On a summer day meant for adventure and friendship, the lives of two young men from Massachusetts were tragically cut short in a senseless act of violence. Gary Jones, a 23-year-old from Plymouth, and his close friend, William Jones, 25, of Walpole, were in New Hampshire on a camping trip on July 2, 2007. Described by William's father as being "like brothers," the two hardworking friends were heading home after hiking when they made a stop that placed them in the path of a killer.
That
morning, Michael Lawrence Woodbury, a 31-year-old from Windham, Maine, with a criminal history, walked into the Army Barracks, an outdoor equipment store on White Mountain Highway in Conway. He had been released from prison just two months prior and had since embarked on a multi-state crime spree. His intent that day was to commit a robbery. Inside the store, Woodbury shot and killed the manager, 34-year-old James Walker. As Woodbury fled the scene, he encountered Gary and William in the parking lot. According to Woodbury's own account, the two friends were simply in "the wrong place at the wrong time" and tried to stop him. Woodbury shot both of them.
William Jones died at the scene from multiple gunshot wounds to the head. Gary Jones was critically wounded by a single gunshot to his head and was rushed to the Maine Medical Center, where he later succumbed to his injuries. The brutal triple murder launched a massive manhunt for the suspect. The search came to an end the following day when a witness spotted Woodbury walking on railroad tracks in Fryeburg, Maine, about ten miles east of Conway, and alerted police.
After his arrest, Michael Woodbury was unapologetic, telling reporters he killed the men because he "needed the money" and that they had "botched the robbery." He was charged with three counts of first-degree murder. The families of Gary Jones and William Jones traveled to New Hampshire for Woodbury's arraignment, needing to see the person accused of killing their sons. "We are going to miss them dearly," said William's father, Kenny Jones. Woodbury eventually pleaded guilty to the three murders and was given three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in New Hampshire.
Woodbury's violence did not end with his incarceration. In 2017, while serving his life sentences at the Okeechobee Correctional Institution in Florida, he brutally beat and killed his cellmate, 52-year-old Antoneeze Haynes. For this fourth murder, Woodbury was convicted and, following a unanimous jury recommendation, sentenced to death in Florida in September 2018. This made him a proven serial killer.
In the years following her son's death, Gary's mother, Gail Jones, filed a lawsuit against Woodbury's grandfather, alleging his failure to properly secure the gun used in the murders enabled his grandson to steal and use it. Though she forgave her son's killer, she hoped the lawsuit would send a message to gun owners about the importance of safe firearm storage to prevent similar tragedies.
Michael Woodbury remains on death row in Florida, his appeals against his death sentence having been rejected by the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. For the families of Gary Jones, William Jones, and James Walker, the legal proceedings brought a measure of justice, but could never fill the void left by the sudden and violent loss of their loved ones on that tragic July day in the White Mountains.
