In the fall of 1990, the turbulent marriage of Luan and Kim Anthony McMichen came to a brutal and tragic end in rural Douglas County, Georgia. Throughout their seven-year marriage, the couple, who had one daughter named Katie, had lived with Kim's parents. Luan was a steady employee of her father-in-law, working in the basement of the family home, while Kim's life was marked by sporadic employment and chronic alcohol abuse.
On the evening of November 16, 1990, the volatile relationship culminated in a deadly confrontation. Kim McMichen, after a period of harassing his estranged wife and her boyfriend, Jeff Robinson, retrieved his. 38 revolver. He then fired two shots in quick succession. The first bullet struck Robinson in the ear, killing him instantly. The second shot found its mark in Luan's heart, and she died within minutes.
Following the shootings, Kim McMichen's actions were chillingly composed. He retrieved a beer from his truck, walked past the bodies of his victims, and went into a nearby trailer where he found his young daughter, Katie. Taking her by the hand, he led her past the gruesome scene, through the blood of her mother and her mother's friend, and left her in his truck with a view of what had just transpired. He then calmly walked to a neighbor's home to call his mother, telling her, 'I've done it. Come get Katie.' While waiting, he sat in a lounge chair, drank his beer, and smoked a cigarette.
Kim Anthony McMichen was arrested and stood trial for the murders. In 1993, he was convicted on two counts of malice murder. His defense, a claim that he had killed Robinson in self-defense and accidentally shot his wife in the process, was rejected by the jury. The jury recommended the death penalty for both murders, a sentence the trial court imposed. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and death sentences in 1995. Subsequent appeals, including a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, were filed and reviewed over the years, but the original convictions were upheld.
