Bio

Samuel Clark Gallamore was born on February 15, 1971. By 1992, at age 21, he was working as a construction worker in the Kerrville, Texas area and had a reputation locally as a petty criminal, with a minor prior arrest record. He was friends with 19-year-old James John Steiner, who had previously worked briefly caring for Julianna Kenney at a nursing home, and later at her home for a weekend at her husband's request.

Murder Story

On March 29, 1992, Samuel Clark Gallamore and James John Steiner drove to the rural home of Verle Clayton Kenney, Julianna Kenney, and Adrienne Arnot east of Kerrville, Texas. According to the Fifth Circuit summary, the two men agreed on the way to the house that they would kill anyone who tried to stop them during the robbery.

Three people were inside the home: 83-year-old Verle Clayton Kenney, his 74-year-old wife Julianna Kenney, and Julianna’s daughter Adrienne Arnot. Julianna Kenney was partially paralyzed and unable to defend herself.

According to Gallamore’s confessions, he went to the door while Steiner hid in the shadows with a tire iron and cedar branch. When Adrienne Arnot answered, Gallamore forced his way inside. He grabbed Arnot and took her down while Steiner rushed in and began beating Arnot and Verle Kenney.

Gallamore then went to the kitchen and got a large knife. He returned to the front of the house, stabbed Julianna Kenney, and beat her in the head with the cedar branch. The two men continued beating and stabbing all three victims until they were dead.

The injuries were severe. Execution reporting stated that Arnot was struck repeatedly in the head, face, and upper body, while Verle Kenney was hit multiple times with a tire iron and cedar stick. Julianna Kenney’s throat was cut, and her skull was damaged so badly that it left a large opening in her head.

After the killings, Gallamore and Steiner stole cash, silver spoons, and other items from the home. Gallamore later led law enforcement officers to the place where he had buried property taken from the Kenney residence.

The investigation eventually led to Gallamore and Steiner after a bloody cedar stick with a partial fingerprint was found in brush outside the Kenney home. Later Associated Press reporting stated that it took about 18 months for police to track down the men and that Gallamore had moved to Chicago, where he was working as a home repairman.

Gallamore made two detailed taped confessions after his arrest. Transcripts and recordings of those confessions were admitted at trial. He also testified in his own defense and admitted participating in the robbery.

Gallamore was indicted by a Kerr County grand jury for capital murder for intentionally and knowingly killing more than one person during the same criminal transaction. The case was moved to Comal County on a change of venue. His trial began on January 27, 1994. On February 1, 1994, after less than two hours of deliberation, the jury found him guilty of capital murder.

During the punishment phase, the State presented evidence about Gallamore’s reputation for violence and unlawfulness, his prior criminal history, and evidence that he had threatened to escape if convicted. The defense presented family members, friends, and a forensic psychologist as mitigation witnesses. The jury found that Gallamore posed a future danger, that he intended to kill, and that there were not enough mitigating circumstances to support a life sentence. The trial court sentenced him to death.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Gallamore’s conviction and sentence in an unpublished 1995 opinion. State habeas relief was later denied, and the federal courts also denied habeas relief. In 2001, the Fifth Circuit affirmed the federal district court’s denial of relief.

James John Steiner was convicted separately and received a life sentence. Execution reporting stated that Steiner had helped carry out the robbery and killings, while Gallamore was the defendant sentenced to death.

Samuel Clark Gallamore was executed by lethal injection in Texas on January 14, 2003. He declined to make a spoken statement from the gurney, but a written statement was distributed after the execution. In it, he apologized to the victims’ family and said the deaths should not have happened. TDCJ’s official last-statement page records the written statement.