Summary of Offense:
Arthur Lee Giles and Aaron Lee Jones were convicted for the November 10, 1978 attack in which Willene and Carl Nelson were shot and stabbed to death in the pre-dawn hours. Three children, ages 10, 13 and 21, were critically wounded, but survived. The children's 85-year-old grandmother also survived. Giles had worked for Carl Nelson picking vegetables, and after a night of drinking went with Jones to the Nelson house, intending to rob them. The oldest of the children, Tony, who was 21 at the time, testified that he was awakened just after 3 a.m. when Giles turned on the light in the bedroom Tony shared with his 10-year-old brother, Charlie. Carl Nelson confronted Giles and told him to leave, but minutes later Tony Nelson found Giles at the house's back door, and Giles shot him twice. Jones and Giles then made their way through the house, shooting and stabbing its occupants. After a wounded Tony got to his feet and made his way to his parents' bedroom, he found Charlie and 13-year-old Brenda, stabbed, shot and bloody, but alive at the foot of their parents' bed. Jones and Giles were tried separately, both receiving a death sentence.
Giles is currently the longest-serving inmate on Alabama's death row.
For more on Jones, who was executed on May 3, 2007, see: http://www.cncpunishment.com/forums/...ht=aaron+jones
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