The Lurker in the Library: Serial Killer Gregory Davis

Little is known about the case of Mississippi Serial Killer Gregory Davis, but Lark pieces together his crimes and the aftermath. Ever feel like you were being watched through the stacks?

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Episode Transcript

(00:30):
Hey, y'all, welcome back toKazuo Killers. Kim and I are so
happy that y'all have joined us againtoday. And today I have an interesting
story that I'm really surprised. It'skind of a been very deeply buried because

(00:51):
it is about a man called GregoryDavis, who was a serial killer you
probably have never heard of in thelate eighties in Mississippi, and I was
appalled by his crimes. More so, well, ye'll be the judge.

(01:11):
He murdered defenseless elderly women, mostover the age of eighty years old.
He beat, raped, strangled,mutulated, and had sex with their dead
bodies. Oh jeez. He wasa peeping tom, an acrophiliac, and
a cold blooded killer. This ishow it all started. Gregory Davis was

(01:34):
born in Jackson, Mississippi, innineteen sixty six. We've all, well,
Kim and I've been to Jackson,Mississippi, plenty of times, haven't
we know. We've been through there, well, on our way to someplace
else, usually on our way toNew Orleans. Usually anyway. He was
the son of a Baptist minister.At an early age, he developed a

(01:56):
sexual fixation on older women. Thepublic library was his favorite hangout, but
for not the reasons you may think. He would lurk for hours through the
stacks, spying on women and sometimesreaching through the stacks and through the books

(02:17):
to fondle and grope unsuspecting victims asthey browsed for books. Jeez, m
somebody reached through the books to grabme and fondle me. I think I'd
go around the other side and smackhim in the head. Well, I
know you would, and if itwere me, I mean, and I
know you too. I mean,think about all those books. You grab

(02:38):
a book, if you don't havea book bag in your head, grab
a book. There's web somewhere,so he would, like, you know,
you know, peep through and lookto the other side. And what's
he seeing. All he's seeing istheir tight sweaters or their their boobies right
there. So he'd brush his handagainst their breasts and then whip or brushes

(03:01):
hands even lower down to their behindsor their legs. I mean, to
me, this is kind of anew twist on peeping. It's sort of
a mixture of people. Not evenit's molestation, is what it is.
Well, yeah, I mean it'spretty bald. I just uh, you
know, it's yeah, it's notpeeping, but it's taking it to the

(03:23):
next step. So in January nineteeneighty five, librarians called police on a
patron's complaint that Davis was crawling aroundon the floor and peeping up her skirt
and touching her legs. Well,he had a lot of nerve, I'll
give him that. Well, Iknow, in a public library, I

(03:44):
know, he's really he's really baldbecause in a way, you're sort of
trapped in the stacks. You know, if y'all think about it, you're
you know, they're dead ends.Basic. It must have been a high
for him to do it in adangerous place, a place where he could
get caught or something. Well that'skind of what I'm thinking too. But
well, anyway, so the policecame and he was arrested for peeping and
touching, and he was charged withdisorderly conduct, now, which is nothing,

(04:11):
yeah, exactly. But when thepolice frisked him and they checked his
pockets for weapons, he was alsocarrying to stolen credit cards. Interesting,
now, his father, Remember hisfather's a minister, and he has an
upstanding reputation as a minister. Hewas humiliated by them. Sure, I'm

(04:33):
sure. So, even though thecharges were only misdemeanors, he packed his
son off to Albany, Georgia.He got him, just leave him someplace
else so he can do it there. Yeah, yeah, well there.
Davis enrolled in the Job Corps andthis is a program supposedly to help people

(04:56):
get jobs. To teach him,it's a training course. But geography didn't
deter him, so he applied thenew situation to his advantage. Because where
there was relatively another captive group.Again, it was kind of a school
classroom situation. He'd take this opportunityto drop his pencil and class as an

