Bio 

James Henry Hampton was born on March 5, 1938, in Louisville, Kentucky. Public records describe him as a long-term offender whose criminal record began when he was still a teenager. Hampton’s early criminal history included motor vehicle offenses, burglary, armed robbery, stealing, drug trafficking, assault, and federal offenses. Records show that he spent many years in and out of state and federal prisons. His convictions took him through multiple correctional systems, including Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, and the federal prison system.

In 1955, Hampton was arrested in Jefferson County, Kentucky, for attempted operation of a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent. In 1957, he was arrested in Louisville for two counts of burglary of a dwelling and was sentenced to two years in the Kentucky State Penitentiary.

In 1960, he was arrested in Frankfort, Kentucky, for armed robbery and operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent. He received a six-year prison sentence. In later years, he was convicted of additional burglary, stealing, counterfeit securities, heroin distribution, conspiracy to distribute heroin, assault, and reckless endangerment.

By 1992, Hampton had recently been released from federal prison in Illinois. After his release, he stayed with a real estate agent in Missouri. Through that connection, he learned about Frances Keaton and a real estate transaction that led him to believe she had access to a large amount of money.

Murder Story

On the evening of August 2, 1992, James Henry Hampton parked a green Pontiac Bonneville at Fellowship Baptist Church in Warrenton, Missouri. He left a note on the windshield claiming car trouble and used the name “S.G. Gambosi.” He then rode a bicycle several miles to the neighborhood where Frances Keaton lived.

Keaton, a 58-year-old hairdresser, was at home with her fiancé, Allen Mulholland. Hampton had learned through a real estate contact that Keaton and Mulholland had access to a checking account containing at least $30,000.

Hampton entered Keaton’s home using a copy of a key that had been provided by the real estate agent. He was dressed in dark clothing, wore a stocking cap over his face, and carried a sawed-off shotgun. After entering the home, he woke Keaton and Mulholland and told them he had come to rob them.

Hampton tied up both victims and demanded $30,000. Keaton and Mulholland said they did not have that amount of money, but Keaton said she might be able to raise $10,000 from her pastor. Hampton untied her so she could get dressed. When she tried to escape, he stopped her and threatened to kill her if she resisted again.

Hampton told Mulholland that he would take Keaton hostage and that if police were contacted, he would kill her. He also claimed he had a police scanner and would know if authorities were searching for them. He left Mulholland tied up in the house and forced Keaton into her car.

During the drive, Hampton had Keaton call her pastor using Mulholland’s cellular phone. She asked whether he could provide $10,000 by morning. The pastor later contacted Keaton’s son, who called his mother. That was the last known contact with her.

While driving, Hampton heard through his police scanner that law enforcement had been alerted. According to his own trial testimony, he had already decided that he would kill his hostage if police learned of the kidnapping before he received the ransom.

Hampton drove Keaton to a wooded area near a farm in Callaway County, Missouri. He bound and blindfolded her, then killed her by striking her repeatedly in the head with a hammer. Afterward, he buried her body and burned her belongings.

The next morning, Hampton returned to Warrenton and tried to recover the Pontiac he had left at the church. Police had already impounded the vehicle. Hampton was briefly stopped while trying to enter the impound lot, but he gave an alias and was released.

Hampton then fled Missouri. On September 16, 1992, he killed Christine Schurman, 48, in Wantage Township, New Jersey, during another failed kidnapping attempt. Schurman was shot once in the head.

Hampton was arrested in West Orange, New Jersey, on December 19, 1992, one day after he was featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” When police moved to take him into custody, he shot himself in the head. The wound damaged the frontal lobes of his brain, and later defense arguments questioned whether the injury affected his judgment.

Hampton was convicted in New Jersey for Christine Schurman’s murder and received a life sentence without parole. He was later returned to Missouri on March 18, 1995, to face charges in the Frances Keaton case.

His Missouri trial began on July 29, 1996, in Callaway County Circuit Court. On August 2, 1996, a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder and recommended a death sentence. On September 16, 1996, he was formally sentenced to death.

The Missouri Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on December 23, 1997. Hampton later chose not to continue fighting his sentence and said he preferred execution rather than spending the rest of his life in prison. James Henry Hampton was executed by lethal injection at the state prison in Potosi, Missouri, on March 22, 2000. He was 62 years old.