Bio

Larry Eugene Hutcherson, who also used the alias Larry Eugene Bonner, was born on September 3, 1969.

Murder Story

On June 26, 1992, 89-year-old Irma Thelma Gray was found dead inside her home in Mobile, Alabama. The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals described the scene as a burglary and killing inside Gray’s residence. Her body was found on the kitchen floor. Medical testimony showed that her throat had been cut so severely that she was almost decapitated. The wound was about 10 inches long, severed major structures in her neck, and extended to her spine.

The medical examiner also documented injuries that occurred before her throat was cut. These included cuts, bruises, and multiple fractured ribs, showing that Gray had been beaten before she died. Court records also described evidence of a sexual assault.

Investigators found signs of forced entry and a disturbed home. The door to the screened porch had been pushed inward, a window had been broken, and broken glass and blood were found near the window area. Inside the house, officers found Gray’s body, blood on the floor, a bloody footprint, and signs that items had been removed, including an air conditioner.

Evidence at the scene connected Hutcherson to the crime. Police found his driver’s license in a bedroom near a bloody knife. A fingerprint recovered from a washing machine matched his right thumb. Blood evidence was also found in areas of the house and garage, and bloodstains on jeans Hutcherson wore when he was arrested were consistent with Gray’s blood type.

Hutcherson’s mother testified that around 6:00 a.m. during the last week of June 1992, he called and asked her to pick him up on Moffat Road. He told her that he had been in a fight and that his arm had been cut. She found him near the victim’s home, and the cut on his arm appeared serious enough to need stitches.

On June 27, 1992, police took Hutcherson into custody. After initially saying he did not want to make a statement, he later asked to speak with an officer. According to the officer’s testimony, Hutcherson said he wanted to talk about the murder and stated, “I killed her.” He then described going to the house after leaving the Tarpon Lounge and looking for a house to break into.

Hutcherson was first convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. That conviction did not remain final. In 1996, the Alabama Supreme Court reversed the judgment because DNA evidence had been improperly admitted and the error was not harmless.

After the case was sent back to the trial court, Hutcherson withdrew his not-guilty plea and pleaded guilty to capital murder. Under Alabama law, even after a guilty plea in a capital case, the State still had to prove guilt to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury found him guilty, and during the penalty phase recommended death by an 11-to-1 vote.

Federal court records identify the final conviction date as December 4, 1996. On January 13, 1997, Mobile County Circuit Judge Braxton L. Kittrell sentenced Hutcherson to death. His direct appeals ended in June 1999 after the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and the United States Supreme Court denied review.

Hutcherson later filed postconviction and federal challenges, including claims related to Alabama’s death-penalty system and postconviction procedures. Those efforts did not stop the execution. In October 2006, the Eleventh Circuit denied his request to file a successive habeas petition and denied a stay of execution.

Larry Eugene Hutcherson was executed by lethal injection at Holman Correctional Facility in Alabama on October 26, 2006. He was 37 years old. Before the execution, he apologized to Gray’s family and asked for forgiveness. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m.