(05:19):
excuse to wriggle and wiggle under thedesks and fundle again the women's legs.
Right. Yeah, you know,man, I really wish one of these
women would have just kicked him rightin the face. I mean, even
even out of reflex, right,just give him the smack with her point

(05:40):
pointy shoes. But that never happened, and of course he continued to become
bolder and bolder, and of courseneed more stimulation. So these quick and
dirty thrills were not giving him lastingsatisfaction, so he upped his game and
on at least one occasion, hereportedly exposed himself in the classroom. I
mean, well, how does hegot to have a few loose screws,

(06:04):
because I mean, who would dothat? You know you're going to be
seen and cut. Well, youwould think that the men in that class,
at the very least would have tackledhim or you know, you know,
done something. Right. He couldn'thave been the only guy. I

(06:25):
mean, I'm speculating, but youwould think so. Anyway. Albany Pillies
later accused Job Corps leaders of coveringup his escapades in order to spare themself
embarrassment. Probably. Yeah, nowhe's still keep in mind, he's still
in Albany, right, he's stillin Georgia. So. On October seventeenth,

(06:45):
nineteen eighty six, fifty nine yearold Lucy Spillers was killed in her
Albany home, one block from thewarehouse occupied by the Job Corps trainees.
She's fifty nine. Okay, she'sfifty nine and it's one block away.
M Yeah. Police found miss Spillerstied to the foot of her bed with

(07:10):
the rope. The rope was aroundher neck and she had been sexually mutilated
with a butcher knot that's done.That's horrible, it really is. It's
pretty horrific. So no one suspectedDavis. Well I wonder why not?
Well, I mean he's been exposinghimself all over creation a block away from

(07:31):
the house. Well, I know, I mean it is in a way,
it's a pretty big leap from flasherto peeping tom to murderer as his
pathology goes right right, Okay,So then by November nineteen eighty six,
within a few weeks, within justa few weeks, Davis was back home
in Jackson. And another two weeksgo by, and on November the eighteenth,

(07:57):
eighty one year old, an elderlylady, Mary DeWitt, was sexually
assaulted and beaten to death in herhome Coward. Huh. Three weeks go
by, and on December eleventh,Bertha Tanner, eighty three year old,

(08:18):
was also beaten to death and sexuallyassaulted, all of the same patterns.
That's crazy. Well, it's it'sjust kind of I don't know, and
it makes you wonder where he gothis kink on, you know, right,
I mean my brain This is kindof sound, probably horrible, but
my brain makes me wonder what washe doing in the church when his dad

(08:43):
was the minister. Was he crawlingaround on the floor under those pews,
you know what I mean? Yeah, and a lot of those ladies were.
You know, they're older ladies thatare up in the church like that,
right least at least they are inMississippi they are, So it just
kind of makes you wonder, whyis this his caink with the older ladies,

(09:05):
other than they're weak, you know, they're easy targets their prey.
They're easy, easy, they're notgoing to fight back. He he didn't
have any history of no of anelderly person like a grandmother who took care
of him or nothing I know of. It was really hard to find anything
about any of this, and thatjust kind of, yeah, if it

(09:28):
surprises me because he did kill allof these people, and you know,
there wasn't even anything on the majorityof the victims. I mean, we're
going to talk about the main victimand what finally tripped him up here in
just a second. So I dobelieve that that would be a good time
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(09:52):
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(10:26):
you're invited to Harpy Hour. I'mTracy, I'm Liz, I'm Steph.
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(10:54):
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us out on Harpy Hour podcast dotcom. Okay, bye, thanks for

(11:28):
coming back, y'all. And so, where we last left off, Gregory
Davis had just killed his third elderlyvictim. So if you're not hating him
already, I think you're gonna hatehim more here in a minute. There
seemed to be a pretty big spaceof time before the next murder. A
seventy four year old survivor was attackedon March the twenty fifth, and she

