George Lewis

Pinellas County, FL

George Lewis

May 23, 1984 (Gulfport)

George Allen Lewis was convicted of the rape and murder of a 36-year-old neighbor, Karen Gregory. Gregory lived at the corner of 27 Ave. and Upton St. in Gulfport, FL. Around 1 a.m. on May 23, 1984, more than a dozen of Gregory's neighbors heard a loud piercing scream. Most paid little attention, but on the morning of the 24th Gregory was found raped and brutally murdered. When interviewed later, Lewis said that upon hearing the scream he walked towards Gregory's house to investigate, but turned around after he failed to see anything suspicious. Lewis was a firefighter and a neighborhood crime watch volunteer. He had a crime watch sign in his yard. Lewis had a sterling reputation and was friends with the case investigator, Detective Larry Tosi.

When questioned eight months later, Lewis changed his story, saying he just walked to the front of his house and did not walk along the street. He was then asked to take a lie detector test, which he failed. After being told that he failed, he changed his story again. He also gave slightly different stories after two more lie detector tests. Two years after the murder, investigator Tosi had a crime scene photo of what appeared to be a bloody (barefoot) footprint enlarged and compared to Lewis's footprint. The forensic comparers reported a match. Lewis then admitted it was his footprint and that he entered Gregory's house following the murder to investigate, but said he did not murder Gregory.

Gregory's body was found outside a bathroom. Lewis's bloody footprint was found inside the bathroom. At trial Lewis said that after he entered Gregory's house and came upon the body, he got sick and entered the bathroom to vomit in the toilet. Afterwards he ran like a scared rabbit. He said that later, during the investigation, he tried to be helpful, but thought it best not to mention that he walked through the murder scene. To construct a motive, the prosecution speculated that routine everyday tensions caused Lewis to snap and commit the brutal rape-murder. Lewis's family and fellow firefighters, who presumably know him better, strongly maintain his innocence.

Lewis's case is unusual in that it involved Lewis as opposed to an average person. Background evidence about Lewis gives every indication he was a busybody who eagerly intervened in situations, motivated by the desire to be a hero. In this regard he was perhaps 1 in 100 or 1 in 1000. This improbability not only raises reasonable doubt as to guilt, but leads to the belief that he is probably innocent.

It is plausible to believe that Lewis, as a crime watch volunteer, might have entered Gregory's house to check that everything was fine. Also as a firefighter, Lewis was trained to enter houses based on what his senses told him. If he saw smoke billowing from a house's window, he most likely did not wait for social approval before entering. His job required him to take charge.

Reportedly, there was broken door glass outside Gregory's home, which might have drawn his attention. Perhaps he heard the sounds of the victim's last moans or of the killer exiting out the rear. It is plausible that Lewis inadvertently walked into a pool of the victim's blood before the true horror of the situation dawned on him. Or not wanting to vomit on the floor, he stepped in the victim's blood while walking over her body to get to the toilet. Although the real killer could have left a bloody footprint, he likely fled before much of the victim's blood had drained from her body. There may not have been any pools of blood for him to step in.

Secondly, Lewis had legitimate reason to fear that reporting the crime would a lead to the murder being pinned on him. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if the police are honest, they are not infallible, and what are they to think if an innocent person tells them, in effect, that he picked up and held a killer's smoking gun? Since Lewis was clearly in an incriminating situation, his failure to report the crime cannot be used as evidence of guilt.

Thirdly, rather than implicate him in the crime, Lewis's false stories tend to exonerate him. Had he planned the crime beforehand, he likely would have snuck up to the victim's house, worn a disguise, or taken some precaution so that a neighbor could not identify him. Then when questioned later about the crime, he would deny knowing anything about it. In actual fact, when questioned, Lewis acknowledged walking along the street to investigate the scream. His acknowledgment implied that he was fearful that a neighbor might have seen him on the street and he did not want to be caught in a lie by denying everything. Even that acknowledgement he apparently did not want to make. After talking to Investigator Tosi, and finding out that no neighbor saw him, he changed his story eight months after the crime to say he only walked to the front of his house. In addition, it does not seem likely that Lewis would have entered Gregory's house barefoot if he planned to struggle with her.

Fourthly, there was an alternate suspect who stopped by Gregory's house a half day after her murder and left a note on the car of Gregory's absent boyfriend, saying he stopped by, but “saw no signs of life.” When questioned this suspect had a cut on his hand, but reportedly had an alibi. Lewis will be eligible for parole in 2010. A 1992 pro-prosecution book was written about the case, entitled Unanswered Cries by Thomas French. (American Justice) [8/08]