Hastings Arthur Wise
Encyclopedia
Hastings Arthur Wise was a convicted U.S mass murderer who was executed in the U.S. state
of South Carolina
for killing four former co-workers. Sometimes erroneously referred to by the press as "Arthur Hastings Wise," he was known simply as Hastings Wise to the people he worked with.
Wise shot and killed Charles Griffeth, David Moore, Leonard Filyaw, and Sheryl Wood on September 15, 1997 at the R.E. Phelon Company lawn mower
parts manufacturing factory
in Aiken, South Carolina
, his former employer.
The motive for the murders was Wise's termination of employment
with the factory following a confrontation with a supervisor eleven weeks earlier. Wise had worked there as a machine operator for more than four years until his firing in July 1997. After his dismissal, Wise told co-workers he would "be back."
Testimony was presented at trial that he had felt discriminated against for his African-American race all his life. The jobs he wanted were given to white employees by a white personnel director. Wise killed the director, and three other white workers as well.
On September 15, the day of the murders, Hastings Wise drove into the Phelon employee parking lot for a scheduled meeting to pick up a box of personal items from Stanley Vance, a security guard
. Instead, he shot Vance in the chest with a semi-automatic
pistol
. Wise tore out the guard station's phone lines and told Vance, "I got things to do." Vance survived his injuries.
Wise then entered the main building, first going to the personnel office, where he fatally shot Charles Griffeth, the man who had fired him, twice in the back. Griffeth was 56 years old.
The next victims were in the tool and die area. He fired rapidly, killing David Wayne Moore, 30, and Ernest Leonard Filyaw ("Leonard"), 31. Two other people were injured in this area. According to news reports, both Moore and Filyaw were engaged to be married at the time of their murders. According to court documents, Wise had wanted a promotion to the tool and die area where Moore and Filyaw worked, but had not gotten it.
The last victim was Esther Sheryl Wood ("Sheryl"), 27, who held a quality control
position. He first shot her in the back and leg and then, in what Aiken County
prosecutor Barbara Morgan described as "execution-style," shot her in the head. Contemporary news reports stated he had been denied a promotion to Wood's job.
Wise reloaded several times as he walked through the plant, shooting and screaming something incomprehensible to the witnesses who later testified at trial. Police recovered four empty magazines, each with a capacity of 8 bullets. There were also four full magazines and 123 more bullets.
After Wise reached the upper floor of the plant, he lay down and swallowed insecticide as a suicide
attempt. He was semi-conscious when police located him.
in August 1998. His trial
was delayed when the judge
assigned to it was changed in 2000, and underwent a further delay when one of his defense attorneys was arrested in North Augusta, South Carolina
on domestic violence
charges. Although the crimes were committed in Aiken County, the trial itself was held in Beaufort County, South Carolina
by order of the trial judge, who felt that the publicity around the crime may have tainted the Aiken County jury pool.
A psychiatrist who assessed Wise said that he drove over 9,000 miles in the two weeks before the murders, in a desire to visit and see sights such as the San Diego Zoo
before carrying out the crimes he planned to commit. The psychiatrist said that the only motive behind the murders was the dismissal from his job, and that Wise felt he had been mistreated all his life due to being African American
.
After a two-week trial in which the defense called no witnesses, Wise was convicted of the four murders after five hours of deliberation by the jury
.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, at Wise's insistence, no character witnesses were called by the defense, although his attorneys had a slate of thirteen people willing to testify. Wise reportedly said:
He was given the death penalty for all four murders. Wise was also sentenced to 60 years for the non-fatal shootings Stan Vance, Jerry Corley and John Mucha, all of whom survived. Shorter concurrent sentences were given for burglary and possession of a gun during the commission of a violent crime.
After conviction, on February 2, 2001, Wise was transferred to the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections
, where he was known as Inmate #00005074.
After an automatic appeal
to the South Carolina Supreme Court
, the conviction and sentence were upheld. Wise's court-appointed attorneys then appealed to the United States Supreme Court
, which declined to hear the appeal.
At that point, Wise wrote to the state Supreme Court to say that the
second appeal was made against his wishes and that he wanted to die.
Wise thus waived the right to further appeals of his death sentence
. He was the sixth person to do so since South Carolina reintroduced capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia
.
By refusing to pursue all his permitted appeals, Wise became what is known in legal and correctional circles as a "volunteer" for execution. This is consistent with his careful planning and the suicide attempt at the plant, which suggest that he may have been planning "suicide by cop
" as well. Whether by the insecticide he ingested, or by police action, or by formal execution, Hastings Wise clearly did not intend to survive his revenge spree.
