Joseph Carl Shaw

Joseph Carl Shaw (March 31, 1955 – January 11, 1985) was an American convicted murderer and the first person executed by the state of South Carolina after the U.S. Supreme Court reauthorized the use of capital punishment in 1976. Shaw was executed for the 1977 murders of three people in Richland County, South Carolina. One of his accomplices, James Terry Roach, was also sentenced to death and was executed in 1986.

Early life Joseph Carl Shaw was born to Mary and Melvin Shaw in Louisville, Kentucky, and grew up in the suburb of Jeffersontown. He attended St. Edwards Catholic Middle School and played on the football team. Shaw also regularly attended church and became an altar boy. After leaving St. Edwards he moved on to Jeffersontown High School but dropped out before graduating.

After leaving high school, Shaw enlisted in the army and sought admission to the Military Police School. He graduated in 1975 and was stationed at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina in 1977. There, he met 17-year-old James Terry Roach, 16-year-old Ronald Eugene Mahaffey, and 21-year-old Robert Neil Williams. The four would often spend their days getting high and drinking alcohol. Shaw also got into a relationship with a woman around this time, but the relationship ended abruptly on October 16, 1977. The men offered her a ride in their car. Once Swank got inside, she saw that they were in possession of a gun. She was kidnapped and gang raped. The group initially planned to let her go afterwards, but Shaw changed his mind after Swank recognized him from the military base. After Shaw released Swank and walked her away from the group's car, Williams, who had a .22 caliber rifle, was supposed to kill her, but did not fire. When Shaw returned to the car, Williams said he couldn't kill Swank. When Shaw got back into the car and drove away, the four argued over who would kill Betty. When the other three refused, Shaw took initiative. He drove back to Betty, who was walking to a trailer park to get help, and opened fire on her. When she screamed and started running, Shaw fired another three shots striking her once in the shoulder and once in the back. Betty made it to the trailer park before collapsing. Her dead body was found in a mobile home park. Both the bodies of Taylor and Hartness were discovered the following day. Mahaffey was sentenced to life in prison. Mahaffey died in prison at the age of 41 on February 13, 2003. Williams, who was not involved in the murders of Taylor and Hartness, was paroled on February 11, 2000.

Execution Shaw was executed by electrocution on January 11, 1985, at the Central Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina, at the age of 29. His last meal was pizza and tossed salad. Roach was executed the following year, also by electrocution.