Bio

William Anthony Lipham was born in August 1963. Lipham came from a very large family. He was one of 14 children born to Hugh and Aline Lipham. His parents had limited formal education, and the family lived in poor conditions. As a child, Lipham spent years in state and treatment institutions. From about age nine to age eighteen, he was placed in different facilities, including children’s homes and mental-health-related institutions. 

Before the murder of Kate Furlow, Lipham already had behavior problems and trouble with the law. As a young person, he had been placed in youth facilities. Years later, his lawyers argued that more details about his difficult background should have been used during his sentencing.

By December 1985, Lipham was about 22 years old and living in Georgia. The available records do not show that he had killed anyone before Kate Furlow. His known murder case centers on the burglary, robbery, rape, and killing of Furlow inside her Coweta County home.

Murder Story

Kate Furlow was a 79-year-old woman living in Coweta County, Georgia. She was last seen alive by her daughter-in-law at about 6:00 p.m. on December 4, 1985. The next day, Furlow’s son tried to call her but received no answer. He went to her home and found signs of trouble. The glass in the front door had been broken, and the living room was in disorder. Police were then called to the house.

Investigators searched the home and found Furlow’s body on her bed. She was nude from the chest down and had been shot in the head. A .25-caliber bullet was found in the mattress beneath her head. Evidence inside the home showed that the house had been entered and searched. A neighbor later identified Lipham as a young man who had entered her kitchen around 12:30 a.m. on December 5, 1985. When she asked why he was there, he shouted “Ronnie” and left. Another witness, Ronnie Simon, had given Lipham a ride on the night of December 4 and dropped him off near Furlow’s home. Lipham had a .25-caliber pistol with him at the time.

Early the next morning, Lipham went to Simon’s trailer while carrying his gun and a small bag containing change and costume jewelry. He made the statement, “Not bad for a night’s work.” The jewelry and other evidence later became part of the case against him. Police recovered a .25-caliber pistol from Lipham’s brother. Ballistics testing matched the gun to the bullet used to kill Kate Furlow. Lipham was arrested in Douglasville, Georgia, on January 14, 1986.

After his arrest, Lipham admitted that he entered and searched Furlow’s home while looking for something to steal. He claimed another person was present and that the other person used his gun to kill Furlow. No verified evidence supported the claim that another person committed the killing.

Lipham was tried in Coweta County and convicted of murder, rape, armed robbery, and burglary. The jury found that the murder happened during the commission of rape, armed robbery, and burglary. He was sentenced to death for the murder on February 12, 1987.

His convictions and death sentence were affirmed by the Georgia Supreme Court in 1988. The United States Supreme Court later denied review. Years afterward, Lipham filed habeas petitions challenging his case. His convictions remained in place, but his death sentence was vacated because his trial lawyers had not properly presented important background and mitigation evidence during the penalty phase.