Siblings work to clear their brother’s name

Published 4:51 am Tuesday, December 6, 2005

VALDOSTA — Ollie Chandler, 19, died on Oct. 18, 1963, at Reidsville State Prison. The state of Georgia put Chandler to death in the electric chair for the shotgun slaying of a Clyattville man.

Chandler’s body rests today in Payton Cemetery. His family members, believing that justice wasn’t served, say they can’t rest until the murder case is reopened. Walter and Johnnie Chandler, two of Ollie’s siblings, are spearheading what they described as a slow-going effort to clear their younger brother’s name. A local attorney, whose name the family doesn’t wish to disclose, is discussing legal options with the Chandlers.

“We’re going to try to go all the way this time,” Walter Chandler said.



The murder

Walter and Johnnie Chandler didn’t attend their brother’s murder trial. Saying they don’t know what the prosecution based its case on, they maintain Ollie happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when the slaying occurred.

The Times reported on May 24, 1962, that Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office deputies found the body of Hugh Vaughn Lane Jr., 49, in the closet of his home. Lane, a divorcee who lived alone in a six-room house on 300 acres of land, had been shot one time in the neck with a shotgun. The Sheriff’s Office reportedly found the murder weapon at the scene — Lane’s own .12-gauge shotgun.

Evidence suggested that whoever killed Lane in his home dragged his body to the closet, then mopped up the blood before leaving. Missing were the former trucking firm operator’s wallet and keys.

Interviews led deputies to the conclusion that Lane was last known to be alive at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 22, 1962. He died that night, and his body wasn’t discovered until worried neighbors called the Sheriff’s Office.

A funeral was held Friday, May 25. While Lane’s body was interred at Sunset Hill Cemetery, deputies continued canvassing the area for information. Information surfaced about a young handyman who had been working for Lane. A search for 18-year-old Ollie Chandler led south, to Hastings, Fla., where Florida officers arrested him at a work camp.

Lowndes Sheriff Jewell Futch said Chandler confessed to Florida officers that he killed Lane following a disagreement over $7.50 in wages. It was reported that Chandler waived extradition and was picked up by a Lowndes deputy and Georgia Bureau of Investigations agent for return to Georgia. Futch said Chandler told deputies that he could lead them to where he threw Lane’s wallet.

On Monday, May 28, The Times reported that deputies found Lane’s wallet and car keys after following Chandler’s directions. In Hastings, deputies found bloody clothes belonging to Chandler stashed away at the work camp where the man had been arrested.

The prosecution presented its cases — which included Lane’s belongings, the bloody clothes and Chandler’s confession — before the Lowndes County Superior Court in November 1962, with Judge George Lilly presiding. Adel attorney S.B. McCall represented Chandler.

A jury found Chandler guilty of murder, and Lilly did not recommend mercy. Chandler was moved from Valdosta to Reidsville State Prison, where he would spend the remainder of his life.

McCall won delays in his client’s execution by appealing to higher courts, to the parole board, the governor and to a sanity commission. On Oct. 8, 1963, the attorney was notified that another appeal to the parole board had been turned down.

On Oct. 18, 1963, prison staff at Reidsville placed 19-year-old Chandler in the electric chair at 11:16 a.m. He was pronounced dead eight minutes later.



The present

The Chandler brothers say their brother’s arrest and subsequent execution took a terrible toll on their parents. Their memories of their brother are of a pleasant young man incapable of murder. They say Ollie knew Lane for years and counted him as friend.

Johnnie Chandler, one of Ollie’s 14 siblings, said he spoke to his brother before the execution. “He said, ‘I didn’t do it.'”

Letters from Ollie that the family didn’t receive until after the execution contradict the signed confession, Walter Chandler said. The family speculates that two white men Ollie had never seen before shot Lane, then handed Ollie the victim’s wallet and keys and told him to get out of town, he said.

The family questions the legality of Ollie’s extradition from Florida in 1962 and whether their brother was treated fairly while incarcerated.

Walter and Johnnie Chandler said the family never enlisted any outside help in examining their brother’s case until now. They told the Times they have information they are preparing for release that they hope will clear Ollie’s name. The brothers didn’t want to elaborate on the nature of the information, but Walter said later during an interview that the family has contacted the U.S. Department of Justice.

Presently, the Chandlers are seeking witnesses who will talk to their attorney about what happened in Clyattville on May 22, 1962.

“If anybody out there knows this story, we ask them to come forward with any information they have to clear our brother’s name,” Walter Chandler said.

Anyone with information may call Walter Chandler at 269-2842.