence charges and an assault and battery charge. Okay.

So he had some stuff on. his record. Right. But he's in with a convicted murderer. Christopher Lee called his father and his girlfriend at 4.30 p.m. on February 15th. At 7 p.m., he called his ex-wife Susan Lee and told her he wanted to put his life back together and hoped to move to Myrtle Beach. Freddie Owens was convicted at 8.20 p.m. that evening, he returned to the county jail at 8.44 p.m.

He watched a little tea. He exercised, took a shower, and was locked in his cell with other inmate. Christopher Lee was beaten to death between 3 and 4 a.m. At 6 a.m., guards entered the cell to take Owens to the showers and found Lee unresponsive, with a sheet wrapped around his head. Jail guard said that when Freddie was brought to jail after the conviction, he was laughing. He was dancing. He even paused to flirt with female officers.

Owens was returned to the dormitory cell because jail officials weren't told about his conviction. He acted the same as he been acting for the past week. And he didn't do anything to make guards believe he should be separated from other inmate. So, I mean, I'm taking from this Gibbs that if they had known he'd just been convicted of murder, maybe he would have been separated. Maybe because they would have concerns that he's going to act out. Well, he's got a lot less to lose. That's right.

After being convicted of murder. Officers checked the cell block eight times between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. On two occasions, officers didn't notice anything was wrong. The assault occurred in a spot that could not be seen from cell windows or video cameras. Inmates came out at 6 a.m. for breakfast and acted like nothing happened. It was Owens, who was the one who told a guard to check the cell. So he really doesn't care what happens to him. Because he's like, hey, go check the cell.

Almost like see what I did. Yeah. And maybe we'll talk about it more. But I mean, what are you thinking if you are Lee's family? Oh, you've got to be shocked, pissed. Yeah. Fury set the system, right? Yeah.

That this, that he was allowed to be put back in with a person just convicted of murder. On February 17th in 1999, the jury sentenced Freddie Owens to death. And apparently he laughed at the verdict. Each juror was asked if they supported the verdict. They all said yes. And Owens muttered profanities like bitch and bastard as they spoke. He's something. He's a class act all the way around.

Before the sentence was handed down, doctors and social workers testified that the Owen's family experienced poverty and violence for three generations, Freddie and his siblings were once taken from their mother's custody. After being found in a dark house, with no electricity, food, or warmth, and no supervision. So it doesn't sound like he had an ideal childhood.

That's for sure. And not really surprised, though, with his attitude and stuff, how that probably helped craft who he is, great who is. I could have, could have had a big deal, or a big part in it. The defense called on a psychologist and two former teachers

to testify about Freddie's background. Middle school teacher John Presley said, as quoted by the Greenville News, he could have been a fine athlete if someone had taken an interest in him. He was never given a chance. The court heard that Freddie had antisocial personality disorder and was raised in a violent and aggressive environment. Freddy's mother was beaten by her. her boyfriend. Freddy was once chased home from the school bus and his stepfather locked him out

and allowed him to be beaten. At the age of seven, Owen saw his grandmother shoot a person. That's a lot of things to take in go through. Well, you just talked about, you know, did his childhood kind of help shape who he was at the age of 19? Well, we're finding out some some more things. It's hard not to think that all of this had an effect on the person he grew into. Psychologist David Brunetti said Owens was quick to anger and acted impulsively. He's someone who very easily perceived threats or insults from others. So basically he's saying, you know, he had a hair trigger. Very thin hair trigger. Which a lot of people do. A lot of people are quick to anger. But as you and I have pointed out many times, Gibbs, there are a ton of individuals who have

had jacked up childhood. It doesn't mean that at 19, they walk into a store, put a gun to the head of a 41 year old store clerk, say, oh well, and then shoot them in the head. Yeah, exactly. It's a factor and it's why we talk about people's childhood. Did it cause them? Did it force them? Did it make them do it? No. Is it a. contributing factor, I would say the answer is yes. Yeah. Everything we go through, right, helps form the person that we become. This is true.

