Lake County Superior Court
Judge James E.
Letsinger
Prosecutor: Thomas W. Vanes
Defense: Robert L. Lewis, Willie Harris, Darnail Lyles
Date of Murder: October 13, 1987
Victim(s): Windy Gallagher W/F/16 (No relationship to Lockhart)
Method of Murder: stabbing with large knife 21 times
Summary: The body of 16 year old Windy Gallagher was found by her sister in the bedroom of their home in Griffith, Indiana. She was nude from the waist down with her hands tied behind her back, and her bra pushed up above her breasts. She was stabbed with a large knife 4 times in the neck and 17 times in the abdomen. There was a large pool of blood and her intestines were hanging out. Missing from her room was a photo of Windy and a small purse. Fingerprints in the room were identified as Lockhart's. The day before in Chicago, a woman was robbed of her purse at knifepoint. She identified Lockhart as her attacker. She was fortunate to recover her purse 3 days later. Inside it, she found the small purse belonging to Windy Gallagher. In January 1988, a 14 year old girl was raped and stabbed to death in Florida. Lockhart was identified by witnesses and DNA as the murderer. Because of striking similarities, evidence of this crime was admitted at trial. Lockhart's crime spree ended in Texas, where he murdered a police officer in Beaumont. He was convicted of Capital Murder in October 1988. This crime and conviction was kept from the jury until the penalty phase of the trial.
Trial: Information filed/PC Hearing for Murder (06-17-88); Amended Information for DP filed (02-02-89); Competency Hearing (04-05-89); Voir Dire (06-12-89, 06-13-89, 06-14-89); Jury Trial (06-14-89, 06-15-89, 06-16-89, 06-17-89, 06-19-89, 06-23-89); Verdict (06-23-89); DPTrial (06-23-89, 06-24-89, 06-25-89, 06-26-89); Verdict (06-26-89); Court Sentencing (07-19-89).
Conviction: Murder
Sentencing: July 19, 1989 (Death Sentence)
Aggravating Circumstances: b (1) Robbery; b(7) convicted of another murder in Texas
Mitigating Circumstances: None
Direct Appeal:
Lockhart v. State, 609 N.E.2d 1093 (Ind. March 8, 1993)
Conviction Affirmed 5-0; DP Affirmed 4-1
Shepard Opinion; Givan, Dickson, Krahulik concur; Debruler dissents.
PCR:
PCR Petition filed 01-06-94. Denied by Special Judge Richard J. Conroy 02-28-96.
LOCKHART WAS EXECUTED BY LETHAL INJECTION ON 12-09-97 6:24 PM BY STATE OF TEXAS.
As of July 1, 2006