There's been a lot of talk in the media about Haley Barbour, the outgoing Mississippi governor, granting around 200 pardons on his way out the door. One of them is a case I worked on that I remember very well. I was 33 years old at the time and had been on the job almost 12 years. There was a story in the local fish wrap this morning and part of that article concerns the case that I helped with. The full article can be found at Hattiesburg American | Hattiesburg news, community, entertainment, yellow pages and classifieds. Serving Hattiesburg, Mississippi | hattiesburgamerican.com. Here is the part I was involved with:

"It was a "blind rage" that killed Wayne Meeks.

That's what Louis Edwin Griffin Jr. told Forrest County Circuit Court Judge Jack Weldy when Griffin pleaded guilty to murder April 1, 1981.

The "blind rage" left Weeks, 22, dead in a mud puddle on a rural Forrest County road with five .32-caliber bullet holes in his chest, abdomen, back and hand along with another 12 stab wounds in his chest, according to previous reports.

Griffin is one of the nearly 200 people Haley Barbour pardoned on his way out of the governor's office - nine of whom were convicted in the Pine Belt.

A state Supreme Court decision upheld the pardons last week despite Attorney General Jim Hood's attempts to bat down many of them.

And that means that although Griffin has been out of prison since 2003, executive order number 1136 grants him a full, complete and unconditional pardon - restoring his rights including voting and bearing arms.

Efforts to contact Griffin for this article were unsuccessful.

Meeks' body was found shortly after his March 30, 1981, murder on a dirt road near Lake Thoreau, according to issues of the Hattiesburg American from 1981.

Griffin and his wife, Teresa Lynde Griffin, were arrested at their South 27th Avenue home about 24 hours after the shooting and stabbing. Teresa Griffin was charged with accessory after the fact.

Griffin confessed, and then told much of the story to Weldy in court the next day when he pleaded guilty after waiving his right to indictment.

Griffin, 28 at the time, said his wife pointed out Meeks when he was visiting one of the Griffins' neighbors one afternoon, saying he might have been one of the two men who raped her about a year prior.

The Griffins invited Meeks to go for a ride and smoke some marijuana with them, Griffin told the court. He said he and Meeks got out of the car "to go to the bathroom."

He confronted Meeks about the rape accusation, only to be laughed at as Meeks called his wife a "whore," Griffin said in court.

Griffin pulled his .32-caliber Beretta from his waist and "emptied it into him."

"He was still moving," Griffin said in court, according to previous reports. "I stabbed him till he quit moving."

Griffin said he took both the gun and his "British commando knife" because "with these kind of people, the kind involved in rape, you never know. They're dangerous in my book."

Griffin said he threw the knife in a lake, and he and his wife hid the disassembled parts of the gun in various places throughout their home.

Weldy told Griffin that if it was legally possible, he would sentence him to life without the possibility of parole. Weldy gave him a life sentence - the longest allowed by state law.

Mississippi Department of Corrections spokeswoman Tara Booth said Griffin was released in December 2003."


At the time the murder scene was very isolated. It was near the railroad tracks of the old Mississippi Central line that was later bought out and closed down. The tracks were torn up and several years ago and the former railroad property was turned into a 42 mile long hiking and biking trail. The area was mostly woods then, but today there are paved roads and expensive houses there. I doubt that any of the current occupants of the neighborhood have any idea aboout the violent history of the place they call home.

The scene was right on the county lines of Forrest and Lamar counties. The body was found not long after the murder by someone who lived in the area. There were officers from Forrest and Lamar counties there because at first we didn't know what county we were in or who had jurisdiction. Forrest County won the toss. I remember seeing Meeks' body lying in a mudhole. Water was up to his ears and his eyes had that familiar glassy dead guy look. Shell casings were visable on the ground and sometime into the examination of the scene it was discovered he had also been stabbed. I remember at the time thinking "It doesn't get anymore premeditated than this. Somebody really wanted this guy dead." As stated above, arrests were soon made. I don't think the knife was ever found but a search of their home revealed the Beretta .32 had been disassembled and hidden around the house. The slide of the little auto was found in a mayonaisse jar.

The wife quickly gave up the husband with her statement and he soon gave a statement of his own. What didn't come out in the above article was that she inflicted the first two stab wounds and because she wasn't fast enough Griffin finished the job. In a quick deal with the DA, to protect his wife, Griffin pled guilty the next day to a life sentence. (at the time there was no life without parole or death sentences in Ms. because of U.S. Supreme Court rulings) He was elligible for his first parole hearing after serving ten years. His wife served a few months (as per the agreement with the DA) for being an assessory.

A few short years later I received a call to see a woman about a rape. I was directed to go to the Waffle House on Hwy 49. It was about 2:00 a.m. and the place was empty except for a cook and two waitresses. As I walked in I noticed one of the waitresses was Teresa Griffin. She obviously didn't recognize me as I was now in uniform and wasn't the last time she saw me. She brought me a cup of coffee and took off her apron and came from behind the counter and sat down across the table from me. She talked in a low voice so other employees wouldn't hear what she was talking about. She proceeded to tell me about some guy she met in a bar the night before had raped her. I listened to her story for a few minutes while I drank the coffee. It sounded very similar to what she had told her husband a few months ago. As I finished my coffee I laid a tip on the table and told her "The last time you allegedly got raped one guy wound up in prison and the other guy wound up dead." I told her I couldn't help her and left. I haven't see her since.

As you have observed Charlie. A leopard never changes its' spots.
And as always a great true chronicle written well by you!
Always enjoy your posts and now we know the murderers are still out there! Be safe!

Sounds like a very dangerous woman. She like's to be important at cost of others.

I can remember when we were teenagers that we would go to a gravel pit near Lake Thoreau to target practice. The lake was named by one of my old English professors that taught at Southern Miss. The lake and surrounding property had a "No Trespassing" sign, but I do know one unnamed forum member that used to sneak in there to fish.

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Corripe Cervisiam

That's an awesome lesson to be learned. (I'm not touching the political side of it.)

There's some messed up people and they're among us. I know of a few in my area. Scary part is, I'm sure there's more that I don't know of.

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Dum vivo cano

Don't know about Haley Barbour's politics, but she sure looked good in that topless shot in "Swordfish" (and she was pretty cute in "The Flintstones" too)

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Forum consigliere

Sounds like somebody found some money,
Wonder what a governor pardon runs

The majority of the pardons were done for legitimate reasons, mostly to keep the state from paying for exhorbitant medical bills. A few were for things that aren't even a felony anymore, but there are still a few you have to wonder about. Most of those pardoned had already been released. The gory murders were the ones I had a problem with.

In all seriousness, