Don Henry Gaskins Research Paper

Donald Henry Gaskins’ life of crime and terror across South Carolina was put to a stop on April 26, 1976, when he was arrested for the final time after operating for a little over 20 years (Margaritoff). In 1975, a thirteen-year-old named Kim Ghelkins went missing. At first, authorities had no idea who could have taken her, but then a town folk came out and said that Ghelkins mentioned she “knew” Gaskins before she suddenly disappeared. This led the authorities to look into Donald Gaskins (Margaritoff). When the authorities finally went and searched Gaskins’ house, they found some disturbing evidence: the clothes of Kim Ghelkins. He was immediately arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor in Townsend. After being arrested, the

At one point, Gaskins trusted Neely enough to let him watch while he did his horrifying things. Once the authorities started to question Neely, it did not take long for him to break under the pressure and confess everything he knew (Margaritoff). To avoid the death penalty, Neely told the authorities he knew where the bodies were buried and eventually led them there (BE 9). At this site were the bodies of eight victims of Donald Henry Gaskins, which included an eight-month-pregnant lady and her two-year-old daughter (Townsend). Gaskins would go on to confess to seven other murders as well as claim ninety more (Margaritoff). Shortly after being arrested, Donald Henry Gaskins was put on trial for eight confirmed murders. The trial did not last long after the prosecutors told Gaskins to plead guilty so the families would not have to suffer through a long trial. Gaskins eventually agreed and was sentenced to death on May 24, 1976, just short of a month after being arrested (Margaritoff). In November of 1976, the Supreme Court ruled South Carolina’s death penalty unconstitutional and his sentence was commuted to life. This would only last two years before the death penalty would be