Jill Piper, 16
Summary of Offense:
Harold Lucas knew the victim, 16-year-old Jill Piper, for four years and they also used to date. One witness testified that Lucas stated they were going to get married. A week prior to the murder, Lucas was arrested for criminal trespassing at the Piper residence. After the arrest, Lucas, who worked at the Piper family business, stopped going to work. On August 13, 1976, Lucas was in a park with his friend, Harold Saunders, at 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. Lucas asked Saunders to go and ask Ms. Piper if she called the Sheriff’s Department. When Saunders questioned Ms. Piper, she indicated that she did not call the police. During this time, witnesses testified that Lucas threatened Jill Piper. Other witnesses stated they did not hear Lucas threaten Ms. Piper. Sometime around 3:00 p.m., Lucas left the park with friends. They drove around and were characterized as “pretty buzzed.”
Throughout the day, Lucas drank a total of two six-packs of 24-ounce beers, smoked 10 to 20 marijuana cigarettes, and consumed five dollars worth of THC. They returned to the park around 6:00 p.m. They left the park again around 10:00 p.m. and drove to a gas station. Ms. Piper and Eddie Kent, a man who Lucas had been in fights with before, were at the gas station. Mr. Kent insulted Lucas by saying “Hello, Turkey” and Lucas responded by starting a fight. Ms. Piper ran across the street to a pay phone and called the Sheriff’s Department. The argument ended, and Lucas got in the car to leave. As the car was pulling away, Mr. Kent threw a beer bottle at the car, shattering the bottle. The glass from the bottle entered the car and cut Lucas’ ear. Ms. Piper threw rocks and yelled profanities at the car. Mr. Kent and Terri Rice testified that Lucas threatened to kill both of them. Ms. Rice and Ms. Piper left the gas station and met Ricky Bird at the park around 11:00 p.m. They asked if he would spend the night at Ms. Piper’s house for additional protection and he agreed. The three proceeded to Ms. Piper’s house. They parked the car across the street. Once in the house, Ms. Piper took a 20-gauge shotgun and a .38 revolver, both loaded, out of a gun cabinet in the house. She took the shotgun and gave the handgun to Mr. Bird. As the three talked, Ms. Piper decided that they should move the car into her driveway.
The three walked across the street and drove the car back. Mr. Bird entered the house to make sure that no one had gone inside while they were moving the car. While the two women stayed outside of the house, Ms. Rice saw someone at the side of the house with a gun. She assumed that it was Mr. Bird, but upon closer inspection she realized that it was Lucas. She testified that he raised a rifle and shot Ms. Piper, who was standing in front of Ms. Rice. Ms. Rice ran into the house and told Mr. Bird what had just occurred and the two ran into a back bedroom. Ms. Rice testified that she never saw Ms. Piper inside the house after she was shot. Mr. Bird testified that he had heard three shots outside, and then saw Ms. Rice enter the house. After Ms. Rice entered, Ms. Piper stumbled into the house. She had two wounds in her back and stated, “That son of a bitch shot me.” He stated that he and Ms. Rice then ran into a back bedroom and locked the door. Both testified that they heard Ms. Piper screaming and begging and then heard three more shots. Lucas then shot the bedroom door open and shot Mr. Bird in the stomach and then physically attacked Ms. Rice in the bathroom. As Lucas was leaving, he fired a shot through the bathroom door that hit Ms. Rice in the hip. Ms. Piper’s body was found outside of the house. Lucas testified that he remembers getting high on the night of August 13, 1976, and that he lost consciousness and woke up in the woods.
He stated that he did not have gun with him when he woke up. When he began walking home, a friend picked him up and told him that there was a newspaper article about the incident and that Lucas was named as the primary suspect. Lucas went back to the woods and, when law enforcement attempted to arrest him, he ran, but was eventually arrested.
Lucas was sentenced to death for the fifth time in Lee County on May 14, 1991.
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