# Edward Lee Elmore

Edward Lee Elmore (January 13, 1959 - December 3rd, 2018) was an intellectually disabled man who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1982 rape and murderer of Dorothy Edwards, a wealthy South-Carolinian. His case is notable for him being South Carolina's longest-serving death row inmate--having served 29 out of 31 years in prison on death row--and for substancial criticism surrounding his prosecution. He was removed from death row in 2010 after the U.S. Supreme Court held in Atkins v. Virginia that the exe­cu­tion of the men­tal­ly retard­ed constituted cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment. He was released from prison after being sentenced to time served after an Alford Plea on March 3, 2012.
Elmore maintined his innocence throughout the entirety of his legal battles, and his case has been widely criticised as a miscarrage of justice with many organizations questions claiming his innocence. The story of his numerous trials and appeals was told in Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Raymond Bonner.

## Early Life

Elmore was born on January 13,1959 and grew up in the small town Abbleville, South Carolina. He struggled significantly in school, repeating first grade twice and failing second grade before finally completing it. He did not finish third grade until he was 12 and withdrew from school entirely at 15, while still in fifth grade. Throughout his life, he exhibited severe cognitive impairments; IQ tests administered in 1971, when he was 12, yielded scores of 72 and 58.
Edward worked as a trusted handyman around Greenwood, being trusted to do chores in afluent neighborhoods.

## The Murder of Dorthy Edwards

On (date) January, 1982, Dorthy Edwards was found death in her bedroom closet in Greenwood, South Carolina. She was found my Jimmy Holloway, her neighbor who had let himself into her house after finding her newspapers stacking up outside. Forensic pathologist Dr. Sandra Conradi, who performed the autopsy of Ms. Edwards' body late testified that the victim had been stabbed multiple times in the head, neck, and chest, sustaining over 70 injuries, including defensive wounds, fractured ribs, and vaginal abrasions.
AElmore was hired by Dorthy Edwards to clean her gutters and wash her windows. During their investigaiton of the murder scene, the police found a check written to Elmore for $43 weeks earlier and found Elmore’s thumbprint on the outside back door frame to Edwards's house. Elmore immediately become a suspect, and he was arrested and charged.

### The First Trial

Elmore’s first trial began less than 90 days after the victim’s body was discovered. Elmore was represented by public defender Geddes D. Anderson. Prosecutor William T. Jones III represented the state. Judge E.C. Burnett III was the presiding judge.
The prosecution’s case relied on Sandra Conradi's testimony and Earl Wells who claimed that pubic hairs found on Edwards’s bed matched Elmore’s “to a very high degree of probability.” A state forensic serologist testified that Type A blood was found on jeans recovered from Elmore’s room.
Two state police officers testified that Elmore said if he had killed Edwards, he did not remember it. Jailhouse informant James Gilliam claimed Elmore confessed to robbing Edwards and killing her because “she wouldn’t quit screaming.” Gilliam also testified that Elmore said he wiped everything down to avoid leaving fingerprints.
The prosecution asserted that 53 hairs collected from the victim’s bed—where the alleged rape occurred—were primarily Elmore’s pubic hairs. However, significant issues arose: forensic testimony revealed that only 49 hairs were actually collected, with seven later removed for further testing. The defense failed to challenge this discrepancy. Additionally, the evidence bag was unsealed, raising concerns about possible contamination or tampering. The police also failed to photograph the bed or collect the bedsheets as evidence.
After just two and a half hours of deliberation, the jury found Elmore guilty of murder, criminal sexual conduct, housebreaking, and burglary, recommending a death sentence.
Diana Holt, an intern at South Carolina Death Penalty Resource Center, began investigating Elmore's claims of innocence in 1993. Describing the state's case, she stated, "All the forensic evidence evaporated under the smallest measure of scrutiny.”

### Second Trial

Elomors'e second trial ended the same way as his first. He was convicted and the jury reccomended the death sentence.
The South Carolina Supreme Court overturned the death sentence awarded at this trial because the defense had not been permitted at the sentencing stage to introduce evidence that Elmore had been a model prisoner as demanded by Skipper v. South Carolina. After a rehearing, Elmore was sentenced to death again.

### The Fourth Circuit of Appeals

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reviewed Elmore's appeal in February, 2007. It said that Elmore's case “one of those exceptional cases of ‘extreme malfunctions in the state criminal justice systems’” and questioned his trial attorneys’ “gross failure . . . to investigate the State’s forensic evidence.” He was ordered a new trial.

### Plea Deal

On March 3, 2012, Elmore and his legal team agreed to an Alford Plea with prosecutor Jerry Peace. Elmore was sentenced to time served and released to his family.

## Criticism of Prosecution

Elmore's case has been covered extensivly and labeled by many as a miscarriage of justice.

### Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong

Raymond Bonner covers Elmore's legal battles in his book Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Gone Wrong. There, he presents the case that the state of South Carolina convicted Elmore and kept him in jail despite numerous questions about the reliability of evidence, deceit by the Greenwood District Attorney's Office, and ineffective assistance of counsel by Elmore's initial trial counsel.
Bonner said that Elmor's case “stands out because it rais­es near­ly all the issues that shape debate about cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment: race, men­tal retar­da­tion, a jail­house infor­mant, DNA test­ing, bad defense lawyers, pros­e­cu­to­r­i­al mis­con­duct and a strong claim of inno­cence.”

## Release and Life After Prison

Emore was released from prison on March 3, 2012 following an Alford Plea. He died six years later in 2018.
He is buried at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in Abbelville, South Carolina.
* 1 2 Rinker, Wanda (2018-12-06). "Edward Lee Elmore". Index-Journal. Retrieved 2025-03-19.
* 1 2 "After 28 Years, Judge Spares Life of Inmate With Mental Disabilities". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
* ↑ "'He's really freed now': Friends mourn passing of Elmore". AP News. 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
* 1 2 Bonner, Raymond (2012). Anatomy of Injustice: A Murder Case Gone Wrong. p. 22.
* 1 2 Grinberg, Emanuella (2014-03-07). "Death row lawyer: 'If I throw in the towel, a client dies'". CNN. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
* ↑ Seasly, Rob Warden, John (2019-10-29). "Edward Elmore: Court found "grave questions" about guilt, but defendant never exonerated". Injustice Watch. Retrieved 2025-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
* ↑ "Edward Lee Elmore". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
* ↑ Seasly, Rob Warden, John (2019-10-29). "Edward Elmore: Court found "grave questions" about guilt, but defendant never exonerated". Injustice Watch. Retrieved 2025-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
* ↑ Grinberg, Emanuella (2014-03-07). "Death row lawyer: 'If I throw in the towel, a client dies'". CNN. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
* ↑ "Edward Lee Elmore". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2025-03-18.
* ↑ Seasly, Rob Warden, John (2019-10-29). "Edward Elmore: Court found "grave questions" about guilt, but defendant never exonerated". Injustice Watch. Retrieved 2025-03-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
* ↑ "ANATOMY OF INJUSTICE: A MURDER CASE GONE WRONG". Retrieved 2025-03-18.
* ↑ "South Carolina Inmate Released After Nearly 30 Years on Death Row". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved 2025-03-18.