Circumstances of Offense:

William Melvin White was convicted of murdering Gracie Mae Crawford on 06/06/78.

White was a member of a motorcycle gang in Kentucky called the Outlaws. He was visiting the Orlando chapter of the Outlaws the night of the murder. On the night of 06/06/78, the motorcycle gang went out to a nightclub in Orlando to have a few drinks.

While at the nightclub, the group met the victim, Gracie Mae Crawford. After spending a few hours drinking at the nightclub, the Outlaws and Crawford went back to their clubhouse.

Shortly after returning to the clubhouse, White and his girlfriend went to the bedroom they were staying in while Crawford remained with the gang and continued to drink. White and his girlfriend remained in the bedroom until another gang member, Richard DiMarino, knocked on the door and told White that Crawford liked African Americans and they needed to “teach her a lesson.”

Upon hearing this, White left the bedroom and went into the kitchen where he, DiMarino, and a third gang member, Guy Ennis Smith, preceded to beat Crawford. After the three men had finished beating her, White and DiMarino took her from the kitchen and put her in the front seat of White’s girlfriend’s car.

They drove the car to a secluded area at the end of a deserted road where they pulled Crawford from the car and then passed her over a barbed wire fence and laid her on the ground. White then sat on top of Crawford and fatally stabbed her in the chest 14 times and then cut her throat. White then gave the knife to DiMarino who cut her throat again.

DiMarino and White left the crime scene and attempted to return home, but the two men ran out of gas and pulled into the Seaworld parking lot. Two security guards on duty (who later identified the two men to authorities) gave the men some gas for their car. White and DiMarino then returned to the crime scene and picked up Crawford’s body and disposed of it in a different location.

Codefendant Information:

Richard DiMarino, the codefendant in this case, received a lesser charge and sentence in return for his testimony against White. He was found guilty of third-degree murder and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

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Trial Summary:

07/11/78 Defendant was indicted on the following charges:

Count I: First-Degree Murder

11/30/78 Jury returned a guilty verdict.

11/30/78 Jury recommended the Death Penalty by a 12-0 majority.

12/20/78 The defendant was sentenced as followed:

Count I: First-Degree Murder - Death

03/11/99 The Florida Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of the 3.850 Motion but remanded the case for a new penalty phase hearing Resentencing:

11/23/99 Jury recommended the Death Penalty by a 10-2 majority.

04/20/00 The defendant was resentenced to death.