Overwhelming evidence

Upon hearing the sentence, relatives of the victims wept. The courtroom was filled with “Yes! Thank God.” exclamations from spectators. One of the jurors told reporters that the evidence was “so overwhelming.” Prior to killing the couple, Crews was under the influence of alcohol and consumed a “heavy amount” of cocaine. Dr. Gene Cary, the psychiatrist who examined Crews, said that he was clearly upset about what he had done. “He is not a man of many words, but he did break down and cry,” Dr. Cary added.

An ex-wife’s testimony

When the prosecution called Karen, Crews’ ex-wife, to testify, she said she didn’t believe that the alcohol and drugs affected him. She said, “He could drink two quarts of Georgia moonshine and still shoot pool straight.” Jurors decided on the death penalty because the aggravating circumstances of the murder outweighed the mitigating circumstances. It was clear that Molly was tortured before being killed by Crews, although he was never charged with rape.