Bio

Billy Wayne Hayes was born on February 21, 1949, in the United States. He was still a teenager when he became involved in the fatal shooting of William Howard Ferguson in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1967, Hayes was about 18 years old. William Howard Ferguson was a Nashville paint contractor. Available reports identify the killing as a shooting and describe the case as a second-degree murder conviction. The detailed circumstances of the argument or confrontation that led to the shooting are not fully confirmed in the accessible public sources reviewed.

Hayes was sentenced in 1968 to serve 10 years at Tennessee State Prison for second-degree murder. A later copied inmate record lists his sentence beginning on February 18, 1968. Because the case is old, later reports noted that Tennessee correction officials had difficulty accessing complete computerized information about it. Hayes became widely known decades later not because of the original murder alone, but because of his long escape from custody. He was assigned to a Tennessee work-release program and walked away from that program on December 21, 1972. He did not return after signing out for work.

After escaping, Hayes lived freely for more than 33 years. Reports stated that he used his real name, real Social Security number, and worked construction jobs. He later said he had married, had a daughter, started a business, and lived a new life while avoiding return to prison. He also said he believed authorities might have lost his records.

The long escape caused serious anger and frustration for William Ferguson’s family. Ferguson’s children later said their father had been denied justice because Hayes lived a normal life for decades while their father’s life had been cut short.

Murder Story

On July 22, 1967, William Howard Ferguson was shot and killed in Nashville, Tennessee. Ferguson was a paint contractor. Billy Wayne Hayes was later charged in connection with the killing.

The available public record gives only limited detail about the shooting itself. Sources describe the case as a homicide connected to an argument and state that Hayes was later convicted of second-degree murder. No reliable source reviewed gives a full, detailed account of the argument, the weapon used beyond the fact that Ferguson was shot, or the exact location within Nashville where the shooting occurred.

In 1968, Hayes was sentenced to 10 years at Tennessee State Prison for second-degree murder. The sentence was relatively short compared with many murder sentences, and later reports stated that Hayes had nearly completed much of the original sentence before his escape.

Hayes was later assigned to a work-release program. On December 21, 1972, he signed out for work and did not return. That escape began a fugitive period that lasted more than 33 years.

For decades, Hayes remained free. He did not change his name and reportedly continued working construction jobs. He lived in Alabama and at one point had also lived in Tennessee after the escape. Later reporting stated that his warrant had mistakenly been canceled, which helped him avoid detection despite using his real identity.

In late 2006, U.S. Marshals in Nashville received information that Hayes might be in Mobile, Alabama, or Dothan, Alabama. On December 1, 2006, U.S. Marshals and local police arrested him at a gas station in Dothan. He was 57 years old at the time. Officers said he appeared surprised when arrested and acknowledged that he had escaped.

Authorities in Alabama also reported finding crack cocaine in his clothing during the arrest, and he was charged with possession. He was held in Dothan with plans for transfer to Houston County Jail and extradition to Tennessee.

In 2007, Hayes spoke publicly about his decades on the run. He said he had made a terrible mistake and apologized to Ferguson’s family. He also said he had started a new life, married, had a daughter, and did not want to leave his family. Ferguson’s children rejected the idea that the long escape could be excused and said their father’s death continued to affect the family.

Hayes later pleaded guilty to felony escape and received an additional one-year prison sentence. Reports stated that, because he had nearly completed his original 10-year sentence before escaping, he was expected to be released not long afterward. A copied Tennessee inmate record lists his sentence end date as September 5, 2008, and his supervision status as inactive.

Billy Wayne Hayes’s final confirmed legal status is that he was convicted of second-degree murder, escaped custody in 1972, was recaptured in 2006, and later received an additional sentence for felony escape. His later whereabouts and whether he is still living are not publicly confirmed in the accessible sources reviewed.