From Kelly Gissendaner’s appeal:
Gissendaner and the victim had been married, divorced, remarried, separated, and reunited between 1989 and 1997. Ms. Gissendaner was in a relationship with Gregory Bruce Owen and at one point stated to a co-worker that she was unhappy with her husband and in love with Owen.
Prior to Gissendaner’s trial, Owen entered an agreement not to seek parole within 25 years, pled guilty, and received a sentence of life in prison. Owen testified at Gissendaner’s trial that it was she who first raised the idea of murder and that she later raised the idea again several other times. Owen suggested divorce as an alternative, but Gissendaner insisted upon murder because she believed she would receive insurance money from her husband’s death and because she believed he “wouldn’t leave [her] alone by just divorcing him.” Gissendaner had previously stated to Owen’s sister that she intended to use the victim’s credit to get a house and then “get rid of him.”
During the days leading up to the murder, Gissendaner made 47 telephone calls to Owens and paged him 18 times. Telephone records also showed that the pair were together at a bank of payphones several hours before the murder. *Update
On the evening of February 7, 1997, Gissendaner drove Owen to her family’s home, gave him a nightstick and a large knife, and left him inside the home to wait for the victim. Gissendaner then drove to a friend’s house, and, upon Gissendaner’s insistence that the group keep their plans for the evening, she and her friends went out to a nightclub.
The victim arrived home shortly after 10:00 p.m. Owen confronted the victim from behind, held a knife to his throat, forced him to drive to 
a remote location, forced him to walk into the woods and kneel, and then killed him by striking him with the nightstick and then stabbing him repeatedly in the back and neck with the knife. As instructed by Gissendaner, Owen took the victim’s watch and wedding ring before killing him to make the murder appear like a robbery.
Gissendaner returned home from the nightclub at about the time the murder was being carried out, paged Owen with a numeric signal, and then drove to the crime scene. After inquiring if her husband was dead, she took a flashlight and went toward the body to inspect it. Owen burned the victim’s automobile with kerosene provided by Gissendaner, and the pair returned to their respective homes in Gissendaner’s automobile. Owen disposed of the nightstick, the knife, a pair of his own jeans, and the victim’s stolen jewelry by placing them in the garbage. A pair of Owen’s sweat pants also worn on the night of the murder was recovered, however, and DNA analysis of blood found on them showed a likely match with the victim’s and Owen’s blood.
After the murder, Gissendaner concealed her relationship with Owen from police and claimed not to have initiated contact with him for some time. Telephone records, Owen’s testimony, and other witness testimony proved otherwise. After her arrest, Gissendaner called her best friend and confessed to her active and willing role in the murder, although she then called a second time and claimed that she was coerced into participating. Gissendaner wrote a letter while in jail in an effort to hire someone to give perjured testimony and to rob and beat witnesses.
**Update**
Kelly Renee Gissendaner’s execution is temporarily on hold due to a problem with the execution drugs. Hopefully it will be resolved soon. Her sentence has not been changed. Also, please remember that Doug Gissendaner is the victim in all of this, NOT Kelly.
*Update* 9/30/2015 Kelly Renee Gissendaner was executed early this morning
Find-A-Grave: Douglas Morgan Gissendaner
Family: Kelly Gissendaner’s murdered husband ‘is the true victim’
Gissendaner v State of Georgia 2000 (conviction and sentence affirmed)
Murderpedia: Kelly Renee Gissendaner
Kelly Renee Gissendaner – Georgia Death Row
Sentence upheld against only woman on Georgia’s death row
Ask A Convict: Kelley Gissendaner
WriteAPrisoner: Kelly Gissendaner
Georgia’s only female death row inmate to be executed
Parole board to hear clemency plea before planned execution of Barrow County woman
Ga.’s female death row inmate’s last meal request
Only woman on Ga. death row denied clemency, set for execution
Georgia woman’s execution back on, as supporters cry for clemency
Georgia inmate Kelly Gissendaner executed after failed appeal
Georgia death row inmate requests 2 whoppers and more for last meal
Find-A-Grave: Kelly Renee Gissendaner
Books
First We’ll Kill My Husband: The Dark Desires of the Only Woman on Georgia’s Death Row
Love Gone Wrong (New York Times bestselling Notorious USA series)
Movies/Documentaries
Deadly Sins: Vicious Vices
Deadly Women: For The Money Honey
Wicked Attraction: Dial 123
Defendants
Kelly Renee Gissendaner – convicted, sentenced to death
Gregory Bruce Owen – pled guilty, sentenced to life in prison
INMATE INFORMATION
GISSENDANER, KELLY RENEE
GDC ID: 0000357507
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
YOB: 1968
RACE: WHITE
GENDER: FEMALE
HEIGHT: 5’10”
WEIGHT: 220
EYE COLOR: BROWN
HAIR COLOR: SLT&PEP
SCARS, MARKS, TATTOOS
INCARCERATION DETAILS
MAJOR OFFENSE: MURDER
MOST RECENT INSTITUTION: ARRENDALE STATE PRISON
MAX POSSIBLE RELEASE DATE: DEATH
ACTUAL RELEASE DATE: CURRENTLY SERVING
CURRENT STATUS: ACTIVE
KNOWN ALIASES
A.K.A. BROOKSHIRE,KELLY R
A.K.A. BROOKSHIRE,KELLY RENEE
A.K.A. GISSENDANER,KELLY RENEE
STATE OF GEORGIA – CURRENT SENTENCES
CASE NO: 405001
OFFENSE: MURDER
CONVICTION COUNTY: GWINNETT COUNTY
CRIME COMMIT DATE: 02/07/1997
SENTENCE LENGTH: NOT AVAILABLE
CASE NO: 405001
OFFENSE: MURDER
CONVICTION COUNTY: GWINNETT COUNTY
CRIME COMMIT DATE: 02/07/1997
SENTENCE LENGTH: NOT AVAILABLE
STATE OF GEORGIA – PRIOR SENTENCES
STATE OF GEORGIA – INCARCERATION HISTORY
INCARCERATION BEGIN
INCARCERATION END ACTIVE
INMATE INFORMATION
OWEN, GREGORY BRUCE
GDC ID: 0000955082
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
YOB: 1971
RACE: WHITE
GENDER: MALE
HEIGHT: 5’07”
WEIGHT: 146
EYE COLOR: BLUE
HAIR COLOR: BROWN
SCARS, MARKS, TATTOOS
INCARCERATION DETAILS
MAJOR OFFENSE: MURDER
MOST RECENT INSTITUTION: WASHINGTON STATE PRISON
MAX POSSIBLE RELEASE DATE: LIFE
ACTUAL RELEASE DATE: CURRENTLY SERVING
CURRENT STATUS: ACTIVE
KNOWN ALIASES
A.K.A. OWEN,GREGORY BRUCE
A.K.A. OWENS,GREGORY BRUCK
STATE OF GEORGIA – CURRENT SENTENCES
CASE NO: 387120
OFFENSE: MURDER
CONVICTION COUNTY: GWINNETT COUNTY
CRIME COMMIT DATE: 02/07/1997
SENTENCE LENGTH: NOT AVAILABLE
STATE OF GEORGIA – PRIOR SENTENCES
STATE OF GEORGIA – INCARCERATION HISTORY
INCARCERATION BEGIN
INCARCERATION END ACTIVE
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Filed under: crime, Deadly Wives, death penalty, Domestic Violence, Execution Alert, high profile, murder, murder in the 20th Century | Tagged: 1997, death penalty, domestic violence murder, Doug Gissendaner, Georgia, homicide, spousal murder, stabbing | 3 Comments »
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