On May 6, 1991, in Fort Worth, Texas, 79-year-old African American woman Hattie Wilson and her 44-year-old niece, Shirley Douglas, were found strangled to death in Wilson's apartment. At the time, the case remained unsolved for over 17 years. In November 2008, DNA evidence linked 53-year-old Reginald W. Perkins to the murders. Perkins had previously dated Wilson's granddaughter and was on parole from an Ohio prison, where he had served nine years for the rape and attempted rape of two
12-year-old girls.
Perkins was already on death row for the December 2000 murder of his 64-year-old stepmother, Gertie Mae Perkins, in Fort Worth. Her body was found in the trunk of her car, and evidence showed that Perkins had pawned her wedding ring and written fraudulent checks from the family business. While awaiting trial for this murder, Perkins allegedly confessed to a fellow inmate that he killed Gertie and beaten her to death before robbing her.
Although Perkins was never charged with the 1991 murders of Hattie Wilson and Shirley Douglas, the DNA evidence confirmed his involvement. He was executed via lethal injection on January 22, 2009, at the Huntsville Unit in Huntsville, Texas. An hour before his execution, Perkins proclaimed his innocence in a statement given to a prison official. However, the DNA evidence and his criminal history painted a different picture.
