Bio 

William Gerald Mitchell was born in 1950. As a young adult, Mitchell served in the United States Army. By the early 1970s, he already had a history of violence. Reports from his later execution coverage state that he was charged twice in 1973 with beating women. In 1974, he was charged in Harrison County, Mississippi, with killing Irene Edwards and stabbing her daughter.

On February 22, 1974, Mitchell murdered Irene Edwards. At the time, he was reportedly a student at Mississippi Valley State University and had returned home for the weekend. He killed Edwards using two butcher knives. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975.

Mitchell spent much of his adult life in prison after the Edwards murder. He was released on parole in 1994. Less than a year later, he became involved in the abduction, sexual assault, and murder of Patty Milliken in Biloxi.

Murder Story

William Gerald Mitchell’s first known murder happened on February 22, 1974. The victim was Irene Edwards, who was described in later reports as a family friend. Mitchell stabbed her to death with two butcher knives in Harrison County, Mississippi. He was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975.

Mitchell was paroled in 1994. On November 21, 1995, he encountered 38-year-old Patty Milliken at the Majik Mart convenience store in Biloxi, Mississippi, where she worked. Reports state that Mitchell had visited the store several times that day. Near the end of her shift, Milliken stepped outside with him to smoke a cigarette. She left her personal belongings behind and never returned to the store.

When Milliken did not come back, concern grew. Her body was found the next day under a bridge. Court records and news reports state that she had been sexually assaulted, beaten, strangled, and repeatedly run over by a vehicle.

Investigators connected Mitchell to the crime through physical evidence. Milliken’s blood and hair were found on and under Mitchell’s car. Court records also state that Mitchell struck Milliken in a mall parking lot, took her to another location, sexually assaulted and strangled her, and then killed her by repeatedly running over her with his vehicle.

Mitchell was charged with capital murder because the killing occurred while he was under a life sentence from the earlier Irene Edwards murder. In July 1998, a Harrison County jury convicted him of capital murder and sentenced him to death.

Mitchell appealed his conviction and sentence. The Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence, finding that the sentence was not excessive or disproportionate based on the facts of the crime. The Fifth Circuit later denied his request for a certificate of appealability in 2011, rejecting further habeas review of his claims.

On March 22, 2012, the United States Supreme Court declined to stop Mitchell’s execution. Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant also declined to intervene. Mitchell was executed by lethal injection that evening at Mississippi State Penitentiary in Parchman. When asked if he wanted to make a final statement, he said, “No.” He was pronounced dead at 6:20 p.m.