On the quiet evening of January 14, 1980, in Evansville, Indiana, the lives of the Gilligan family were tragically cut short in a brutal act of violence that shook the community. Four-year-old Gregory Patrick Gilligan, a young male, his five-year-old sister Lisa, and their parents, Patrick and Theresa, were all killed in their home during a home invasion.
The family had unknowingly interrupted a burglary in progress when they returned to their residence.
The perpetrator, Donald Ray Wallace Jr., had initially broken into a neighboring house. Believing the Gilligan home to be empty, he then entered their residence to continue his string of burglaries. The family's return home led to a violent confrontation. Wallace subdued Patrick Gilligan in the garage before forcing the entire family inside at gunpoint. He proceeded to tie up Patrick, Theresa, Lisa, and Gregory. To eliminate any witnesses, Wallace shot each family member in the head. He later confessed his reasoning, stating he shot Patrick because he resisted, Theresa because she screamed, and the children because he couldn't leave them without their parents.
Following the murders, Wallace fled the scene with stolen items. An investigation quickly led law enforcement to identify him as a suspect. He was discovered hiding in the attic of a friend's house with blood on his clothing and items taken from the Gilligan home in his possession. Wallace was subsequently arrested and charged with four counts of murder.
During his trial, Wallace claimed he had an accomplice who was the one responsible for the killings. However, friends of Wallace testified that he had confessed the murders to them. In October 1982, a jury found Donald Ray Wallace Jr. guilty of the murders of the Gilligan family and he was sentenced to death. After more than two decades on death row, and after exhausting his appeals, Wallace was executed by lethal injection on March 10, 2005. In a final statement, he expressed a hope that everyone could find peace with his execution.