After hearings to assess his competence to make this decision, the execution date of November 4 was set by the state Supreme Court on September 26, 2005.
, at the Broad River Correctional Institution
on Friday, November 4, 2005. He chose to make no final statement but did order a last meal
of lobster
back, french fries
, coleslaw
, banana pudding
and milk
. During the execution process, he just stared at the ceiling. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. EST.
Wise was the second person executed in South Carolina in 2005 and the thirty-fourth inmate executed there since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. According to a roster maintained by the prosecutor of Clark County, Indiana, Wise was the 992nd person to be executed nationwide since the restoration of the death penalty in 1976.
Vance himself sued R.E. Phelon, and settled with them in March 2001 prior to the Regent Security Services settlement. Vance's argument was that Phelon failed to warn him that Hastings Wise had a history of prior disruptions there. The amount of Vance's settlement was also undisclosed.
Phelon and its insuror, Liberty Mutual, brought four suits against Regent on behalf of 32 employees who received workers' compensation
payments for injuries and trauma related to the event. In July 2001, Phelon and Liberty dropped the four state lawsuits and intervened in the federal lawsuits filed by the victims, hoping to recover some of the over $380,000 spent on the work comp claims.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
for killing four former co-workers. Sometimes erroneously referred to by the press as "Arthur Hastings Wise," he was known simply as Hastings Wise to the people he worked with.
Wise shot and killed Charles Griffeth, David Moore, Leonard Filyaw, and Sheryl Wood on September 15, 1997 at the R.E. Phelon Company lawn mower
Lawn mower
A lawn mower is a machine that uses a revolving blade or blades to cut a lawn at an even length.Lawn mowers employing a blade that rotates about a vertical axis are known as rotary mowers, while those employing a blade assembly that rotates about a horizontal axis are known as cylinder or reel...
parts manufacturing factory
Factory
A factory or manufacturing plant is an industrial building where laborers manufacture goods or supervise machines processing one product into another. Most modern factories have large warehouses or warehouse-like facilities that contain heavy equipment used for assembly line production...
in Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken, South Carolina
Aiken is a city in and the county seat of Aiken County, South Carolina, United States. With Augusta, Georgia, it is one of the two largest cities of the Central Savannah River Area. It is part of the Augusta-Richmond County Metropolitan Statistical Area. Aiken is home to the University of South...
, his former employer.
Crime
Hastings Wise was an ex-convict who had served prison time for bank robbery and receipt of stolen goods before obtaining a technical degree and, eventually, finding employment at R.E. Phelon. He had no criminal convictions for the approximately fifteen years between his release from prison and the murders of 1997. According to his pastor, in eleven years, he had "hardly ever" missed a week of Sunday services.The motive for the murders was Wise's termination of employment
Termination of employment
-Involuntary termination:Involuntary termination is the employee's departure at the hands of the employer. There are two basic types of involuntary termination, known often as being "fired" and "laid off." To be fired, as opposed to being laid off, is generally thought of to be the employee's...
with the factory following a confrontation with a supervisor eleven weeks earlier. Wise had worked there as a machine operator for more than four years until his firing in July 1997. After his dismissal, Wise told co-workers he would "be back."
Testimony was presented at trial that he had felt discriminated against for his African-American race all his life. The jobs he wanted were given to white employees by a white personnel director. Wise killed the director, and three other white workers as well.
On September 15, the day of the murders, Hastings Wise drove into the Phelon employee parking lot for a scheduled meeting to pick up a box of personal items from Stanley Vance, a security guard
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
. Instead, he shot Vance in the chest with a semi-automatic
Semi-automatic firearm
A semi-automatic, or self-loading firearm is a weapon which performs all steps necessary to prepare the weapon to fire again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine...
pistol
Pistol
When distinguished as a subset of handguns, a pistol is a handgun with a chamber that is integral with the barrel, as opposed to a revolver, wherein the chamber is separate from the barrel as a revolving cylinder. Typically, pistols have an effective range of about 100 feet.-History:The pistol...
. Wise tore out the guard station's phone lines and told Vance, "I got things to do." Vance survived his injuries.
Wise then entered the main building, first going to the personnel office, where he fatally shot Charles Griffeth, the man who had fired him, twice in the back. Griffeth was 56 years old.
