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Convict linked to Liberty to be executed Dec. 6
Sallie killed in-law, raped ex-wife and her sister
William Sallie
William Sallie was living in Liberty County when he committed crimes that have him awaiting execution on Dec. 6. - photo by Photo provided.

A man sentenced to die for the 1990 slaying of his father-in-law in rural Bacon County lived in a trailer in Liberty County at the time of the murder, according to the Georgia Attorney General’s office.

William Sallie, 50, is set to be executed Dec. 6 for the killing. He rented a mobile home in Liberty County where he raped his estranged wife and her sister after killing their father, according to a press release from the state attorney general’s office issued Thursday.

The release said Sallie and his wife Robin separated in December 1989 after she sought a divorce because he was physically abusive. Robin and their child, a 2-year-old boy, went to live with her parents, John and Linda Moore, and siblings in their Bacon County home.

Sallie then kidnapped his son and took him to Illinois, but a court there gave his estranged wife custody and she took the boy back to Bacon County.

In March 1990, he came back to Georgia and rented a trailer near Hinesville under the name Bill Simons at the same time he had a friend in Illinois buy him a 9-millimeter handgun, the release said. On March 28, 1990, Sallie dressed in camouflage and, carrying the pistol, a roll of duct tape and four sets of handcuffs, went to the Moores’ home.

There, he ripped the phone lines from the home and then, around 12:45 a.m. March 29, pried open the back door, went to the master bedroom and shot John and Linda Moore in bed. John was hit six times and died after trying to get out of bed. Linda survived, though she was hit multiple times.

Sallie ran outside and reloaded, and later handcuffed his ex-wife and her sister to each other and to a bed rail in the master bedroom, where he left his son. Sallie used handcuffs and duct tape to bind the women to one another and brought them to his mobile home in Liberty County.

Meanwhile, his ex-wive’s mother and brother managed to free themselves a few hours later and get to a neighbor’s home — the nearest neighbor was a quarter of a mile away — and they contacted police.

Hours later, Sallie took his wife and her sister back to Bacon County after asking them not to press charges. He was arrested soon afterward and the murder weapon was found in his trailer, according to the press release.

Sallie was convicted of multiple crimes and sentenced to death after a trial in Bacon County in March 1991, a year after the murder. Citing a conflict of interest, the Georgia Supreme Court reversed both Sallie’s conviction and death sentence because his attorney was also working as a clerk for the Waycross Judicial Circuit. Sallie was retried in 2001 and again convicted and sentenced to death.

The Georgia Supreme Court upheld the verdict in 2003, and subsequent appeals also were denied, the most recent on Nov. 14 by the United States Supreme Court.

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