ATLANTA - The State Board of Pardons and Paroles has scheduled a meeting for Wednesday, March 14, 2018, to consider clemency for condemned inmate Carlton Michael Gary. The sole purpose of this meeting is to receive information for or against clemency for Gary. The Board’s meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

The Superior Court of Muscogee County has ordered the execution of Gary for the 1977 Columbus murders of Florence Scheible, Martha Thurmond and Kathleen Woodruff.  The Georgia Department of Corrections has scheduled the execution to take place by lethal injection on Thursday, March 15, 2018, at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

In August of 1986, Gary was convicted in Muscogee County of three counts of malice murder, three counts of rape and three counts of burglary and sentenced to death. The Georgia Supreme Court denied Gary’s appeal on December 1, 2017, and his motion for reconsideration was denied on January 16, 2018. The United States Supreme Court has denied all previous appeals in the case.

In Georgia, the Parole Board has the sole constitutional authority to grant clemency and commute, or reduce a death sentence to life with the possibility of parole or to life without the possibility of parole. Following the meeting, the Board may commute the sentence, issue a stay of up to 90-days, or deny clemency.

The Board maintains a comprehensive file on each death row inmate. The file contains the history of the life of the condemned inmate, including the inmate’s criminal history and the circumstances of the crime that was committed resulting in the death sentence.

It is anticipated that the meeting will be closed as authorized by O.C.G.A. § 50-14-3 (a)(2). No public comment will be taken at this meeting and no other business will be conducted. Media will be afforded the opportunity to take photographs prior to the meeting. Media should arrive by 8:30 a.m. to be cleared for entry by building security on the Plaza Level and proceed to check in with credentials in the Board’s public reception office at 2 Martin Luther King, Jr., Drive, S.E., East Tower, 4th Floor, room 458. Members of the media will be given an opportunity to interview those appearing before the Board, if they choose to grant interviews.

To view a photo of Carlton Michael Gary, go to www.gdc.georgia.gov, click on Find an Offender, agree to the terms on the disclaimer page and search by the offender’s EF number, 197140.

For more information please contact Steve Hayes, Communications Director, at 404-657-9450 or [email protected] or visit our website at www.pap.georgia.gov.

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