Hubert Glenn Sexton Jr.

I recently had a conversation with someone who knows someone awaiting a trial and has been assured that the person will spend significant time in prison. While I do not claim to know all of the evidence available it does sound as if the person will likely spend a few decades in jail. However, as I explained to the person nothing is certain, not even a conviction and sentence is always enough to let one's guard down. In fact, I know of a case in which a man was charged with incest of his child. He had confessed to the police at some point although later denied the charges against him. He went to trial and was convicted. He received sentence of I believe fifty years. The conviction was overturned when it was discovered that one of the investigating officers had continued to interview the man after he asked for an attorney. This is Law Enforcement 101... but it still occurs. The man got a new trial and was again convicted and sentenced to nearly fifty years. But, in the second trial the investigating officer that had continued to question him was called to the stand once again and as I recall the confession was eluded to and the judge failed to grant a mistrial. Once again the man appealed and the conviction was overturned. Eventually he pleaded guilty and in return received a fifteen year sentence, one that had him out of prison while his young daughter was still a minor. There was plenty of evidence against this man without the confession, not to mention it was achieved illegally. This was a man who deserved to be in prison for a very, very, very long time especially considering this was not the only family member he had abused. But the justice system did what it was supposed to do. It protected his rights and ensured he got a fair trial. The same can be said about the case about Hubert Glenn Sexton Jr. There seems to be plenty of evidence to prove that he committed two murders but prosecutors, and defense attorney's did not do their jobs properly and as of late 2019 his conviction was vacated.

Before I get into the story I want to clarify that while I have been able to discover the names of the children in this story and they are no longer children, I have chosen to use their initials as they were used in court records as they were minors at the time. B.G, E.G and B.L.G are the children of Stanley Goodman and his ex wife, Sherry Goodman Sexton. B.S is the name of Hubert Glenn's daughter.

Stanley Goodman and his first (?) wife, Sherry had three children together. They divorced at some point and both remarried, Stanley to Terry Sue and Sherry to Hubert Glenn. It appears that Hubert Glenn and Sherry lived with the Goodman for a period of time in Scott County Tennessee but at some point decided to move out. E.G would stay living with her dad and stepmom while the other two Goodman children would go with Hubert Glenn and Sherry. Just exactly when all of this occurred is unclear.

In March of 2000 B.G and her mother were interviewed by Child Protective Services. They had received a report of possible child sexual abuse. No charges were filed. But on May 16^th B.G's school contacted CPS again saying she was claiming that it had occurred the night before at her home. CPS contacted Sherry and she and Hubert Glenn's daughter, B.S were supposed to have a meeting with them but then they never showed. The police went looking for them and found Hubert Glenn and Sherry at home. The CPS worker accompanied by the police went to the home and informed the couple that all three of the minor children in the home, which included B.L.G, had been interviewed, that their stories seemed consistent and they were being removed from the home. Hubert Glenn insisted that the allegations were not true and that they had been instigated by Stanley Goodman. He told the police officers that three months prior Stanley had called and played an audio tape of him coaching B.G. In fact he also told the CPS worker “Well, she is getting this information from her sister (E.G) and her father.” A police officer would later say that he overheard a conversation Hubert Glenn had with Sherry at the house that day in which he said if he was going to go to jail it was not going to be for abuse, but for murder. It is unclear whether B.G had also already informed investigators that Hubert Glenn had allegedly told her that if she ever told of the abuse that she would never see her father again. It is not clear where the Goodman children went after they were removed from the home or why they did not apparently go to Stanley and Terry's home, but it seems apparent that did not happen. The kids were taken on a Tuesday and by Sunday they were still not in the Goodman home. Although it was said that Stanley had informed one of the detectives that come the next Monday morning he was filing for custody of his children and the detective in turn informed the Sexton's.

