Terry Langford

Terry Langford
Born
Terry Allen Langford

(1966-05-18)May 18, 1966
Lebanon, Kentucky, U.S.
DiedFebruary 24, 1998(1998-02-24) (aged 31)
Montana State Prison, Deer Lodge, Montana, U.S.
Cause of deathExecution by lethal injection
Criminal statusExecuted
Conviction(s)Deliberate homicide (3 counts)
Burglary
Criminal penaltyDeath (January 26, 1989)
Details
Victims3–7
DateJuly 5, 1988
September 22, 1991
CountryUnited States
State(s)Montana

Terry Allen Langford (May 18, 1966 – February 24, 1998)[1] was an American convicted murderer who was executed by lethal injection in Montana. Langford was executed for the July 1988 murders of Ned and Celene Blackwood, in Ovando, Montana. His case was profiled in the true crime television series, Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets.

Early life

Langford was born on May 18, 1966, in Lebanon, Marion County, Kentucky.[2] Not much is known about his early life other than he was a drifter who resided in Raleigh, North Carolina. According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, Langford was convicted of forgery and tampering with a motor vehicle in the summer of 1987. As both charges were misdemeanors he received no jail time.[3]

Murders

In June 1988, Langford traveled to Ovando, Montana, by bus. He hiked north toward a mountainous area, ending up on the property of Ned and Celene Blackwood. He watched their movements from a distance for several days before entering the home on July 5, 1988, murdering them and stealing their belongings.[4]

After the killings he traveled to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where he stayed at a motel. The following morning, he pulled a knife on a maid when she entered his room. Langford fled, discarding a bag in a nearby wooded area, which contained the stolen guns of the Blackwood's. A criminal records check of the guns showed they belonged to the murdered couple. Afterwards, he was tracked down and apprehended.

He was convicted of murdering the couple and was sentenced to death on January 26, 1989. While on death row in Montana State Prison, Langford killed a fellow inmate during a riot on September 22, 1991, in which five inmates were killed. He was convicted of deliberate homicide and given a life term without parole. Langford was acquitted of four other counts of deliberate homicide.[5]

Execution

After waiving his appeals, Langford was executed on February 24, 1998, at Montana State Prison. He declined to make a final statement.[6] At 31 years old, he was the youngest inmate put to death in Montana since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Langford remains the second of only three people to be executed in Montana since the resumption of capital punishment. The others were Duncan Peder McKenzie Jr. in 1995 and David Thomas Dawson in 2006.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Terry Allen Langford Executed February 24th, 1998 by Lethal Injection in Montana". Clark Prosecutor. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  2. ^ Salter, Peter (February 24, 1998). "Life ends for Langford". The Montana Standard. pp. 1, 8. Retrieved August 15, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Offender Information Terry Allen Langford". North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  4. ^ "Man Facing Execution For Murder in Montana". The New York Times. February 23, 1998. Archived from the original on March 26, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2007.
  5. ^ "Langford". The Montana Standard. 1993-03-26. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
  6. ^ Laceky, Tom (February 24, 1998). "Confessed Double Murderer Execucted [sic]". Associated Press. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  7. ^ "Searchable Execution Database". Death Penalty Information Center. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
Preceded by
Duncan Peder McKenzie Jr. 		Executions carried out in Montana Succeeded by
David Thomas Dawson