Owens was also charged with murder in the Christopher Lee case. The jury heard Owens full confession. He told state law enforcement agents that he punched, kicked and choked Lee until he was sure Lee stopped breathing. The following statement was published by the Greenville News. Owens told an agent at 11 p.m. on February 15th, 1990, myself and the other inmates in my cell blog, watched the news and saw that I was found guilty. I went to bed and woke up whenever they came to get one of the other inmates to take him to Perry, a state prison. While they were getting

the guy ready to go to Perry, Christopher Lee said, you won't be the only one because Freddie's coming down there with you. I told him to shut up. He told me his cousin was on the jury. I asked him if he knew that they convicted me. He said, I know because my cousin was on the jury. I then walked into his cell and hit him in the eye. He fell down on his back. I got on top and started hitting him mostly in the face and throat. I took a pin from his right hand and stabbed him in his right eye. I then tried to stab him in the chest, but the pin would not go in. Then I stabbed him in his throat. I don't know if the pin went into his throat or not. He started bleeding out of his mouth. There was a sheet tied into a snare laying on his bed. I reached out and got it and put it over his

head and neck. I wrapped it around my left hand and pulled it tight. I started hitting him in the face with my right hand. Then I started choking him with my right hand and pounding his head against the floor. He never fought back. After the first punch, he was out of it. He was still breathing and the stuff coming out of his mouth stumped. So I stood up and stomped on his head and body with my feet. Brutal. Yeah, absolutely brutal, but also very detailed. I mean, this is a detailed account, a blow-by-blow account of how he killed this man. Yeah. And at some point, you know, the Lee family's hearing this. Oh, absolutely.

But, you know, what I really want to focus on is the part where he's out after the first punch. So, you know, he's saying he didn't fight back. He couldn't fight back. He was unconscious. He was unconscious. He went on to say, I saw a black and blue lighter under the bed. I grabbed it and burned him around the eye.

And on the left side of his hair, I rammed his head into the wall. He was still. moaning and breathing. I walked out of the cell to leave him alone. I heard the crazy moaning. So I grabbed the pin off the floor where I had thrown it and went back into a cell. I got back over him and ran the pen up his right nostril. I closed his left nostril with my left hand and started choking him with my right hand. The sheet was still around his neck. I was choking him above the sheet. Throughout all of the above. He was moaning and breathing. I kept checking him to see if he was dead. I would check his pulse on his wrist and put my ear beside his neck and chest to hear if he was breathing. I wanted him to be

dead at that time. Freddie ended his statement by saying, I really did it because I was wrongly convicted of murder. Yeah, that makes zero sense. I murdered a man because I was wrongly convicted of murder. You know, the one thing that struck me was how detailed this was, right? This explanation of how he killed Christopher Lee is almost as if he's regaling it. You know, he's telling this story with a hint of satisfaction. I certainly don't hear any remorse. No, and I think it goes back to maybe, you know, some of these people saying he wanted, to kill as many people as he could.

An internal review into the murder of Christopher Lee revealed no wrongdoing by jail personnel. The murder was a well-calculated savage attack in the presence of nine other inmates who made no effort to stop the assault or alert jail officials. And I've never been to prison. I'll just throw that out there. I don't know what kind of peer pressure there is. when you have 11 men in a cell and two of them go at it. But for nine people to stand by and watch as Freddie Owens ended Christopher Lee's life,

all right, you got to put some of that on them. Yeah, but I think at that moment, they were probably like, I don't want involved. I don't want someone to think that I actually had something to do with this because they walked in at the wrong time. So you're thinking like prison code. Yeah. They don't want to be a snitch. And yeah, yeah, I get that. I'll keep to myself, do my own thing.

Don't worry about what's going on over there. That's them. Yeah, I get that. I mean, obviously you would like for someone to have stepped up and either stopped it while this guy was still alive or alerted officials. But we're not naive to how things work in prison. Nobody wants to be seen as a snitch because they don't want to be the person. on the receiving end of the next beating.

That's true. I'm also wondering, where's the guards at? I know they made so many trips in that time frame, but how did they not see this? How did they not hear the, I'm sure there was some routing this going on? Yeah, I don't know. I mean, they did a number of checks, right?

I'm assuming they just looked in, they saw that, you know, there was nothing going on or they didn't see anything going on when they looked through the little window or whatever it was, and they went to the next pod. Greenville County Administrator Gerald Seale said during a news conference, you have an assault that took place where the individuals involved kept the victim quiet. They muffled him and there was no noise that could be heard.

So, I mean, according to this guy, it wasn't just nine guys standing by and not doing or saying anything. he is saying they played some type of role in keeping Christopher quiet while this attack took place. Yeah, if that's true, that's a whole different story, right? A second inmate 19-year-old Fred Walker Jr. was charged with helping Owens with the beating. Authorities obtained sworn statements from witnesses who implicated Walker. And so maybe what Owen said isn't 100% truthful. He said that Christopher Lee was knocked out with one punch.

