Bio

William Howard Putman was born on April 5, 1943. He spent his early years in Alabama. He became a truck driver, a role that took him to many states across the country.

Putman worked various jobs related to truck driving. He was able to provide for his family, and he had a good reputation among his peers. Those who knew him described him as a caring and respectful individual who was devoted to his family.

In July 1980, Putman was involved in incidents that would forever change his life. He had recently completed a delivery in Florida and was returning home. While on the road, he stopped at a truck stop in Valdosta, Georgia, where he reportedly consumed some alcoholic beverages.

On July 9, 1980, Putman is reported to have shot and killed a school teacher named William Gerald Hodges at the truck stop. The next day, he continued his trip and stopped at a rest area near Lenox, Georgia. Here, he committed further violent acts that led to his arrest later that day.

Putman was arrested not long after the events at the rest area. He was found with items belonging to the victims, which linked him to the crimes. In the case that followed, he faced charges for multiple murders.

After the trials, Putman was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Hodges and received a death sentence for the deaths of David Hardin and Katie Hardin. He spent many years on death row while his case went through the appeals process.

Putman was executed on November 13, 2002, by lethal injection. 

Murder Story

On July 10, 1980, a series of shootings took place involving William Howard Putman in Cook County, Georgia. The first victim, 49-year-old William Gerald Hodges, was found at a truck stop in Valdosta. He had been shot in the head and shoulder. Later that same day, David N. Hardin, 22, and his wife, Katie Back, 28, were sleeping in their car at a rest area on Interstate 75 near Lenox. They were returning home to Kentucky from a vacation in Florida, along with their three children and Hardin's niece.

Witnesses reported seeing a man approach the Hardins' vehicle. He shot David Hardin in the back of the head and then demanded that Katie Hardin leave with him. When she refused and called out for her husband, she was also shot in the head. Several eyewitnesses observed the attack and identified a dark-colored semi-truck parked nearby, matching the description of Putman's vehicle.

Putman was arrested later that day at a different rest area in Dooly County, where police detected alcohol on his breath. Inside his vehicle, officers found a .38-caliber revolver, along with items belonging to Hodges and Hardin, including a wallet and rings. Ballistics tests confirmed that all three murders were committed using the same gun found in Putman's possession.

After being charged, Putman was convicted in separate trials for the murders of Hodges, for which he received a life sentence, and for the murders of David and Katie Hardin, for which he was sentenced to death. His execution took place on November 13, 2002, after multiple appeals were exhausted.