Bio

Edward Charles Pickens was born in 1954. He spent his early life in Louisiana with his father. When he turned fifteen, he moved to Detroit, Michigan, to live with his mother. Growing up, Pickens faced challenges and difficulties at home. He was physically abused by his father. This troubling upbringing led him to run away several times.

In Detroit, Pickens fell into a bad crowd. He got involved with street gangs and began using drugs. He faced legal trouble early on and had a previous conviction for robbery. By the time he was in his early twenties, he had been in and out of the juvenile and adult legal systems due to various offenses.

Murder Story

On October 20, 1975, Edward Charles Pickens, along with two other men, entered a grocery store in Casscoe, Arkansas, to commit robbery. Pickens and his accomplices were armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a .22 caliber pistol. They targeted the store owner, a clerk, and several customers, threatening them during the robbery.

During the attack, two of the robbers sexually assaulted the female clerk. After collecting money and valuables, they ordered everyone to lie face down on the floor and shot seven victims in the back of the head with the pistol. Wesley Noble, a 76-year-old customer, was among those shot and was killed during the incident.

Pickens and his accomplices fled the scene in a stolen vehicle. That same evening, they were pursued by police in Memphis, Tennessee, based on a tip. Although they attempted to escape on foot, Pickens and one accomplice were quickly apprehended. The police discovered items stolen from the grocery store in their vehicle, and Pickens was found wearing the wedding ring of the female clerk who had been assaulted.

After his arrest, Pickens confessed to participating in the robbery but claimed that he did not fire the shots that killed the victims. His confession placed the blame on one of his accomplices as the shooter.

Pickens was eventually tried and convicted of capital felony murder for his role in the crime. He was sentenced to death by electrocution. Following a series of legal appeals and challenges related to his trial, his conviction and sentence were upheld. Edward Charles Pickens was executed on May 11, 1994, in Arkansas.