On Saturday May 20^th Stanley's daughter E.G had left the home with her aunt and Stanley's sister, Vella Strunk. It was customary for E.G to go to the “races” with her aunt every Saturday night. The door would be left unlocked as she returned home in the early morning hours. It was said that Hubert Glenn would have known this considering he had lived at the house. On this particular Saturday it had begun to rain and they did not go to the races as planned but E.G had left with her aunt. She stayed at her home for a while and it was said she returned between 10 and 11 that night. The house was dark and it was assumed that Stanley and Terry Sue were simply already in bed and E.G went to her room to go to sleep. The following day around noon Vella would call the Goodman house but did not receive an answer. About ten minutes later she received a call from E.G who was crying and in a panic telling Vella that Stanley and Terry Sue were in their room covered in blood! Vella went to the home and discovered the bodies of her brother and his wife and called the authorities.

Autopsies would reveal that Stanley had been shot five times. Four of those shots were in the right side of his face with one of those “totally destroying” his right eye and another “severing his spinal cord.” The fifth shot hit his right arm. Terry Sue was shot at least four times. Three of those shots were to the face but the forth shot went in near her ear and caused “massive skull fractures and extensive damage to the brain.”

Of course Hubert Glenn Sexton was high up on the suspect list considering all that had gone on in the last few days. Authorities actually went on the afternoon of the 21^st, the day the bodies were discovered. Over the next few days the investigators would gather what they felt was enough evidence to arrest Sexton. That would occur on May 25^th in which he was charged with two counts of first degree murder. On July 18^th the district attorney filed the paperwork announcing that he was seeking the death penalty.

It is not exactly clear when Sexton would go on trial but after what was only described as a “short” deliberation he was convicted on two counts of first degree murder and sentenced to death. So, just what did the authorities and the prosecutor have on him? They had a lot of people willing to talk and then based a timeline and theory on those talks. First they had the CPS worker who testified about what B.G had stated about Sexton telling her that if she told she would never see her dad again as well as the comments he made on the day of the allegations that it was being instigated by Stanley. Then they had the police officer who had been at the house that day and claimed to overhear Sexton telling his wife that he would only go to jail for murder.

Then there were a list of friends, store clerks and even a woman he was having an affair with who would give a timeline of things and alleged statements that he had made to them. They even had a statement from Sherry Sexton, although while whatever it was that she would state was apparently damaging, I did not discover what that actually was. So, let us start with a timeline of things. Since I received this timeline through an appeal filed years later I can only assume that each of these people testified but to be fair I have to say that their information could have just led them to more solid evidence.

A woman named Timmie Chumley was employed at a Dollar Store in Cleveland Tennessee, in Bradley County, near where the Sexton's lived. She would state that on the afternoon of May 20^th she had sold a black sweatshirt and sweat pants to a white man. She had failed to identify Sexton in a photo lineup. Register tape showed that at 2:37 pm on that day there was a sale for “fleece shirt and pants” for a total of $10.83 and that the person paid with a twenty dollar bill. A receipt was found in Sexton's vehicle matched the same one from the register tape on May 21^st when the investigators first went to his home after the discovery of the bodies.

Then there was Shera Crowley. She was a tax preparer who stated that in early 2000 Sexton had claimed E.G, Stanley's child that had remained living with him. Crowley would stated that when asked Sexton stated “If the son of a bitch ever tried to claim her or take her, he would blow his...... brains out.” Crowley claims that she warned Terry Sue (were they friends??) about this but she did not seem concerned.

A co-worker of Sexton's, Preston Adams stated that Sexton had told him of the child abuse charges and stated that Stanley was responsible. Adams claimed that Sexton asked him if he knew where he could find a .22 or .25 so he could “try to take care of the matter before it could escalate.” Next up was a man named Clinton Mason. Mason was a good friend of Sexton's and they socialized several times a week. Mason worked at a muffler shop and claimed that on the evening of May 20^th at around six Sexton had showed up and asked Mason to return his (Sexton's) .22 rifle that was being stored at Mason's. Mason claimed that Sexton told him that he had to “take care of some business in Scott County.” Mason went on to claim that around 3:30 in the morning of the 21^st he had gone to the Sexton home. He stated that Sherry seemed upset and that Sexton was “drunk or something.” Then around 8:30 that morning Mason claimed that Sexton came to his home and took him and his girlfriend to breakfast. While out Mason claimed that Sexton confessed to him that he had killed Stanley and Terry Sue but that Mason had stopped him from giving him details. After breakfast Mason said Sexton had gone to his shop and bought two tires for his car.

