Bio

Joseph Holcombe Mulligan was born on September 2, 1951 in the United States. He became acquainted with Timothy Andrew Helms while Helms was serving in the United States Marine Corps in Beaufort, South Carolina. Their relationship became important to the case because Helms later testified against Mulligan.

Mulligan was connected to Capt. Patrick A. Doe through family. Doe was an Army captain stationed at Fort Benning and was married to Mulligan’s sister, though the marriage was ending. Doe had filed for divorce and told Mulligan on the day of the killings that the divorce would soon be final.

Prosecutors later argued that Mulligan killed Doe for financial reasons connected to life insurance and then killed Marian Jones Miller because she witnessed the first shooting. Mulligan maintained his innocence during appeals and claimed he was traveling by bus from Atlanta to Savannah when the killings occurred.

Murder Story

On April 12, 1974, Joseph Holcombe Mulligan persuaded Timothy Andrew Helms to drive him from South Carolina to Columbus, Georgia. Mulligan offered Helms $1,000 for the trip. During the drive, Mulligan told Helms he was going to Columbus to kill someone. The two men spent the night in a Columbus hotel under false names.

The next day, April 13, 1974, Mulligan and Helms visited Capt. Patrick A. Doe, Mulligan’s brother-in-law, at Fort Benning. Later that day, they helped Doe wash his car. During that time, Mulligan and Doe argued. Doe also told Mulligan that his divorce from Mulligan’s sister would soon be final.

That evening, Doe drove with Mulligan and Helms in the back seat. They went to pick up Marian Jones Miller, Doe’s girlfriend, so they could attend a party. After Miller entered the car, Doe began driving again. Mulligan, who was seated behind the driver, placed a .38 pistol to Doe’s head and shot him once.

After Doe was shot, the car went out of control and hit a stop sign and a mailbox. When Miller cried for help, Mulligan shot her as well. Autopsy findings showed that Doe was shot through the head and that Miller was shot four times. Both victims died from brain injuries caused by the gunshots.

After the shootings, Mulligan and Helms tried to remove fingerprints from the car and fled. Helms discarded his bloody shirt and Doe’s wallet, while Mulligan threw away the gun and his clothing. Investigators later found .38 shell casings and a bullet in the car, and testing connected them to Doe’s pistol. Police also found Mulligan’s fingerprint on the car window.

Mulligan and Helms were indicted in Muscogee County in August 1974 for the murders of Patrick Doe and Marian Jones Miller, as well as theft by taking. Mulligan was convicted on all counts and sentenced to death for both murders. He also received a 30-day sentence for theft.

On February 20, 1980, the Supreme Court of Georgia reviewed the case. The court vacated the death sentence for Doe’s murder and ordered a life sentence for that count, but it upheld the death sentence for Miller’s murder. The court found that the evidence supported the death sentence for Miller’s killing because it occurred during the murder of Doe and involved aggravating circumstances.

Joseph Holcombe Mulligan was executed by electrocution in Georgia on May 15, 1987. The Death Penalty Information Center lists him as the 71st person executed in the United States after executions resumed and confirms Georgia as the state and electrocution as the method.