Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Former Death Row Inmate Freed From Tennessee Prison

Published October 07, 2011

| Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –  A U.S. woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed was freed Friday from prison.

Gaile Owens, 58, was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside Tennessee's Prison for Women.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year. She won parole last week.

Supporters had claimed Owens was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

The first thing she did on leaving the prison was hug one of those sons, Stephen Owens, who is now grown and has children of his own.

"I'm looking forward to leading a quiet, private but productive life," Gaile Owens said in a written statement just before leaving the prison.

Stephen Owens said he was looking forward to spending the rest of the day with his mother.
Tennessee is one of 34 states that have the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington-based nonprofit.

When he commuted her sentence to life in prison last year, former Gov. Phil Bredesen acknowledged the abuse claims but gave a different reason for his decision to spare her life. He said prosecutors had agreed not to seek the death penalty if Owens pleaded guilty but then put her on trial when her co-defendant wouldn't accept the plea bargain.

At the time she was imprisoned, a life sentence meant serving 30 years. She was eligible to be released now because of good conduct.

View the original article here

Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Tennessee woman Gaile Owens freed from prison after 26 years on death row

Gaile Owens was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her sentence was commuted to life in prison last year. Photograph: Mark Humphrey/AP

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from a Tennessee prison.

Gaile Owens, 58, of Memphis, was released on Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside Tennessee's Prison for Women.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year, and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defencee because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

The first thing she did on leaving the prison was to hug one of those sons, Stephen Owens, who is now grown and has children of his own.

Owens issued a written statement and then immediately left the prison.

"I'm looking forward to leading a quiet, private but productive life," the statement said. She said she wanted to get to know her son and the grandchildren born while she was in prison.

Her son said he was looking forward to spending the rest of the day with his mother.

Owens' sentence was commuted to life in prison in July 2010 by former governor Phil Bredesen. He acknowledged the abuse claims of her supporters, but gave a different reason for his decision to spare her life. Bredesen said prosecutors had agreed not to seek the death penalty if Owens pleaded guilty, but then put her on trial when her co-defendant wouldn't accept the plea bargain.

At the time she was imprisoned, a life sentence meant serving 30 years and she was eligible to be released now because of good conduct.

View the original article here

Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Tennessee prison frees former death row inmate

A woman who spent 26 years on death row and came within two months of being executed has been freed from prison in Tennessee.

Fifty-eight-year old Gaile Owens of Memphis was released Friday and greeted by a small group of supporters outside the Nashville prison.

She was sentenced to die for hiring a stranger to kill her husband in 1985, but her death sentence was commuted to life in prison last year and she won parole last week.

Supporters had urged her release, claiming she was a battered wife who didn't use that defense because she didn't want her young sons to know about the physical and sexual abuse.

One of those sons, Stephen Owens, was there as she left prison and she immediately hugged him.

View the original article here

Tennessee man accused of killing ex-girlfriend in Calera is now facing upgraded capital murder charges

CALERA, Alabama -- A Tennessee man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend in Calera is now facing upgraded charges of capital murder.

Terry L. Griggs, 52, was initially charged with murder in connection with the death of Wendy Marie Thompson, whose body was found June 4 in her Milstead Road home.

Griggs, of Thompson Station, Tenn., now has been indicted by a Shelby County grand jury on two counts of capital murder in connection with Thompson's death.

Griggs is accused of choking Thompson to death between June 3-4 and stealing her car, according to an indictment filed today.

Griggs has been in the Shelby County Jail on a $1 million bond since he was brought back to Shelby County after being taken into custody by police in Orange Beach the day after Thompson's body was found in her Calera home.

If convicted of capital murder, Griggs could face the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

View Slayings in the Birmingham area, 2011 in a larger map

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