On the 22^nd, Adams claimed that Sexton and his wife visited him and his girlfriend at a motel and that while the women talked Sexton had confessed to him that he had committed the murders. Adams claimed that Sexton stated he had bought a good, sweats, and gloves. He also stated that Sexton claimed to have “disposed of all hair follicles off his body.” Adams says Sexton says he went in, shot the Goodman's and then buried his clothes and the stock of his rifle and then buried the rest of the rifle. Adams stated that Sexton claimed to have bought oversized shoes so it would look like someone else had committed the crime and that after the murders he had bought new tires for his vehicle in case tracks had been left.

On the 24^th Detective Alverez, the one who had informed the Sexton's that Stanley Goodman planned to file for custody of the children, got a message that Sherry Sexton wanted to meet him. They scheduled a meeting for 11pm. It was said that she was planning to make a statement but soon after Sexton showed up at the station demanding to speak to her and even attempted to force his way into the interview room. Apparently it did not stop her from making her statement and she was placed into a safe house. The following day he was arrested.

There was one other witness who either testified or gave investigators information. Her name was Christy Swallows. She was a neighbor to Sexton and claimed to have been having an affair with him. She first stated that he had informed her of the abuse allegations and that he had threatened that he would kill Stanley. She then said the day after the murders he had come to her house and said that Sherry had left him and that her car was at the police station. I question if the article I received this latter information actually meant the 24^th when Sherry was at the station. She would go on to claim that at first he denied that he had committed the murders but then later confessed.

In the initial search of the crime scene the investigators found six shell casings. After the autopsy report they went back and found three more. They claimed they were not found the first time because of sawdust in the area although that did not seem to be to be explained. It was said that all of the casings had been fired from the same gun but they could not identify what the weapon was beyond the fact that it was a semi-automatic and no weapon was found. In fact, not only was the weapon used not found but neither were any fingerprints, tire prints or even a sign of entry. However, in fairness to the last one, the entry, the door was left unlocked, as was the custom on Saturday night for E.G to gain entry and it was said that Sexton knew this.

The only defense witness was a man named Randall Boston. Boston was a law student who had done some investigating for the defense. He did a test run from the muffler shop to the Goodman's home. It was a total of 126.8 miles and took him about two and a half hours. Boston testified that he had gone at or just under the speed limit the entire time. The prosecution claimed that there were reports that he drove as fast as 97 miles per hour two days after the murders but it is unclear just how they knew, or believed this.

Several people did victim impact statements as well as friends, relatives and a physician presented the court with mitigating circumstances but as I stated earlier the jury was unconvinced. His death sentence (times two here) granted him the right to an automatic appeal and as we know that process through the chains can often take decades.

In 2012 the Tennessee Supreme Court affirmed the conviction but vacated the death sentences. This is where things get strange in this case. The courts reasons for vacating the sentence was based on several issues. One was that the courts allowed the CPS worker to testify the child abuse allegations. Another issues was that the prosecutor had referenced marital privilege in their opening. However, other two issues the court cited makes it confusing as to why they only vacated the sentence and not the conviction. The first was the fact that the trial court had allowed police officers that testified to refer to the fact that Sexton was offered a polygraph and he had refused. The information that I had on hand indicated that the polygraph had been offered not on the murder allegations but the child abuse ones. And Sexton was said to have refused saying that another officer had told him that they could be “fixed.” My problem with the courts overturning the sentence and not the verdict on this issue was the fact that if it was not and should not have been allowed in the court, then they cannot be certain that it was not considered by the jury. But even still, that issue is less troubling than the last of the four reasons the court cited.