The next victims were in the tool and die area. He fired rapidly, killing David Wayne Moore, 30, and Ernest Leonard Filyaw ("Leonard"), 31. Two other people were injured in this area. According to news reports, both Moore and Filyaw were engaged to be married at the time of their murders. According to court documents, Wise had wanted a promotion to the tool and die area where Moore and Filyaw worked, but had not gotten it.
The last victim was Esther Sheryl Wood ("Sheryl"), 27, who held a quality control
Quality control
Quality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities review the quality of all factors involved in production. This approach places an emphasis on three aspects:...
position. He first shot her in the back and leg and then, in what Aiken County
Aiken County, South Carolina
Aiken County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2000, its population was 142,552; in 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that its population had reached 160,099...
prosecutor Barbara Morgan described as "execution-style," shot her in the head. Contemporary news reports stated he had been denied a promotion to Wood's job.
Wise reloaded several times as he walked through the plant, shooting and screaming something incomprehensible to the witnesses who later testified at trial. Police recovered four empty magazines, each with a capacity of 8 bullets. There were also four full magazines and 123 more bullets.
After Wise reached the upper floor of the plant, he lay down and swallowed insecticide as a suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
attempt. He was semi-conscious when police located him.
Trial and appeals
Wise was indictedIndictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
in August 1998. His trial
Jury trial
A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...
was delayed when the judge
Judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
assigned to it was changed in 2000, and underwent a further delay when one of his defense attorneys was arrested in North Augusta, South Carolina
North Augusta, South Carolina
North Augusta is a city in Aiken County, South Carolina, United States, on the north bank of the Savannah River. The population was 21,348 at the 2010 census. The city is included in the Central Savannah River Area and is also part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.- History :North...
on domestic violence
Domestic violence
Domestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
charges. Although the crimes were committed in Aiken County, the trial itself was held in Beaufort County, South Carolina
Beaufort County, South Carolina
-National protected areas:*Ernest F. Hollings ACE Basin National Wildlife Refuge *Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 155,215 people, 45,532 households, and 33,056 families residing in the county. The population density was 206 people per...
by order of the trial judge, who felt that the publicity around the crime may have tainted the Aiken County jury pool.
A psychiatrist who assessed Wise said that he drove over 9,000 miles in the two weeks before the murders, in a desire to visit and see sights such as the San Diego Zoo
San Diego Zoo
The San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, is one of the most progressive zoos in the world, with over 4,000 animals of more than 800 species...
before carrying out the crimes he planned to commit. The psychiatrist said that the only motive behind the murders was the dismissal from his job, and that Wise felt he had been mistreated all his life due to being African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
.
After a two-week trial in which the defense called no witnesses, Wise was convicted of the four murders after five hours of deliberation by the jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, at Wise's insistence, no character witnesses were called by the defense, although his attorneys had a slate of thirteen people willing to testify. Wise reportedly said:
- "I don't have much to say except that I did not wish to take advantage of the court as far as asking [for] mercy. It's a fair trial. I committed the crimes."
He was given the death penalty for all four murders. Wise was also sentenced to 60 years for the non-fatal shootings Stan Vance, Jerry Corley and John Mucha, all of whom survived. Shorter concurrent sentences were given for burglary and possession of a gun during the commission of a violent crime.
After conviction, on February 2, 2001, Wise was transferred to the custody of the South Carolina Department of Corrections
South Carolina Department of Corrections
The South Carolina Department of Corrections is the agency responsible for corrections in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It currently has about 6,000 employees and 23,000 inmates, in 28 institutions. The agency has its headquarters in Columbia....
, where he was known as Inmate #00005074.
After an automatic appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
to the South Carolina Supreme Court
South Carolina Supreme Court
The South Carolina Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The court is composed of a Chief Justice and four Associate Justices.-Selection of Justices:...
, the conviction and sentence were upheld. Wise's court-appointed attorneys then appealed to the United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
, which declined to hear the appeal.
At that point, Wise wrote to the state Supreme Court to say that the
second appeal was made against his wishes and that he wanted to die.
Wise thus waived the right to further appeals of his death sentence
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
. He was the sixth person to do so since South Carolina reintroduced capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia
Gregg v. Georgia, Proffitt v. Florida, Jurek v. Texas, Woodson v. North Carolina, and Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 153 , reaffirmed the United States Supreme Court's acceptance of the use of the death penalty in the United States, upholding, in particular, the death sentence imposed on Troy Leon...
.
