Kelly Renée Brookshire was born on March 8, 1968, into a poor cotton-farming family in the southern United States. Her early life was characterized by instability, poverty, and abuse. According to sworn statements later submitted by relatives and friends, Kelly endured sexual abuse from her stepfather and other men throughout her childhood and adolescence. During her senior year of high school, she was the victim of a date rape, which resulted in the birth of her first child nine months later. These traumatic events would shape much of her emotional instability and relationships in her adult years.

At the age of 19, Kelly married her first husband, Jeff Banks, in 1987, but their marriage lasted only six months. Two years later, on September 2, 1989, she married Douglas Gissendaner, a kind and dependable man who served in the U.S. Army. The couple had one child together. Their relationship, however, was strained by financial difficulties, frequent relocations, and Kelly’s infidelity. When Douglas was stationed in Germany, Kelly became pregnant by another man who later died of cancer, which led to their first divorce in 1993.

Despite their troubled past, Kelly and Douglas reconciled and remarried in May 1995. They settled in Auburn, Georgia, with Kelly’s two sons from previous relationships and their daughter. Friends and family later described the marriage as volatile and marked by jealousy and distrust. While Douglas was reportedly committed to making the marriage work, Kelly’s dissatisfaction deepened. She complained about her husband’s strictness, his control over finances, and her feeling of being trapped. These tensions eventually drove her to consider a fatal solution.

By late 1996, Kelly had entered into an affair with Gregory Bruce Owen, a younger man with a criminal record. Owen became her confidant, and their relationship soon turned dark. According to later testimony, Kelly began openly talking about wanting Douglas dead, believing that his death would allow her to keep their home and benefit from his life insurance policy.

On the night of February 7, 1997, Kelly’s plan was set into motion. She convinced her lover, Gregory Owen, to kill her husband. That evening, Owen hid near the couple’s Auburn home, waiting for Douglas to return. When Douglas arrived, Owen—posing as a stranger—ambushed him at knifepoint and forced him into his own car. Owen drove him to a wooded area near Harbins Park in Gwinnett County, Georgia, where he struck Douglas on the head with a nightstick and stabbed him multiple times in the neck and back.

Moments later, Kelly arrived at the scene to meet Owen. Together, they set fire to Douglas’s car to conceal evidence and hid his body in the woods. It was later discovered by authorities several days later, decomposed and bearing multiple stab wounds. The brutality of the attack shocked the local community.

Investigators quickly identified Kelly as a suspect after learning of her extramarital affair and inconsistencies in her statements. Owen was arrested shortly afterward and confessed, implicating Kelly as the mastermind. He testified that she had first proposed killing Douglas months before the murder, rejecting his suggestion to divorce and insisting that murder was the only way she could both end the marriage and secure Douglas’s insurance benefits.

Both were offered plea deals before trial—life imprisonment without parole eligibility for 25 years—but Kelly refused, maintaining her innocence. Owen accepted the deal, testifying against her in exchange for a reduced sentence. His testimony, along with forensic evidence and witness statements, led to her conviction in 1998 for orchestrating the murder of her husband.