Barbara Jean Alderman, 20
Facts of the Crime: Convicted and sentenced to death in the September 21, 1974 murder of Barbara Jean Alderman.
Along with an accomplice, Alderman beat his wife Barbara Alderman with a crescent wrench, then choked her and put her under water in a bathtub to be sure she was dead. The men then visited two Savannah bars before dumping her body in a creek near her family’s home in Rincon. The motive for the murder was life insurance money from a policy supplied by her employer, the City of Savannah. After 33 years, Alderman was believed to be the country's longest-serving death row inmate. His conviction and death sentence was overturned by a federal appeals court, but was reinstated after a second trial in 1984. Accomplice, John Arthur Brown, who testified against Alderman at trial, was originally sentenced to life, but was paroled in 1987 and committed suicide in 2000 when police tried to arrest him on child molestation charges.
Victim: Barbara Jean Alderman
Time of Death: 7:25 pm
Manner of Execution: Lethal Injection
Last Meal: Alderman did not make a special last meal request. He was given the regular prison meal of baked fish, peas, cole slaw, carrots, cheese grits, bun, fruit juice and chocolate cake.
Final Words: None
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