James W. Hutchins

Who was James W. Hutchins?

James William Hutchins was convicted of the murders of three NC law enforcement officers. The incident was the largest one-day homicide of law enforcement officers in North Carolina history. The incident inspired a motion picture and also promoted changes in law enforcement protocols state-wide for interagency reporting of officer murders, radio cross-communication between local agencies and the NC State Highway Patrol, which dispatches for most NC state law enforcement agencies and training protocols for response to domestic disturbance incidents. The murdered officers were: Rutherford County NC sheriff’s deputies Captain Roy Huskey and Deputy Owen Messersmith and NC State Highway Patrol Trooper Robert L. "Pete" Peterson. Hutchins was executed at the age of 54 by the State North Carolina at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina by lethal injection. He became the first person to be executed in North Carolina since 1977 when the death penalty was reinstated.