Parole Board Grants Stay for Roy Willard Blankenship

February 4, 2011;

Atlanta, GA - Today, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles granted a stay of execution of the sentence of death for Roy Willard Blankenship. The stay is in place until midnight on February 17, 2011 or until the Board issues an order lifting the stay, whichever first occurs. The purpose for the stay, as stated in the order, is to allow for additional time to examine the substance of claims offered by Blankenship’s representatives at the February 3, 2011, clemency appointment and any additional evidence that becomes available.

Roy W. Blankenship was found guilty in April of 1980 of burglary, murder and rape in the death of 78 year old Sarah Mims Bowen of Savannah. The court sentenced Blankenship to death and also sentenced him to two 20-year sentences for the burglary and rape, to run consecutive to the death sentence, but concurrent to each other. Blankenship confessed upon his arrest. The facts in the case detail the events the night of the murder. Blankenship left a bar in the early morning hours of March 2, 1978. Having worked for the victim previously, he decided to break into her Savannah home. Once inside, he found the victim sitting in a chair and he grabbed her from behind and as they struggled, she fell to the floor becoming unconscious. Blankenship carried her to a bed and raped her. Neighbors found the victim severely beaten and deceased. Footprints left at the scene led police toward Blankenship’s house, where they recovered shoes matching the footprints outside the victim’s apartment. Blankenship’s fingerprints were also found at the crime scene. Forensic evidence established Bowen died from heart failure brought on by the trauma.