This last issue that caused the court to vacate the sentence, but not the verdict dealt with the fact that they believed that the trial court had “improperly excluded prospective jurors solely based on a questionnaire.” I find this troubling. Now, this does not mean that I necessarily believe that Sexton was innocent but as you have often heard me say, guilty or innocent, it is the process and a person's rights that are most important. I am quite confused how by saying this about the jury process they were saying that not everyone who could have been a juror was properly accessed and in the process put the whole jury selection in question and yet by affirming the verdict indicated they believed the jury was not tainted in any way. For me it was akin of “talking out both sides of ones mouth.” After the court vacated the sentence the State of Tennessee decided not to seek the death penalty again and he was given two consecutive life sentences.

During the next several years Sexton went through five lawyers who would quit his defense. Once again specifics were not given as to the reasons that were given. It seems that at some point Sexton waived his right to counsel. Sexton filed a petition for post conviction relief. He alleged several issues with the jury. The allegations ranged from saying that two jurors had “misrepresented” domestic violence issues in their past, another allegedly told other jurors that Sexton was guilty prior to going into deliberations. There had also been an issue where one juror had been threatened outside the courthouse during the trial. The latter situation would snowball a bit and cause other issues. A hearing was held and each of the jurors in question admitted that they had not been asked about past domestic violence or child abuse issues. They also claimed that this had not influenced their decision.

In June of 2019 Sexton filed another appeal. As with so many other appeals I have read there were a multitude of things that were alleged. By the time appeals get this far it is as if attorney's throw “everything but the kitchen sink” in the appeal hoping something will stick. More often than not none of it works. However in this case they were able to show that some of the issues brought up were valid and in my opinion they went back to the reasons that the court in 2012 vacated the sentence and not the verdict. In November 2019 the court revealed their findings. The court found that when it came to the jurors, there were at least two that should have either a) been asked more questions, b) should have revealed answers or c) never been on the jury to begin with. One juror had revealed that she had been involved in a domestic violence relationship prior to be a juror. While she was not asked about that by any of the attorney's, she had revealed that she had believed if the court knew of the issue she did not believe she would be picked for the jury. The courts felt that even though she was not directly asked a question regarding domestic violence when she was asked if there was anything that she thought may prevent her from being a juror she did not mention the issue even though she had admitted that she had thought that it would. Then there was the issue of another juror who had been the victim of child abuse and while she had not lied about it while being questioned, the issue was that she was never questioned and seeing as believed motive behind the murder was to seek revenge from Stanley over the child abuse claims this should have been asked of the jurors. In addition to this it seems that the jurors had revealed these issues to other members of the jury.

A third issue that the courts stated in their decision was the not necessarily the fact that a juror had been threatened outside the courthouse but the fact that when the jury was moved because of the threat that one the bailiffs in charge of moving them had revealed the reason for the move. The last issue reported by the court was based on ineffective counsel. It was not necessarily because they had done something wrong once the trial began but based on the fact that they did not ask enough, or enough of the right questions of potential jurors.

Strangely at the current moment both Blount and Scott County's are showing Sexton as an inmate in custody in their jails. When an inmate is moved to one prison or jail to another for court hearings generally websites update as far as their movement. While I was not able to find any information after the announcement of the courts ruling in November, I can only assume that the state decided to refile the charges against him in the murders. It could be that he is being held in the county jail awaiting his re-trial but I cannot say that for certain. Another thing I found interesting is that Hubert's father died in 2009 and while Hubert Glenn Jr. was listed as a survivor, it indicated that he was still married to Sherry but also said from Cleveland Tennessee (Bradley County). I am unsure if this was simply done so there were not questions or so there was no notation that he was in prison but I still found it quite odd. I would also find it odd that he and Sherry would have still been married as most things indicate that marriage did not endure.

Obviously this case has much more to come.....