Troy Leon Gregg
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Troy Leon Gregg (1953 - July 29, 1980) was the first condemned individual whose death sentence was upheld by the United States Supreme Court after the Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia invalidated all previously enacted death penalty laws in the United States. Gregg was convicted of having murdered Fred Edward Simmons and Bob Durwood Moore, who had given him and another man a ride when they were hitchhiking. The crime occurred on 21 November 1973.
In Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court held that the State of Georgia could constitutionally put Gregg to death.
Gregg never made it to the electric chair. He escaped from prison in July, 1980, the night before his set date for execution, but died the following night in a bar fight in North Carolina.