If that's the case, you don't need someone else to help muffle this guy. Now, maybe he is knocked out, but moaning and making some noise. And maybe that's what it was. Ultimately, Freddie Owens was never tried for the murder of Christopher Lee. And I don't know if that was one of those calculated decisions, Gibbs, that prosecutors sometimes make he was already sentenced to death. You know, what else were they going to give him? Stephen Golden was later sentenced to 28 years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.

Well, 28 years could have been worse if he didn't help out. No, I'm thinking, you know, his testimony, the pleading guilty probably had a role in that amount. In 2001, Freddie Owen. was granted the new sentencing trial by the South Carolina Supreme Court, the court found that the prosecution brought up the murder of Christopher Lee during sentencing in the Irene Graves case. The judge didn't give the defense enough time to respond. And it was such a strange scenario, right? He's convicted on the 15th.

He kills Christopher on the 16th and then his sentencing happens on the 17th. Pretty quick, right? Activity-wise, boom, boom, boom. Yeah, the timeline is very short. The sentencing retrial started in February 2003. According to the Greenville news, Owen testified that he was the creation of a white society that taught him how to kill. He said he didn't care what the judge decided and mentioned that he converted to Islam in prison. Freddie asked the court, why should I abide, obey, acknowledge, and accept any rules? I ain't got to. I no place here. Freddie Owens was resentenced to death on February 14th, 2003. But you're not doing yourself any favors there with some of the things that you're saying. After an appeal,

the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the death sentence a second time. The court ruled that the judge made inappropriate comments about capital sentencing jury. The second resentencing trial started in November 2006, and Freddie Owens was sentenced to death a third time on November 11. All right. So maybe this one will hold. Well, he didn't care the first two times. No, he didn't. So I don't imagine that he cared a whole lot the third time either. His execution was delayed for years due to appeals and the state's difficulty with obtaining drugs for lethal injections. And you and I have had that crop up in many cases. There were. You know, a number of years there where they just couldn't get the drugs to carry out, you know,

lethal injection. In 2021, South Carolina was authorized to create a firing squad to give inmates a choice between it or the electric chair, which was the default execution method if drugs were unavailable. Inmate sued arguing cruel and unusual punishment. 2021, we're bringing back firing squads in South Carolina. And there's the electric chair if drugs are not available. I'd almost think I'd take the firing squad over the electric chair, though. Just give me somebody who's really good at aiming.

You don't know about that firing squad. No. No, because you could get hit and they got to shoot you again. Yeah. You get somebody with the shakes. It's better than shaking in that electric chair. Yeah, that can't be pleasant either. I mean, none of it's good, right?

Don't do anything that's going to make you choose between a firing squad, the electric chair, or lethal injection. In the spring of 2003, the South Carolina legislature passed a shield law to keep lethal injection drug suppliers secret. On July 31st, 2012, the state Supreme Court ruled that, death row inmates could be executed by firing squad, lethal injection, or the electric chair. Gibbs, that was earlier this year. Yeah. On September 18th, 2004, Freddie Owens, co-defendant Stephen Golden, filed a statement with the South Carolina Supreme Court. Golden wrote that Freddie Owens was not present when Irene Graves was shot.

Now, that's interesting. Now, this point, this far into it, you're going to be. going to change your story. And you have to wonder why. According to the Washington Post, he wrote that he blamed Owens because he was high on cocaine. And the police pressured him by saying, they already knew the two of them were together. And Owens was talking. Golden wrote, I thought the real shooter or his associates might kill me if I named him to police.

I am still afraid of that. But Freddie was not there. I'm coming forward now because I know Freddie's execution. date is September 20. And I don't want Freddie to be executed for something he didn't do. This is weighed heavily on my mind and I want to have a clear conscience. Golden also claimed he had a secret deal with prosecutors and never told the jury about it, which is why he claimed Owens shot Irene Graves.

Golden didn't name the person he claimed shot Irene because, as he said, he fears they will kill him. Yeah, I don't know if I believe him. Well, he said it was weighing heavily on his mind. But he waited till, I mean, essentially the last minute. Yeah. After the filing, Owens attorney asked the state Supreme Court to delay the execution and grant a new trial, arguing Golden was the only witness to the crime.

His attorneys wrote, per the Washington Post, if this court does not grant a state, Owens will die for a crime that he did not commit. On September 19, a five judge panel wrote, there was no reason to reconsider its previous decisions and denied the stay of execution. There was no evidence Golden had an independent attorney to talk to about his recent statements, and he didn't name the alleged real shooter. The court determined that the recanted testimony is among the least reliable evidence. So I think they're pretty much siding with you.

