Thomas v. State

Hunt, Justice.

Welton Jerome Thomas was convicted by a jury of the felony murder of Webster County Sheriff George Goare, and of escape with a dangerous weapon. After a mistrial as to a death sentence, he was sentenced to life and 10 years to be served concurrently.

At the time of Sheriff Goare’s killing on April 11, 1985, the defendant was in custody for the April 5 murder of Morris Moses in Richland, Georgia. After giving a statement regarding that murder, the defendant agreed to show Sheriff Goare where the murder weapon, a metal pipe, could be found. As they proceeded to the scene, near the…