(11:52):
provided police with a vague description ofthe suspect. But then yet another month
would pass before they actually tracked himdown and got the ball rolling to really
send his self to the clink.So on March thirty first, nineteen eighty
seven, Gregory Davis went to ManshipStreet to visit a friend who lived in

(12:16):
an apartment there. Davis arrived atthe apartment around seven pm, but his
friend wasn't home, so he walkednext door to nine oh one Manship,
the home of Addie Reid, aneighty year old widow who lived there now.
She lived alone, and Davis checkedthe doors and windows to see if
she was at home and alone.Then he unscrewed the light bulb on the

(12:41):
front porch. Davis then went aroundto the back of the house, where,
using a small table, he enteredthe house through the bedroom window,
which was unlocked. I mean,back in the day we kept her things
unlocked well, not in the eighties, late eighties. Most places anyway,
maybe a little town if you're ifyou're eight years old and you're in Mississippi.

(13:03):
I don't know. My mother isbad still and she should know better.
But anyway, So once inside,Davis took eight dollars eight bucks from
missus Reid's purse and then hid behindthe bedroom door as missus Reid entered the
room. Once she saw Davis,missus Reid began to scream. Davis struck

(13:26):
missus Reid several times in the face, and then put his arm around her
neck and dragged her from the bedroominto the dining room. After strangling her
on the dining room table, hecovered her face with a towel and sexually
assaulted her. No her dead body, y'all. He then left the house

(13:48):
through the front door and walked upmanship street in a westerly direction past a
doctor's office. Now there he threwher purse, a small flashlight in a
jewelry box he'd taken from her houseonto the roof of the doctor's office.
What was the purpose of that,I wonder? What? Taking those things?
Well, throwing him up on theroof of the doctor's office instead of

(14:09):
you know, throwing him in atrash can or something. I don't know.
I guess he thought he could justget rid of him like that and
you know, nobody would find him. I don't think he's the sharpest tack
in the box, right, Imean, and I also don't think he
really has a plan. I thinkthat maybe he's an opportunistic series exactly.

(14:30):
Yeah, like he Yeah, Ithink you probably knew she lived nearby,
and even though because so, hey, but he's not home, I think
I'll rape this lady, you know, raper and killer with the hell you
know. Yeah, Oh my gosh. So anyway, almost a month later,
on April the twenty seventh, innineteen eighty seven, the Jackson Police
Department receive a call from Bailey Avenueconcerning a possible house burglary. Several officers

(14:54):
respond to that call, which resultin the arrest of Gregory Davis finally and
his younger brother Thomas in the parkinglot of Jackson Mall. Okay, And
this was for what suspected burglary.Davis was first taken by Officer Shirley Williams
to the Bailey Avenue complainants so wherea positive identification was made. I love

(15:18):
it that a woman arrested him.I love that. So she identifies him.
After the identification, Davis placed underarrest and taken to Precinct three in
the Jackson Mall. So the ladythat escaped identified him at the police station.
Yes, okay, yes, howdid they make that connection? I
wonder I was just curious. Idon't know. After the identification, Davis

(15:46):
was placed under arrest and taken toPrecinct three in the Jackson Mall. Davis
was read as Miranda Rights, waivedthem, and was questioned for a brief
time about the house burglary. Afterindicating that he wished to remain island the
question, he ended, okay,even though he waved his Miranda Rights,

(16:06):
and then he said, I'll wait, I'll be a bit quiet, okay,
bud. He was then transported downtownto the city jail. So they
caught him in the mall, andI'm thinking that they I don't know if
she was a mall cop or ifshe was a real cop, you know,
but at least they caught him atthe mall. So they took him
down to the downtown jail and thenext day, on April the twenty eighth,
nineteen eighty seven, Detective Charles Chrisconoted that Gregory Davis had been arrested