They don't believe you. They don't find his recantation credible at all. Yeah, I think it's a little late coming to the show with that. Yeah, and it does seem kind of like a last-ditch effort to help save his one-time buddy. Prosecutors pointed out that other friends testified that they and Owens planned to rob the story. They also said Owens bragged about killing Irene Graves and confessed to five people, including two officers and his former girlfriend. Yeah, so if he didn't do it, why would he talk to all these individuals about it? I get people like the brag, try to get some credit, you know, out there that I'm a badass.

Yeah, up their street cred and all that. But it really came across as if he really did do it. Well, yeah, and it could be true that Golden was the only person in the store. But there was a whole bunch of other people that, you know, he confessed to that he shot hiring graves. prosecutors argued that Golden's new statement shouldn't be enough to stop the execution because he admitted to lying under oath, proving he is untrustworthy. And he did admit to lying under oath, but they were happy to have his testimony when it went against Owen. Now that it's not, they're calling him untrustworthy.

Of course, yeah. On September 20th, Owen's mother, Dora Mason, called on the state to investigate the new evidence. and commute Freddie's sentence to life in prison, saying, Freddie is more than his conviction. He is a human being, a son, a brother, and a friend. He deserves compassion, understanding, and a fair chance at justice. And I get that coming from a mother. I mean, no mother wants to see their son be put to death.

But on the flip side, you know, who really deserved compassion, understanding, and a fair chance? Yeah. Irene Graves. Sure did. And she didn't get it. No. Attorneys for Governor Henry McMaster and the state DOC wrote in a court filing that day that there was no compelling reason to delay the execution. Freddie Owens was executed on the evening up September 20th, 2004. He was 46 years old. I mean, as we sit here and tape this, that was last week.

Yeah. I mean, he was 19 when he committed the murder. Yeah. And he was 46 years old when he was put to death. He died by lethal injection. The execution began at 6.35 p.m. And he was declared debt at 655. 20 minutes. I don't know. Seems like a little long period of time. Yeah. I don't know if it took 20 minutes for him to die. Right. And as I mentioned earlier, on. Owens was the first person executed in the state of South Carolina in 13 years. That is a long time to go between executions. Now, I get it. You know, there are some states like California who haven't executed anyone in a long time, but they're not planning to. They're not planning to start back up as far as I know. Irene's daughter, Inslee, Gravesley said the execution brought closure. she was just 10 years old when her mother died. Well,

I'm sure that closure was heavily needed. And we really haven't talked about Irene's two kids, right? Eight, 10 years old. She was a single mother working three jobs to provide for these children. What happened to these kids? I don't know because I didn't find anything in the research about it. They were either taken in by family or they were. were put into the system. But either way, their lives changed forever. They had a mother who

loved them more than anything was willing to essentially work herself to the bone to make sure that they didn't go without anything they needed or wanted. And that person was all of a sudden gone from their life. Yeah. According to CBS, five other death row inmates are currently out of appeals, the state can schedule executions every five weeks. There are 25 inmates on death row in South Carolina. Protesters gathered outside the prison on the day of Freddie Owens' execution. And there are questions of whether the state executed a man before reviewing all the evidence. Paul Bauer is a spokesman for the South Carolina ACLU told the Washington Post. There was more than a shadow of a doubt about his guilt and now the state has killed him. There is no turning back.

And that rests on the conscience of the governor and of all of us here in South Carolina. If you believe Freddie Golden, then there was more than a shadow of a doubt. But, you know, how does that play, that one statement, play against all of the other evidence? Now, you can make an argument that all right, they could have given him a stay. They could have looked into it more, I guess. But it sounds like all of it was reviewed and they said, hey, this doesn't change our decision. Yeah. Just because this guy has changed his story because we don't find him credible. But I understand the other side of it. You know, if you're anti-death penalty, you don't want anyone to be executed, let alone a man whose accomplice has just come out and said, hey, I'm now changing my

story. And I'm saying this guy wasn't even there. But wait it until the final hour to make that statement. Yeah, which I think was part of the reason maybe why his statement was not found to be that credible, along with his past and his lying under oath before. You'd, I'm sure they took all of that into account, but, you know, this debate over the death penalty and people being on one side or the other, it's never going to end as long as the death penalty exists. You're going to have some who are for it and you're going to have some who are totally against it. Yeah, always. But at the end of the day, you know, as we wrap this one up, I mean, Freddie Owens was convicted in a court of law. He had.

had his death sentence overturned multiple times. And every time he ended up with a new death sentence. You know, he had higher courts reviewing all of his appeals. It doesn't stop some people from thinking that an innocent man was executed. But for that to be true, a lot of people would have had to have locked at his trial. A lot of people. In my opinion is, that didn't happen. that he's guilty. He shot Irene. Yeah, I mean, I see that. I see that.

