Joseph Paul Jernigan was born on January 31, 1954, in Texas. He lived a relatively unknown life before his criminal record began. There are no well-documented details about his early childhood or education, and he wasn’t known to be part of any notable organizations or criminal groups before his most infamous crime. At the time of his arrest, he was in his late twenties and already involved in criminal behavior. On the night of the incident, Jernigan was with Roy Lamb, who served as his accomplice. The pair was reportedly seeking money or valuables, which led to their breaking and entering of a private residence in Bellmead, Texas. This spontaneous act of burglary would eventually escalate into a deadly encounter that cost a man his life and set Jernigan on the path to execution.

On the night of July 3, 1981, Joseph Paul Jernigan and Roy Lamb broke into the home of 75-year-old Edward Hale in Bellmead, Texas. Hale, a retired man, surprised the two intruders during the burglary. Rather than flee, Jernigan pulled out a gun and shot Hale, killing him instantly. The murder shocked the local community due to its cold-blooded nature and the senselessness of the violence. Both men were arrested on July 6, 1981. Lamb chose to cooperate with the authorities and pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for a 30-year prison sentence, from which he was paroled in 1991. Jernigan, on the other hand, was charged with capital murder and sentenced to death in September 1981.

He spent 12 years on death row in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. In his final months, Jernigan chose to donate his body to science, inspired by conversations with a prison chaplain. His body was used in the groundbreaking Visible Human Project after his execution on August 5, 1993, at 12:31 a.m. by lethal injection. Jernigan made no final statement before his death. The images from his dissected cadaver later contributed to medical research and education, making him a posthumous subject of scientific and educational materials, including the HBO documentary Virtual Corpse.