Where can I find information on Gaile Kirksy Owens who hired a man to kill her husband in Memphis Tennessee?

Question

Gaile Kirksy Owens was convicted for hiring someone to kill her husband and was sentenced to death row around 20-23 years ago. I would like to have all the information possible about her and the circumstances around the case

Answer 1

Owens, Gaile Kirksey: White; age 32 at crime (DOB 9-22-1952); She was convicted of hiring Sidney Porterfield to murder her husband, Ronald Owens, who was beaten to death at the home he shared with his wife and two sons in Bartlett, Shelby County, a Memphis suburb, on 2-17-1985; sentenced to death on 1-15-1986, now in Tennessee state prison.

From Tennessee Court of Appeals Case No. 02C01-9806-CR-00182:

The evidence shows that over a period of months, Mrs. Owens solicited several men to kill her husband. One of these men was Sidney Porterfield. She met with him on at least three occasions, the last being at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 17, 1985. At that time, she told him that her husband would either be home alone that night or would be at the church playing basketball.

That evening Mr. and Mrs. Owens and their two sons attended evening church services. Afterwards, when Mr. Owens remained at church to play basketball, the boys asked, as they usually did, to stay with their father. Mrs. Owens refused their request and took them to a restaurant for dinner and then to the home of Mrs. Owens' sister, where they stayed until approximately 10:30 p.m. When they arrived home at about 11:00 p.m. Mr. Owens' automobile was in the driveway.

The doors were open, the interior light was on and Mr. Owens' coat and tie were on the seat. They found the back door to the house partially open, and the keys in the lock. There were signs of a struggle in the kitchen and blood was splattered on the wall and floor. Mr. Owens was found in the den unconscious, his head covered with blood. Mr. Owens died some six hours later from multiple blows to his head.

The autopsy revealed that Mr. Owens had been struck at least twenty-one times with a blunt instrument, described by the forensic pathologist as a long, striated cylinder such as a tire iron. The blows had driven his face into the floor, crushed his skull and driven bone fragments into his brain. Mr. Owens also had sustained extensive injuries to his hands and sstrands of hair between his fingers indicated he had been covering his head with his hands when he was beaten.

After the killing, George James, one of the men solicited by Mrs. Owens to kill her husband, contacted the police and told them of Mrs. Owens' offer. James then assisted the police by permitting them to record telephone conversations he had with Mrs. Owens. After one of 4 the calls, James met Mrs. Owens in the Raleigh Springs Mall in Memphis. James was wearing a hidden body microphone, which was being monitored by police in a nearby automobile. Mrs. Owens paid
James sixty dollars to keep quiet, telling him that it was all the money she had. She also stated that she had had her husband killed because of "bad marital problems." Mrs. Owens was placed under arrest at the conclusion of her meeting with Mr. James.

At first, Mrs. Owens claimed that she only had hired people to
follow her husband and "to rough him up." She did admit paying out some $ 4,000 to $ 5,000 to various men for expenses. Later she confessed to offering three men $ 5,000 to $ 10,000 to kill her husband and to talking with a man known as "little Johnny" at 2:30 p.m. on the day of the murder about killing her husband. She had promised to pay him three or four days after the murder. When asked why, Mrs. Owens stated, "We've just had a bad marriage over the
years, and I just felt like he had, mentally I just felt like he had been cruel to me. There was very little physical violence."
The man who met Mrs. Owens on Sunday afternoon was
identified by witnesses as Sidney Porterfield. A witness also placed Mr. Porterfield in the vicinity of the Owens' house a week before the killing.

Mr. Porterfield also made a statement to the police which was
entered into evidence. According to Mr. Porterfield, he met with Mrs. Owens on three occasions to discuss plans for the killing of Mr. Owens, the last being at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 17, 1985. He stated that Mrs. Owens offered him $ 17,000 to kill her husband, and that he told her he would have to check out the situation. (Shortly after her husband's funeral Mrs. Owens had asked her father-in law for $17,000 "to pay some bills.") He further stated that he went to the Owens' house that evening at about 9:00 p.m. On leaving his automobile, he put a tire iron in his pocket in case he encountered a dog. Porterfield stated he was walking in the back yard of the Owens' house when Mr. Owens came home; that Mr. Owens would not accept his explanation that he was looking for a house, but informed him he was going to hold him until the police arrived; that Mr. Owens grabbed
him by the arm and attempted to pull him into the house.

According to Porterfield, Mr. Owens had a brief case in one hand and was grasping Porterfield with the other. (No attempt was made to explain how Mr. Owens, with his hands thus occupied, unlocked the door to the house.)

Porterfield said he tried to break away and, when he was
unsuccessful, struck Mr. Owens with the tire iron. The men were then in the kitchen. Mr. Owens threw his hand up for protection, but would not release Mr. Porterfield. Porterfield then continued to strike Mr. Owens with the tire iron, with the result that he did extensive damage to both of Mr. Owens' hands and to his head. On leaving the Owens' house, Mr. Porterfield threw the tire iron and the gloves he was
wearing into a dumpster. They were never recovered.
Defendant Porterfield offered no evidence in his defense.

See also:
Owens v. State, 908 S.W.2d 923
State v. Porterfield, 746 S.W.2d 441

Answer 2

If you're from US, there should be some kinda Freedom of Information act, why don't you just submit a requiry to State police or FBI and ask about the case.

Answer 3

Did you try Google?