Larry Gilbert was born in 1955 in South Carolina. At the time of his crime, he was 23 years old. Not much is publicly known about his upbringing or education, but by the mid-1970s, he had become heavily involved in drug use and was living a troubled life. Gilbert was the half-brother of J.D. Gleaton, who was nearly a decade older.

On July 12, 1977, Gilbert and Gleaton—both reportedly under the influence of drugs—were driving around Cayce, South Carolina, in search of more drugs. After failing to find any, they shifted their focus to committing a robbery to get money for their next fix. That decision would lead them down a violent path that ended with the murder of 44-year-old gas station owner Ralph Samuel Stoudemire—a man they didn’t know, but whose life was taken in a senseless act of violence.

The crime occurred at a gas station in South Congaree, Lexington County, South Carolina. It was a quiet afternoon on July 12, 1977, when Gilbert and his half-brother Gleaton drove by the station and made the decision to rob it. At that moment, only Ralph Stoudemire, the owner, was working alone inside.

Gleaton entered first, posing as a customer asking for cigarettes. As Ralph turned to fulfill the request, Gleaton pulled a hunting knife and demanded money. When Ralph resisted, Gleaton stabbed him multiple times—in the wrists and torso. Then Gilbert entered with a firearm and shot Ralph once in the chest. The brothers fled the scene with a pocketbook belonging to Stoudemire’s wife.

Unbeknownst to them, Ralph’s son had witnessed part of the incident from across the street. He saw his father stagger out of the station and point toward the getaway car. He rushed to help, but Ralph died 45 minutes later from his injuries. An autopsy confirmed that a stab wound to the heart was the fatal blow.

The very next day, Gilbert and Gleaton were arrested. They confessed to the crime during interrogation and were charged with murder and armed robbery. Prosecutor Donnie Myers—newly appointed and under South Carolina's freshly reinstated death penalty law—sought capital punishment.

On October 3, 1977, a Lexington County jury found both men guilty. On October 7, they were sentenced to death, making them the first two individuals condemned under South Carolina’s new capital punishment statute.

Their executions were initially scheduled for December 1977, but legal proceedings dragged on for over two decades. The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned their death sentences in 1979, citing improper jury instructions, but upheld their murder convictions. A re-sentencing trial in 1980 ended with both men again sentenced to death.

Over the 1980s and 1990s, the appeals continued. The U.S. Supreme Court reviewed their case multiple times, rejecting appeals and affirming their death sentences in 1982 and again in 1984.

In 1996, a federal judge ruled that the jury in their original trial had been improperly instructed that the use of a weapon implied malice. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals initially sided with the ruling and vacated the death sentences in 1997. However, in a rare reversal, the same court reinstated the convictions and death sentences in January 1998, calling the judicial error “harmless.”

After their final appeals were rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in October 1998, both men requested clemency from Governor David Beasley, who refused. Their executions were set for December 4, 1998—the first double execution in South Carolina since 1962, and the only one since the U.S. death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

On execution day, Gilbert was put to death first, at 6:37 PM. He was 43 years old. His last meal included fish, cornbread, salad, fries, pecan pie, and tea. In his final statement, Gilbert apologized to the victim’s family and said he was ready to die. His mother, who was present, was addressed directly by Gilbert as he offered his last words of closure.

J.D. Gleaton was executed next, at 7:16 PM. The execution marked the end of a 21-year legal battle. Both brothers had been on death row for 21 years, 1 month, and 27 days, making them the longest-serving death row inmates in South Carolina history at the time.

Outside the Broad River Correctional Institution, the widow of Ralph Stoudemire, Betty Slusher, chose not to witness the execution. Instead, she stood outside with gold ribbons and supporters. Her two sons witnessed the executions on behalf of the family. In the aftermath, Betty became a crime victims’ advocate, and dedicated much of her life to ensuring justice for other families. She passed away in 2016 at age 82.

Gilbert and Gleaton became the 17th and 18th inmates executed by South Carolina since resuming executions in 1985. Their case remains one of the most significant in the state’s legal history—not only for its brutality, but for the precedent it set and the years-long legal rollercoaster that followed.