Jack Alderman
Jack Edward Alderman (May 29, 1951 – September 16, 2008) was, at the time of his execution, the longest-serving death row prisoner in the United States who has been executed. He had remained on death row for over 33 years.
Jack Alderman was born on May 29, 1951, in Garden City, Georgia.
On June 14, 1975, he was convicted for his part in the killing of his wife, Barbara Jean Alderman (née Blase), and was subsequently sentenced to death by the Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia. His wife was beaten to death with a crescent wrench and choked before being dumped into a creek in Rincon, near Barbara's mother's home.
On April 1, 1985, at a new sentencing trial, he was again sentenced to die.
A Timesonline article states: "Alderman's co-defendant, John Brown, a drug addict and alcoholic, confessed to the murder, but then changed his story to implicate Alderman. Brown claimed that he and Alderman killed Mrs Alderman together, and that Alderman promised to pay him for his role in the killing. There was no forensic evidence and Alderman was convicted only as a result of statements provided by Brown."
The prosecutors, however, maintained that Jack Alderman attempted to defraud $20,000 from his wife's life insurance, which was provided for by Barbara's employer, the City of Savannah.
Marcel Berlins of The Guardian wrote: "Alderman had claimed from the start he was innocent, even refusing to enter into plea bargains that would have spared his life, because that would have meant admitting his culpability".
Alderman was held at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia.
He was executed by lethal injection by the US State of Georgia on September 16, 2008.
Jack Alderman was pronounced dead at 7:25 p.m. EDT at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison.
As of August 2023 efforts to exonerate Jack Alderman continue.[1][2]