(16:33):
for the house burglary on Bailey Avenue. This is where they're starting to put
this stuff together. There have beennumerous similar incidents in that general area,
and Chrisco thought these incidents might berelated to the Reed murder. So they
never really mentioned the other murders,but they're focused on this one and at
least this one takes him down.So, along with his partner, Detective

(16:56):
Robert Jordan, Chrisco took Davis intoone of the irrigation rooms on the third
floor of the police department and beganto question him at about one thirty pm.
Before the questioning, Davis was onceagain read his miranda rights and waived
them, but this time he waivedthem in writing what an idiot. Okay,

(17:17):
So after I know. So aftersome preliminary questioning concerning the Bailey Avenue
incident and other bricklies, chris Gobegan to question Davis about the red murder.
After initially denying any involvement, Davisadmitted he killed her. Oh my
god, he just up and said, yeah, it was me. Yeah,
yeah, I'm telling you. Imean, there didn't seem to be

(17:40):
a whole lot of pressure or youknow whatever. He just said. Yeah.
So the police recorded Davis's statement,had a transcript made of the statement,
and also had a policeman take atype statement. So they wanted it
left and right the one rook covered, you know. But during the interrogation,
the officers took Davis over to thedoctor's office on Manship Street. Remember,

(18:00):
and then I guess what, Yep, they found the pink climbed up
and found Yes, they did.They found her little pink pars her flashlight
in the jewelry box on top ofthe roof. Yeah, but why did
they go to the doctor's office.There are so many under answered questions about
the well. I couldn't find informationon it. In't there Well, it
was the roof of the doctor's office. So he's uh so he threw the

(18:23):
stuff on the well. I justwondered why they went there? Did they
he tell him that? Well,he probably told them, Yeah, I
mean he probably can this stuff.What I'm telling you here was what actually
came from the court trial. Okay, but the other stuff wasn't wasn't in
there? It's just I don't knowwhy it's so buried. I really don't

(18:45):
understand why it's so buried. Becausethis boy was a serial killer, you
know. Gregory Davis's trial began onJanuary thirteenth, nineteen eighty eight. Davis
didn't testify on his behalf, buthe offered the defense of insanta. Well,
of course he did. Conflicting psychologicaland psychiatric testimonies were presented. Of

(19:06):
course they were. Yeah, Andat one point early in the trial,
oh my god, his eyes rolledback in the back of his head and
he passed out. He just hitthe ground. If he passed out at
the defense table, well, theyscooped him up, took him up.
That was on a Friday. Heescaped him up, took him to the
hospital, let him, I guess, recover, and then they started trial

(19:27):
again on Monday. That at followingMonday, the lawyers all sided the stress
of a murder trial, well gee, you think, well, yeah,
it should be stressful. You killedsomebody exactly. So, when the state
attempted to introduce certain photographs into evidence, defense counsel objected, saying that the
pictures were too gruesome. I guess, yeah, I can only imagine they

(19:52):
were repetitive, and that they wouldprejudice resulting from their introduction would far outweigh
any probative value the pictures might havehad. Now, I tend to wonder
if that's why I couldn't find anypictures. You know. The child court
allowed some of the pictures in andexcluded others, including certain post autopsy pictures.

(20:14):
The state also introduced Davis's confession intoevidence over defense counsel's objection. Now
according to the Supreme Court of MississippiGregory Davis versus State of Mississippi. In
July the twenty sixth, nineteen eightynine, Gregory Davis was indicted for the
capital murder of Addie Reid by thegrand Jury of the Circuit Court for the
First Judicial District of Hines County,Mississippi. The case was transferred to Forest

(20:38):
County for trial on a motion forchange of venue. After deliberating for thirty
five minutes. Only thirty five minutes, the jury found Gregory Davis guilty of
capital murder. The jury then proceededto sentence Davis to death. Oh wow,
from that confection and sentence, heappeals aside for eras within that trial