By refusing to pursue all his permitted appeals, Wise became what is known in legal and correctional circles as a "volunteer" for execution. This is consistent with his careful planning and the suicide attempt at the plant, which suggest that he may have been planning "suicide by cop
Suicide by cop
Suicide by cop is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately acts in a threatening way, with the goal of provoking a lethal response from a law enforcement officer or other armed individual, such as being shot to death....
" as well. Whether by the insecticide he ingested, or by police action, or by formal execution, Hastings Wise clearly did not intend to survive his revenge spree.
After hearings to assess his competence to make this decision, the execution date of November 4 was set by the state Supreme Court on September 26, 2005.
Execution
Wise was executed by the method he had chosen, lethal injectionLethal injection
Lethal injection is the practice of injecting a person with a fatal dose of drugs for the express purpose of causing the immediate death of the subject. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the term may also be applied in a broad sense to euthanasia and suicide...
, at the Broad River Correctional Institution
Broad River Correctional Institution
Broad River Correctional Institution is a South Carolina Department of Corrections state prison for men located in Columbia, South Carolina. The State of South Carolina execution chamber is located in Broad River....
on Friday, November 4, 2005. He chose to make no final statement but did order a last meal
Last meal
The last meal is a customary part of a condemned prisoner's last day. Often, the day of, or before, the appointed time of execution, the prisoner receives a last meal, as well as religious rites, if they desire. In the United States, inmates generally may not ask for an alcoholic drink...
of lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
back, french fries
French fries
French fries , chips, fries, or French-fried potatoes are strips of deep-fried potato. North Americans tend to refer to any pieces of deep-fried potatoes as fries or French fries, while in the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, long, thinly cut slices of deep-fried potatoes are...
, coleslaw
Coleslaw
Coleslaw, sometimes simply called slaw in some American dialects, is a salad consisting primarily of shredded raw cabbage. It may also include shredded carrots and other ingredients such as fruits and vegetables, apples, onions, green onions, peppers and various spices.-History:The term "coleslaw"...
, banana pudding
Banana pudding
Banana pudding is a dessert generally consisting of repeated layers of sweet vanilla custard, cookies and sliced fresh bananas placed in a dish and served, topped with whipped cream or meringue. The wafers absorb the custard.It is commonly associated with Southern U.S. cuisine, however, it can be...
and milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
. During the execution process, he just stared at the ceiling. He was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. EST.
Wise was the second person executed in South Carolina in 2005 and the thirty-fourth inmate executed there since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. According to a roster maintained by the prosecutor of Clark County, Indiana, Wise was the 992nd person to be executed nationwide since the restoration of the death penalty in 1976.
Civil suits
Ten people who were survivors of the shooting, or relatives of the dead, filed a civil suit against the security firm for which Vance worked, Regent Security Services. Federal District Court Judge Cameron Currie oversaw the settlement which was reached Monday, November 5, 2001, just one day before the case was scheduled to go to trial. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed.Vance himself sued R.E. Phelon, and settled with them in March 2001 prior to the Regent Security Services settlement. Vance's argument was that Phelon failed to warn him that Hastings Wise had a history of prior disruptions there. The amount of Vance's settlement was also undisclosed.
Phelon and its insuror, Liberty Mutual, brought four suits against Regent on behalf of 32 employees who received workers' compensation
Workers' compensation
Workers' compensation is a form of insurance providing wage replacement and medical benefits to employees injured in the course of employment in exchange for mandatory relinquishment of the employee's right to sue his or her employer for the tort of negligence...
payments for injuries and trauma related to the event. In July 2001, Phelon and Liberty dropped the four state lawsuits and intervened in the federal lawsuits filed by the victims, hoping to recover some of the over $380,000 spent on the work comp claims.
See also
- Capital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United StatesCapital punishment in the United States, in practice, applies only for aggravated murder and more rarely for felony murder. Capital punishment was a penalty at common law, for many felonies, and was enforced in all of the American colonies prior to the Declaration of Independence...
- List of individuals executed in South Carolina
External links
- Augusta Chronicle coverage of Hastings Arthur Wise trial through 2001; accessed September 19, 2006.
- Hastings Arthur Wise a subsite of a collection of information on death penalty sentences nationwide maintained by Clark County, Indiana prosecutor's office; contains numerous official records and media reports about Wise; accessed September 19, 2006.
- Hastings Wise a "Volunteer" for Execution November 3, 2005 Associated PressAssociated PressThe Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
report reproduced in The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg, SC; accessed September 19, 2006. - State v. Wise (2004) online text of appeal found in print as 596 S.E.2d 475; accessed September 19, 2006.