Politics & Government

GUILTY - UPDATE - Greene Attempts Suicide

Convicted murderer Kenneth Greene remains in Walton County Regional Medical Center in Critical condition following suicide attempt.

UPDATE

Jim Fullington, Special Agent in Charge of the Athens Division of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, confirmed that Kenneth Greene, 52, convicted Friday in the murder of his former wife, Joyce Greene, attempted suicide Saturday.

“I can confirm he was transported to the hospital after he was found hanging in his cell Saturday,” Fullington said, adding it is his understanding that Greene remains in the Walton County Regional Medical Center in critical condition.

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Fullington said since it happened at the Walton County Jail, the GBI has been called in to investigate, but no details regarding the investigation can be released at this time.

Greene was found guilty Friday of the April 18, 2009 murder of his former wife, at his home at 535 Harold Gower Road in . He received a life sentence for the conviction, meaning he will not be eligible for parole for at least 30 years.

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Kenneth Greene, 52, was found guilty Friday of the April 18, 2009 murder of his former wife, Joyce Greene, 42, at his home at 535 Harold Gower Road in .

It took a jury of eight men and four women little more than an hour to return a verdict of guilty on all four counts of malice murder, felony murder, felony family violence/battery and cruelty to children in the third degree. In handing down a life sentence, Superior Court Judge Eugene Benton combined the malice and felony murder as well as the family felony violence into one count and then sentenced Greene to an additional year, suspended, on the misdemeanor charge of cruelty to children in the third degree. Under Georgia law, life is a mandatory 30 years incarceration. Greene will be in his 80s before he is eligible for parole.

Prior to sentencing, each jury member was polled and the youngest sister of the victim, Jonnie Lange, addressed the court, thanking them for what they had done for Joyce Greene’s family and son.

“My sister was not perfect, but she did not deserve the way she died, and her son did not deserve what he suffered,” Lange said. “Thank you for what’s been done for him and for us. In the verdict we got today, she got justice – finally.”

The couple’s 18-year-old son, Dustin Greene, sat with his head bowed through much of the closing arguments Friday, clasping hands with his aunt and his girlfriend and crying quietly when pictures of his mother’s body were shown on the overhead screens. After sentencing, he thanked members of the prosecution, but the conflicts he experienced were evident when he left the courtroom. He spoke to friends and family members of his father who had attended the trial, asking to be kept apprised of where his father would be taken.

“He’s still my dad and I still love him, even though he screwed up my life,” he said.

“And he still loves you,” said Danny Tankersley, a friend of the Greene family.

“I know, I know,” Dustin said. “He phoned me last night.”

Tankersley said he knew there was violence in the home, especially since Greene had prior convictions, but he didn’t think anybody knew the extent. He said he hadn’t yet had time to digest the verdict, and he would continue to support Greene, but he realized the evidence against him must have been significant.

“To come back in just over an hour, obviously they felt strongly about it,” Tankersley said. “The visual evidence was pretty strong.”

Tankersley said he didn't understand how it had all come about. He said Greene grew up an only child, getting much of what he wanted. He said while the court case might be over, it really didn't mean closure for anyone, especially not for the victim's son.

"There will be no closure for him - he doesn't have his mother," Tankersley said.

Joyce Greene’s family had hoped for the conviction they got, as expressed by another sister, Betty Lott, prior to sentencing.

“I hope he gets it for murder,” she said. “Because that’s they way I see it was.”

Lott also said the family was aware of the domestic violence, but also not the extent of it.

“She hid it from us. Sometimes she would tell us – like when she left him before. He went to jail that time, but she didn’t always let us know,” Lott said. “And then she went back and they tried to work it out.”

In closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Cliff Howard referred continually to the code of silence that went along with the domestic abuse in the home. He said in a culture of drugs and alcohol the abuse would happen, Greene would leave the home and spend a night away at a hotel, and when he returned everything would continue as though nothing had happened. Nobody would talk about it - not to each other or anybody else. He referred to testimony by Dustin on prior instances of abuse, one case in particular where the then 12-year-old had tried to intervene and pulled his father off his mother. At that time the victim had been on the floor and Greene had her in a chokehold.

Howard said the evidence showed a similar scenario had taken place the night of the murder. He said the victim’s son, who was 16 at that time, had again tried to intervene on his mother’s behalf, telling his father he had to stop hurting his mother. Howard said it was the culture of silence they had all been used to living under that prevented anyone from calling the police. One last violent confrontation had taken place in the bathroom the night of April 17 before Greene left to go drinking and to find a hotel to spend the night. He returned in the early hours of the morning to find his former wife dead on the bathroom floor where he'd left her. He called his older son, Alan Greene, who then called the police.

Since the murder, Dustin has been staying at the home of his girlfriend. He is attending Athens Technical College in Monroe and hopes to get a degree in construction management. He currently has a lawsuit against his father.


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