Edward George McGregor

Victims

4 attributed - 1 CONVICTION, for the capital murder of Kim Wildman, and 3 further deaths never charged. The Barnum killing was used at trial only as extraneous-offence evidence, and police named him publicly as a suspect in the Subjects and Rubin deaths without charging either

Years active

1990 - 2006

Location

Texas, USA

Method

Strangulation

Status

Arrested on May 1, 2006 after DNA matched him to the 1990 killing of Kim Wildman, released, then re-arrested on December 1, 2006 when DNA linked him to the murder of Edwina Barnum. Prosecuted only in the Wildman case, jointly by the Fort Bend and Harris County district attorneys; because he was seventeen at the time the State did not seek the death penalty and the court assessed life automatically. Convicted of capital murder and sentenced on September 6, 2010. The First Court of Appeals affirmed in August 2012 (McGregor v. State, 394 S.W.3d 90) and discretionary review was refused in April 2013. He then sought habeas relief over three jailhouse witnesses called by Harris County assistant district attorney Elizabeth Shipley, and in November 2016 Judge James Shoemake found on 139 findings of fact that all three had falsely denied being promised benefits, that one had testified falsely about overhearing a confession, and recommended a new trial. The Court of Criminal Appeals REFUSED that recommendation in June 2019 (Ex parte McGregor, WR-85,833-01), holding the false testimony immaterial because a jury would have convicted even had the witnesses told the truth. The Supreme Court of the United States denied certiorari on June 8, 2020. The prosecutor was later rebuked by the Texas State Bar for failing to disclose the deals. He has maintained his innocence throughout and the conviction stands.

Edward George McGregor, born in 1973, strangled four women in Texas across a span of sixteen years: Kim Wildman, 38, Edwina Latriss Barnum, 23, Danielle L. Subjects, 28, and Mandy R. Rubin, 25. The first killing was committed in 1990, when he was seventeen, and the last in 2006. The cases involved rape.

He was arrested on May 1, 2006 and convicted of a decades-old murder after the case was reopened; on September 6, 2010 he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of fifteen years before parole eligibility.

The sixteen-year gap between the first and last killings, and his age at the first, are the notable features of the case. Sourcing is limited to local Texas reporting of the 2010 sentencing.