At the time of this writing George Howard Putt is still alive in stark contrast to the five strangers he visited a horrific death upon during one hot and scary 28 day period in 1969.  The victims were named Roy K. Dumas, Bernalyn Dumas, Leila Jackson, Glenda Sue Harden, and Christine Pickens.

Glenda Sue Harden had graduated from Kingsbury High School, the same school my brother and I attended.  My mother worked nights and returned home via public transportation.  The reality of it all was palpable in a city that had just lived through the sanitation workers strike and the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in our city the year before.

George Howard "Buster" Putt was born in New Orleans, LA in the mid-1940s.  His parents were drifters who brought Buster and his siblings up amid abuse and neglect.  The brothers were not allowed to go to school because of the rambling nature of the parents.  Eventually Putt's parents went to prison for passing bad checks and the seven children went to North Carolina to live with their grandparents.  Within a relatively short period of time the grandparents sent the whole crew of children to an orphanage in Richmond, VA.

Putt later landed in the Richmond Home for Boys, where it was noted that he had "a morbid preoccupation with blood and gore".  He was described as "seriously disturbed" in a report by one of the school's counselors.

By the time Putt was 16 he was under arrest for his second attempted rape.  He had escaped after the first arrest and fled Virginia.  The second attempt occured when he forced a woman into his car in Texas and subsequently wrecked the vehicle.  Putt was then put in a maximum security facility for juveniles in Texas.  One psychiatrist there described Putt as "a pyschopath capable of committing almost any crime".

When Putt turned 21 he was released and immediately left Texas.  He drifted to Mississippi and later to Memphis where he married his brother's pregnant ex-girlfriend who he had only know for a few weeks.  Mary Bulimore, the new Mrs. Putt, worked at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis.  Mary had the baby and the couple named him George Jr.  For whatever reasons the couple soon ended up in Tupelo, Mississippi where Putt worked at a gas station and Mary as a clerk in a local hotel. 

In May of 1969 Putt was arrested for burglary and sentenced to six months at the county penal farm.  Very soon he escaped by simply driving a truck away.  The couple headed for Memphis to escape the Mississippi justice system.

The couple floundered around Memphis taking small jobs, selling blood etc.  They made no friends.  George seemed "odd" to most folks he met and never kept a job for long.  Their last residence was on Bethel in North Memphis.  Around the time George lost a job for stealing from the register the "Putt Murders" began.

The murder spree began in midtown Memphis at 1133 South Cooper, home of Roy and Bernalyn Dumas.  Roy Dumas was disabled from wounds suffered in World War 2 and his wife worked as a nurse at Baptist Hospital.   It was a hot day, August 14, 1969.  George Putt, still only 23 years old and only 2 years outside of the juvenile penal system somehow gained entry to the Dumas home where he tied and gagged both occupants.  Putt brutally murdered both in such a horrible way that it became difficult to determine cause of death.  The police commissioner called it, "the most atrocious and revolting crime he had seen in years."   Putt took Mrs. Dumas' purse on the way out the door.  Some rifling through the house was apparent, so robbery was listed as the motive for the crime.

Police were holding back certain grusome details, chief of which was that Bernalyn Dumas was apparently molested with a pair of scissors.  Mr. Dumas was not as badly mangled as his wife's.  The killer had left the scene of the crime with no witnesses and only a partial fingerprint on a piece of silverware. 

That night George Putt watched the television news coverage with his wife.

Twelve days later Putt struck again.  This time the victim was 80 year old Leila Jackson who lived at 21 N. Somerville.  Mrs. Jackson was found by her grandson much the way Bernalyn Dumas had been found.  Both had a lamp shining directly down on their body, a stocking wrapped around their neck and both were sexually molested with a sharp object, this time a butcher knife.

The police knew immediately that this was the same killer.  Fear began to grip the city with a vengeance.

That evening, George Howard Putt showed his wife the afternoon paper and said, "Remember that old lady I tried to rent the room from over near the Terrace Hotel?  That Mrs. Jackson? Remember her? Somebody killed her just like that Dumas couple!  There must be some kind of really bad nut loose in this town."

Five days later, 21 year old Glenda Sue Harden was robbed and abducted as she got into her car leaving work.  The police began a manhunt, but the search came to a bad end.  Miss Harden was found, hands bound by her own pantyhose laying in the grass of Riverside Park.  She had been stabbed 14 times in the back, chest, neck and head.  Now there were four people dead in two weeks.  Each crime not only wanton, but heinous.  In each case the victim was robbed, but also assaulted in a way that appeared almost inhuman.

The newspapers warned caution, but warnings were hardly necessary.  All over the city new locks were being installed.  One hundred and thirty-five detectives and vice squad officers were assigned to the case as the largest manhunt in the city's history began.  Clues were nowhere to be found.  A twenty thousand dollar reward drew no takers.  FBI assistance was sought for lab work.

On September 11, 1969 George Howard Putt commited his last murder.  He was less careful now.  He was seen by a number of people as he skulked about the apartment building at 41 N. Bellevue.  Christine Pickens, who was just turning 59 that day came home at a very inopportune time.  Putt had already failed in a ruse to get another resident, Grace Oldham, to open her door and now he abducted Christine as she entered her apartment. 