(21:02):
finding no reversible era, the courtaffirmed at the convisition and the sentence would
stand. So that's my story fortoday. I think it just pisses me
off that he did this too littleold ladies. Well, yeah, and
I don't understand why they even whyhe had a trial. I mean,
I can understand they have sentencing trialswhen someone confesses, but he confessed,

(21:26):
didn't he or did he go inand plead innocent after he confessed and wrote
down his confession? I mean,what why did he happen? Well,
he went in, Remember he wentin and claimed he was insane, but
he never I don't think he everdenied it, so they did have to
have a trial. Then if hejust said he was insane, I guess
right, Like I said, Imean, the thing that pisses me off

(21:48):
so much is that these are theweakest of the week, invulnerable. They're
little old ladies, they're elderly folks. Yeah, really pisses me off to
Yeah, and you were such abig brave man that you went in and
attacked elderly ladies you knew couldn't fightback, right, And I wanted y'all
to hear his name and know whata cowardly, evil person he was,

(22:11):
because you know, what a creepydude. And I love the library and
I spent a lot of my time, my whole life there. I just
remember as a child, my motherwould drop me up with my best friend,
whose mother was the main librarian,and we would play in the library
and run up and down the stacksand all of that. And then,

(22:33):
you know, it just creeps meout looking back to imagine who could have
been watching us, right, Notthat we were his type, but that's
not the point. Well, that'strue about anywhere in any place that you
go, really. I mean,it's a scary world out there, and
you just have to decide you're notgoing to be scared by it and do

(22:55):
what you want to do anyway.But yeah, right, we really didn't
need to be aware of our surannings. And have you ever had anything weird
happened to you at the library,Kim at the Memphis Public Library? Yeah,
me too at the Memphis But that'sgo ahead, I'll tell you that's
a whole other story. That's awhole other thing. You know. People

(23:15):
want money and yeah, yeah likethat. Yeah, And that was that
was over twenty years ago too.We you know, I know that in
the Memphis library for me, Ihad a lady panhandle me and the stacks,
and you feel you feel trapped.I mean I really felt trapped.
I gave her a ten dollar billand that was a long time ago,
and just to get her out awayfrom me, right. But I mean,

(23:37):
these people are homeless, so wekind of have to feel a little
sorry for them. And I dogive handouts when let's see folks, or
I buy them food, mostly aright food, right, but you know
it's they get kind of bold sometimesand it can get a little scary if
they get really bold. Yeah,because we really don't know how. You
know, you just don't know whya person is in a desperate stay eight

(24:00):
and you know, hey, takemy tin. I'm all good, but
you know, I can't imagine ifsomeone was touching me and then diving down
behind the books and it's just creepy. Yeah it is, you know,
you know, so I don't know, but I just wanted you guys to
hear it from me. And Iknow it's not terribly as juicy as normal,

(24:22):
but if you gonna hurt my grandma, y'all gonna piss me off,
so I'm just speaking up for ourlittle little grandma's out there. So anyway,
all right, then, well thatwas an interesting one. And there's
there's another serial killer out there bythe name of Gregory Davis in England,
so maybe we'll get to cover himone of these days. He's pretty creepy

(24:44):
and I don't think he was aserial killer as much as he was a
free killer, so we'll have tocover him one of these days too.
Well. Yeah, and he didcome up when I found when I was
trying to find pictures and whatnot fory'all, But so don't get him confused.
This is a totally different situation anddown where the Kodzoo grows, as
it were, So don't forget tocatch us on our Forensic Friday too,

(25:08):
where we'll have another great story foryou, and on our Sisters show to
Chick sand a gross Off X,which is more about fun and aliens and
whatnot. Just to aliens, conspiracytheories and Bigfoot. Oh my yeah,
I mean we just did a reallyfun story or I thought it was fun
about how big fits. You know, they're not found in the gabbage Batch.

(25:30):
They actually have love too, Soplease check us out over there,
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(25:51):
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(27:03):
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(28:12):
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