Bert Leroy Hunter

Bert Leroy Hunter (March 7, 1947 – June 28, 2000) was an American serial killer. He committed the double murder of an elderly woman and her son in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1988, together with accomplice Tomas Grant Ervin.

Both Hunter and Ervin were sentenced to death for their respective roles in the murders, despite Ervin maintaining his innocence. Hunter was executed in 2000, while Ervin was executed in 2001.

First crimes and murder Hunter's first known crime dates back to 1963, when the then-16-year-old and 19-year-old Oscar Hoskins were arrested on a burglary charge in relation to a break-in into a gas station in Winthrop. As he was considered a juvenile at the time, Hunter was given a lenient sentence and was released a few years later. On June 15, 1968, Hunter and Paxton went to a tavern in Amazonia, Missouri, intent on robbing the place. During said robbery, they shot the owner John Montford Lyle in the head, killing him instantly. After stealing some money, the pair returned to Atchison, where they hid it in a box under some baby clothing. Both men were found guilty of the murder, and shortly after his sentence, Hunter attempted to file an appeal for a new trial. Under Missouri's second offender law, he was eligible for the death penalty, but the jury instead sentenced him to life imprisonment.

A couple of months later, Hunter filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of Missouri, claiming that his rights had been violated because his confession to the Lyle murder had allegedly been obtained under duress. In the brief, he claimed that the arresting Missouri State Highway Patrol officer had told him that he would only be prosecuted for stealing $50 if he confessed. His appeal was dismissed by the presiding judge, who stated that his claim was unreasonable and stretched credulity.

Meeting Tomas Ervin While serving his life term at the Missouri State Penitentiary, Hunter befriended Tomas Grant Ervin, a fellow murderer who was serving a life term for stabbing 36-year-old taxi cab driver Robert Berry to death in 1967. Both men were eventually granted parole in their respective cases, with Hunter moving to Largo, Florida, while Ervin settled in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Double murder In November 1988, Hunter visited Ervin at his home in Jefferson City, where the pair discussed ways to make money quickly. They initially considered robbing a bank, but Ervin suggested that they should kidnap someone and force them to withdraw money from a bank account. Ervin noticed a luxurious Lincoln Continental parked in front of a house, and since he assumed that the owner was wealthy, he convinced Hunter to rob whoever was inside. The latter posed as a delivery man and knocked on the door, which 75-year-old Mildred Lorene Hodges opened. The pair then forced their way in, alerting the woman's son, 49-year-old Richard Earl Hodges, who came running to help. Instead, the intruders forced him to bind and tie up his mother. The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri issued a stay of execution just hours prior to Hunter's scheduled execution, much to the annoyance of the contemporary Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Executions Hunter Hunter received a new execution date scheduled for June 28, 2000. Whilst he initially had pleaded guilty and requested the death sentence, he later changed his mind and unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw the plea, arguing that he was mentally ill at the time.

Governor Mel Carnahan declined all appeals, and Hunter was subsequently executed via lethal injection at the Potosi Correctional Center on the aforementioned date. His final words were reportedly “There is no justice. It’s time for this nightmare to be over, as far as I’m concerned.” When questioned, he claimed that Hunter had left with a third man he did not recognize, alleging that this unnamed individual was the one who had killed the Hodgeses.

Like Hunter before him, all of Ervin's appeals were denied. He was executed via lethal injection at the Potosi Correctional Center on March 28, 2001, still professing his innocence.

In the media and culture The murders of the Hodgeses were covered on an episode of Swamp Murders, titled "Wrong Side of the Tracks".