Things did not go as smoothly this time.  The victim began to scream for help and yelled "Murder!".  Emma Gross who lived right above Christine ran to her aid.  As she arrived Putt entered the hallway covered in blood, holding a knife and a woman's purse.  Putt decided not to kill Emma, probably because the scene was getting hot.  He threw the purse and ran.  Emman roused another neighbor, Wayne Armstrong from sleep and Armstrong began to give chase in his underwear while firing his pistol at Putt (Armstrong had left his glasses behind).  The chase went on through midtown as Armstrong screamed "He's a murderer! Catch him!"

The chase was joined by two more men, Ray Brenner and Roger Meckley.  The two had limited success chasing the younger Putt, but the chase and Armstrong's continuous firing of his pistol had drawn police protection.  Putt had actually shaken his pursuers by the time two officers spotted him, pants and forearms covered in blood.  Police officers Glenn Noblin and Phil Scruggs made the arrest on Linden Avenue. 

Christine Pickens had died in the meantime from 20 stab wounds.

Putt confessed to the murders within 48 hours.  He told police that the motive was robbery, but he was not going to leave any witnesses that might send him back to prison.  His victims were picked randomly except for the fact that each appeared vulnerable.

Later Putt recanted his confession, but he was tried for the murder of Christine Pickens and sentenced to death.  That sentence was later commuted to 99 years prompting prosecutors to also try him for the murder of the Dumases.  In all Putt received a total of 497 years.  Without the additional convictions Putt would have been eligible for parole in 1999.

Putt is currently serving his sentence at the Turney Center Industrial Prison in Only, Tennessee.  He now advocates a "Universal Law" philosophy and maintains that he murdered his victims "because that is the way it's supposed to be". 

Mary Putt learned the identity of Memphis' serial killer just like everyone else... on the evening news.

'The past does hurt'

In 1973, George Howard Putt was sentenced to 497 years for a month-long killing spree in 1969 that took the lives of five Memphians.

By Lawrence Buser

July 9, 2003

ONLY, Tenn. - When serial killer George Howard Putt was sentenced to 497 years in prison in 1973, Michael Dumas thought he would never again have to worry about the man who murdered his parents.

But on Tuesday Dumas was at the Turney Center Industrial Prison here, 150 miles northeast of Memphis, urging the state parole board not to release Putt, who was convicted of three brutal killings and admitted to two others.

"When I found out about this hearing I was sort of speechless," said Dumas, who was 21 when he discovered his parents' bodies in 1969 in their apartment on South Cooper. "Few people know what went on. I did because I saw it. The judge made his sentences consecutive so I would not have to be here today.

"I'm trying to go forward, but it's hard to put George Howard Putt out of my mind. The past does hurt."

Putt, now 57, waived his appearance at the parole hearing and no one spoke on his behalf. After a 30-minute hearing the two members of the Tennessee Board of Probation and Parole who heard from Dumas denied parole for Putt because of the seriousness of the crimes.

Concurring votes from two of the five other board members would make the decision final.

Putt's next hearing will be in 30 years when he is 87.

"There are some offenders the public expects should never get out and Mr. Putt falls into that category," said parole board chairman Charles Traughber, who was joined by board member Sheila Holt Swearingen. "He was unmerciful on his victims."

Traughber explained that the parole hearing was actually the second for Putt, who was denied parole in 1993. He was told then he would be considered again in 10 years.

Traughber said the hearings were required because of a state court ruling in 1992 that made defendants sentenced to more than 50 years under an old law eligible for parole after serving 30 years regardless of their total sentence.

Putt's 29-day, one-man crime wave left the city gripped in fear as five people were stabbed or strangled and in some cases sexually mutilated.

The first victims were Roy Dumas, 58, a disabled military veteran, and Bernalyn Dumas, 46, a nurse, who were found bound and strangled on Aug. 14, 1969.

"I discovered the crime scene and death beds of my parents when they failed to show up at a birthday party in honor of my wife," Michael Dumas told the parole board in a letter earlier this year. "The murders were a mystery with no motives or clues, and I, my wife and unborn family lived in both grief and fear."

Eleven days later 80-year-old Leila Jackson was found strangled in her home at 21 N. Somerville, where Putt had earlier asked about renting a room.

Glenda Sue Harden, 21, a secretary, was abducted at knifepoint in her car downtown and her body was found the next day on Aug. 30 in a wooded area of Riverside Park. She was strangled and had been stabbed 14 times.

The last victim was Christine Pickens, 59, who was stabbed to death in her apartment at 41 N. Bellevue on Sept. 11. Neighbors and police were alerted by her screams, however, and Putt was captured after a footchase that ended near Madison and what is now Midtown Interstate 240.

Putt confessed in detail to all the killings. He was convicted and sentenced to death in 1970 for the Pickens murder, but the sentence was commuted to 99 years when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional.

Realizing parole would be possible, the state then in 1973 prosecuted Putt for the Dumas murders. He was convicted and sentenced to 199 years in prison for each murder.

Judge William H. Williams ordered the sentences to be served consecutively for a total of 497 years. Officially Putt's sentence expires March 1, 2437.

Behind bars Putt has worked a variety of jobs, including as an office technician, an athletic equipment custodian, an industrial cleaner, a utility worker and most recently a quality control technician in the prison's industries.

His custody level is listed as minimum restricted.

In the hearing Tuesday, Dumas, a mortgage analyst, was accompanied by his grown son, a friend and two ministers from Christ United Methodist Church.