Ernest West Basden

Who was Ernest West Basden?

Ernest West Basden was an American murderer. He was convicted of the 1992 murder of Billy Carlyle White for $300 and in 2002 was executed by the State of North Carolina at the Central Prison in Raleigh.

The Supreme Court of North Carolina on direct appeal described the facts of White's murder as follows:

The State's evidence tended to show Sylvia White wanted to kill her husband, Billy White, for at least a year. She unsuccessfully tried to poison him with wild berries and poisonous plants. She also enlisted the help of Linwood Taylor, Basden's nephew. Taylor then approached Basden and told him he needed a hit man and asked Basden if he wanted the job. Basden initially thought the idea was crazy and refused. Later, when Basden got into financial difficulty he asked Taylor if the offer still stood and agreed to kill White.

Taylor developed a scheme to lure White, who was an insurance salesman, to a location where he could be killed. Taylor pretended to be a wealthy businessman from out of town who had bought property in Jones County and wanted to buy insurance. Taylor arranged for White to meet him in a wooded rural area at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, January 20, 1992.