Willie Palmer: Georgia Double Murder, Four Trials, 2024 Appeal

Willie Williams Palmer is a Georgia man convicted of murdering his estranged wife, Brenda Jenkins Palmer, and his 15-year-old stepdaughter, Christine Jenkins, in Vidette on September 10, 1995. The Georgia double murder case took four trials across nearly 28 years to resolve. Palmer was sentenced to death three times, saw those sentences unravel on appeal, and in 2023 was finally sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus five years. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed those convictions in March 2024.¹

What Happened on September 10, 1995

Brenda Palmer, 31, had been hiding at a house in Vidette with her two daughters. Her husband, armed with a .22 caliber rifle, recruited his 18-year-old nephew Frederico Palmer to drive him there under false pretenses. Before leaving, Palmer told his nephew, “I’m fixing to go kill Brenda and her daughter.”²

Frederico disconnected the phone line on Palmer’s orders. Palmer kicked in the front door and found Christine Jenkins, known to family as “Bootie,” on a bed. He shot the 15-year-old once in the face, killing her. He then entered a back room where Brenda was holding their infant daughter, Willshala. After ordering Frederico to take the baby, Palmer shot Brenda twice in the head. The infant was unharmed.²³

Two days later, Frederico Palmer confessed and led investigators to a bridge where the rifle, gloves, and shoes had been discarded.²

The Threats That Preceded the Killings

Palmer married Brenda Jenkins in May 1993. Witnesses testified he physically abused her throughout the marriage and repeatedly threatened to kill her. Brenda separated from him in May 1995, filed for divorce, and obtained a restraining order the next day.⁴

In July 1995 Palmer was jailed for violating that order. While he was in jail, Brenda told a loan company manager she feared for her life if he were released and asked that her location not be revealed. Palmer was released on September 1, 1995, nine days before the killings. He immediately began telling people he intended to kill her, saying to the same loan company manager, “when I find her, I will kill that bitch.” He told other witnesses the killing would be “execution-style” and would be “on TV.” He also spoke of killing an ex-girlfriend named Brenda, saying “there won’t be no Brendas.”² Prosecutors also presented testimony that Palmer had shot at his brother and assaulted the ex-girlfriend.⁵

Why the Case Took Four Trials

Palmer’s path through the courts was shaped by a missed disclosure, a reversed death sentence, and a long procedural fight over who should hear the final retrial.

First Trial, 1997: Mistrial

Palmer’s first trial, in Burke County in April 1997, ended in a mistrial after the defense discovered it had not been given a statement by Frederico Palmer, the state’s key witness. Prosecutors blamed a clerical error.²

Second Trial, 1997: Death Sentence Later Vacated

A Washington County jury convicted Palmer in October and November 1997 of two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, burglary, kidnapping, and related charges, and recommended death. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed in June 1999.⁵ Those convictions were later vacated through habeas corpus proceedings.¹

Third Trial, 2007: Death Sentence, Then a Consent Deal

Palmer was tried a third time in August 2007 in Burke County and again sentenced to death. The central issue was intellectual disability. A state psychologist, David Peterson, had previously testified Palmer was not intellectually disabled, but before the 2007 trial he told prosecutors he had changed his mind after learning Palmer had been found eligible for Social Security benefits on the basis of intellectual disability. The District Attorney’s office did not disclose that changed opinion to the defense.⁶

Palmer’s new-trial motions, amended in 2014, 2015, and 2016, were denied by the trial court in November 2019. While the appeal was pending, the parties struck a deal. In August 2020 the Georgia Supreme Court granted a joint motion to vacate the denial and remand the case. The state conceded that withholding Peterson’s revised opinion violated Palmer’s rights and agreed not to seek the death penalty in any future trial.⁷⁶

Fourth Trial, 2023: Life Without Parole

A consent order granting a new trial was entered on July 7, 2021, but further delays followed as defense attorneys sought the removal of presiding Judge James G. Blanchard Jr.⁸ The fourth trial began on February 2, 2023, in Burke County Superior Court before Senior Judge Kathy Palmer. The jury convicted Palmer of four counts of murder, burglary, kidnapping, cruelty to children, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.⁹ With the death penalty off the table under the 2020 agreement, the judge imposed two life terms without the possibility of parole plus five years.¹⁰

The Intellectual Disability Dispute

Palmer’s intellectual capacity surfaced in every trial. During the 1997 proceedings, he introduced IQ scores ranging from 61 to 72 and called an expert to support a finding of intellectual disability; the state’s expert countered that Palmer had faked poor performance.² By 2007, the defense added developmental evidence, including that Palmer could not tie his shoes at age 10 and had difficulty reading an analog clock as a teenager.¹¹ His attorneys later described him as illiterate and dependent on others for basic tasks.¹⁰ The undisclosed shift in the state psychologist’s opinion was what ultimately broke the third death sentence and set up the life-without-parole outcome.

The 2024 Appeal

Palmer appealed his 2023 convictions on several constitutional grounds. In a unanimous opinion by Chief Justice Michael P. Boggs on March 5, 2024, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected every claim and affirmed.¹ The court found the delay between the 2021 new-trial order and the 2023 trial was largely attributable to defense motions and judicial reassignment, not the state, and that Palmer had shown no actual prejudice. It held that biological evidence lost by the state, including gauze pads from the crime scene, had no apparent exculpatory value when lost, and that Georgia law does not support adverse-inference instructions in criminal cases. It also upheld the exclusion of evidence Palmer offered about alleged historical bias by local law enforcement and about a separate shooting two months after the murders that he argued pointed to an alternative suspect.⁷

Where Palmer Is Now

Palmer, 71 at the time of his fourth trial, is incarcerated at Augusta State Medical Prison. Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams has said the county is under court order to provide 24-hour nursing care to Palmer, a cost that added $600,000 to the sheriff’s department budget under a one-year contract with the Board of Commissioners.⁹ Frederico Palmer, the nephew who drove him to the house, pleaded guilty to two counts of felony murder and is serving consecutive life sentences.¹²

1
WRDW. Convictions Upheld in Burke County Slayings of Wife, Stepdaughter
2
Findlaw. Palmer v. State, 271 Ga. 234
3
Augusta Chronicle. Death Row Inmate Loses Motion for New Trial
4
vLex. Palmer v. State
5
Justia. Palmer v. State, 271 Ga. 234
6
Augusta Chronicle. After Two Decades on Death Row, Burke County Man Will Face Life in Prison
7
Findlaw. Palmer v. The State, S23A1091
8
Augusta Chronicle. After 26 Years, Burke County Double Homicide Case Faces Another Delay
9
The True Citizen. Willie Palmer Case Heard Again
10
The Augusta Press. Georgia Supreme Court to Hear Appeal by Former Burke Death Row Inmate
11
The Appeal. Rodney Young Supreme Court Georgia Death Penalty
12
The True Citizen. Testimony Begins in Palmer Retrial