He did brag about it a lot. And the jury found him guilty. I just go back to, you know, some of the things that he was said to have said, right? Imagine him being behind the counter. It's a pretty small space probably. He's trying to get Irene Graves to open the sick. It's not happening. And he says, oh,

well, and then shoots her in the head. Yeah. And then he what? Steps outside and says, I shot that, I shot that whore or I killed that horror. Again, we're relying on testimony of other people, but a lot of other people. His girlfriend said he wanted to be the most prolific murderer in Greenville, South Carolina history.

Now, could all these people have been lying? I guess so. You could always say could have. But the jury didn't think so. No. And, you know, that's what we have to go by. And I also go back to, you know, this kind of robbery spree. And then the shooting of Irene, what did they get away with, Gibbs?

$36 or something like that. 37 bucks, man. Really? Just so senseless. But that's it for our episode on Freddie Owens. We've got some voicemails. You want to check those out? Let's hear them.

Hi, Mike and Gibby. My name is Gretchen. and I live just up the road from you guys in Northwest Ohio near Toledo. I have to tell you, I've never left a voicemail for a podcast before, and I'd listen to lots of them. But today, I was listening to your first episode on Albert Fish. I think it's episode number 400. And when you, Mike, were talking about self-flatulation or whatever that is, I was laughing so hard. I was in my car. I was laughing so hard when you couldn't decide if that meant

hitting yourself with some implement on the back or farting. I'm telling you, I was laughing so hard I could hardly drive. Anyways, sixth grade humor really never goes out of style. And I just wanted to tell you guys how much I love your podcast. I listen religiously and I love your banter back and forth, and you do such great history into these stories, and you're so respectful of the victims that I really appreciate it. Anyways, Gretchen from up near Toledo saying, keep your head on swivel and keep your own time ticking. Hey, didn't you shart yourself during that episode? May have. I thought you did. May have. I think you shard it. You know, what's interesting to me is that,

You know, people find stuff like that funny. I'm not trying to be funny. I'm trying to figure out is the right word. Flagellation. Flatulation. After the fact, I know. Yeah. But in the moment I'm saying it, I'm trying to really figure out which one is hitting yourself and which one is farting.

And now you know. But people find it funny. I'm fine with that. You're very funny. You're a funny guy. What are you saying? I'm like a clown. Hey.

I make people laugh. Good morning, Mike and Debbie. Just wanted to give a shout out and say, congratulations on the 400th episode. I just, I was listening on my way to work. It has been an amazing eight years. I've enjoyed listening to each and every podcast. Just a good shout out from Las Vegas.

Thank you. And congratulations once again. Love herself from Las Vegas. Las Vegas. Yeah. Well, I appreciate the voicemail. And it has been an amazing eight years. We're coming up on our eight year anniversary in about two months.

Yeah. And it's amazing that we've been doing it this long. It really is. Eight years. What I get you? Yeah. Not a desk. I got you not a desk.

We had some mailbag. Carly sent in some really cool handcrafted, magnets for the studio fridge. One says Team Fergie. One says Team Givie and one says Team T-Cat. Should I go look and see how they're placed? Team T-Cat, Team Fergie, Team Givy. As it should be.

As it should be. Because I was the one that put them on the fridge. And it isn't your... It is in my house too. So, Janah Bauer and Find sent us a little pot from Colorado. Some pot? Yeah. No, no.

rolled up and enjoyed a little pot. It really is a little... I just heard you say we got some pot. It really is a little handcrafted pot that says this is a little pot from Colorado. It's cute. That's funny. And it's got a little magnet. Yeah.

Pretty funny stuff. You can't smoke it. No, you cannot smoke. Okay. Well, I assume you can't. I don't know. It could be made of pot for all I know. Hemp?

Hemp or something. But, yeah. Awesome. Thanks. We appreciate all of that. that stuff. That's it, buddy, for another episode of true crime all the time. So for Mike, and give you. Stay safe and keep your own time ticking.