Bio

Corey Duane Hamilton was born on January 1, 1969. Public records list him as a Tulsa County defendant from Oklahoma. Hamilton was 23 years old at the time of the murders. Some anti-death-penalty materials stated that he had no prior criminal record, but this claim should be treated carefully because it comes from advocacy material rather than a court finding. The same material identified his parents as Wilbur and Joslyn Hamilton and listed his siblings as William, Brian, and Roslyn. His brother, William Hamilton, later became one of his co-defendants in the Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken case.

Before the murders, Hamilton was connected to Donnie Daniels, Tyrone Johnson, and William Hamilton. Daniels had previously worked at Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken and knew the restaurant’s closing routine, including procedures connected to the safe. This prior knowledge later became important in the planning and execution of the robbery.

Murder Story

On August 17, 1992, Corey Duane Hamilton, his brother William Hamilton, Donnie Daniels, and Tyrone Johnson were involved in the robbery of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken on South Sheridan Road in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prosecutors said the men discussed robbing the restaurant before closing time. Daniels had worked there before and knew how the business operated at the end of the night.

According to court records, Daniels and Johnson had obtained a .38-caliber handgun earlier that day. The group also had a shotgun. They left for the restaurant shortly before closing, around 9:45 p.m., so they could arrive before the doors were fully secured for the night.

Hamilton and Daniels entered the restaurant and encountered Theodore Kindley. Hamilton pulled a gun and ordered Kindley to lock the doors. The other employees, Senaida Lara, Joseph Gooch, and Steven Williams, were forced into the walk-in cooler and made to kneel. Kindley was kept near the front while attempts were made to open the safe.

After money was taken from the safe, Kindley was also placed inside the cooler with the others. The four employees were then shot once in the back of the head at close range. The robbery reportedly brought in slightly more than $2,000.

The victims were later found dead inside the restaurant’s cooler. Investigators recovered the suspected murder weapon from a field near the apartment complex where Hamilton lived. Donnie Daniels’ blue Chevrolet was also found at that apartment complex.

Hamilton and his brother later left Tulsa and traveled to the Detroit, Michigan area, where they had family ties. Hamilton’s defense later emphasized that he turned himself in after learning there was an outstanding warrant, but prosecutors maintained that he was the gunman.

Hamilton, William Hamilton, Donnie Daniels, and Tyrone Johnson were all convicted for their roles in the robbery and murders. Donnie Daniels testified against Corey Hamilton and stated that Hamilton was the shooter. William Hamilton, Daniels, and Johnson received life sentences. Corey Hamilton received the death penalty.

Hamilton was tried in Tulsa County District Court in Case No. CF-92-3584. On December 9, 1993, he was convicted of robbery with a firearm and four counts of first-degree murder. The jury found four aggravating circumstances for each murder: that he knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person, that the murders were especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, that the murders were committed to avoid arrest or prosecution, and that he represented a continuing threat to society.

On February 28, 1997, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Hamilton’s murder convictions and death sentences. However, it reversed and dismissed the separate robbery conviction because it was the underlying felony tied to the felony-murder theory.

Hamilton continued to challenge his conviction and sentence through appeals and habeas proceedings. The federal courts rejected his claims, including challenges related to prosecutorial misconduct, jury instructions, aggravating circumstances, and Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set Hamilton’s execution date for January 9, 2007, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his final appeal. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency on December 27, 2006.

Corey Duane Hamilton was executed by lethal injection at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester on January 9, 2007. He was pronounced dead at 6:14 p.m. He was 38 years old.