In the autumn of 1973, a journey of two men through Gwinnett County, Georgia, ended in a brutal and senseless act of violence. Bob Durwood Moore, a male known to some as 'Tex,' was traveling with Fred Edward Simmons when they offered a ride to a pair of hitchhikers, 25-year-old Troy Leon Gregg and his 16-year-old companion, Floyd Ralford 'Sam' Allen.
This seemingly benevolent act would prove to be a fatal decision.
The group traveled together, and after their car broke down, Simmons purchased a 1960 red and white Pontiac to continue their journey northward. They picked up another hitchhiker, Dennis Weaver, who would later become a key witness, dropping him off in Atlanta. From there, Moore, Simmons, Gregg, and Allen continued into Gwinnett County. At a rest stop near the intersection of Georgia Highway 20 and Interstate 85 on November 21, 1973, the trip took a dark turn.
As Moore and Simmons returned to the car, Gregg, armed with a. 25-caliber automatic pistol, opened fire on them. Both men fell into a drainage ditch. Gregg then approached the wounded men and shot each of them in the head at close range, ensuring their deaths. Gregg and Allen then robbed the victims of their money and belongings and fled in Simmons' newly acquired Pontiac.
The bodies of Bob Durwood Moore and Fred Edward Simmons were discovered in the drainage ditch the next morning. An investigation was launched, and thanks to information provided by Dennis Weaver, who had seen a news report about the murders, authorities quickly identified Gregg and Allen as the primary suspects. Three days after the killings, on November 24, 1973, Troy Leon Gregg and Floyd Ralford 'Sam' Allen were apprehended in Asheville, North Carolina. At the time of his arrest, Gregg was in possession of the murder weapon.
Troy Leon Gregg was tried and convicted in the Superior Court of Gwinnett County for the murders and armed robberies of both victims. In 1974, he was sentenced to death. His case, Gregg v. Georgia, became a landmark legal battle that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. In a pivotal 1976 decision, the court upheld Gregg's death sentence, which led to the reinstatement of capital punishment in the United States.
However, Troy Leon Gregg would not meet his end at the hands of the state. The night before his scheduled execution in July 1980, he managed to escape from prison. His freedom was short-lived. The following night, he was killed in a bar fight in North Carolina.
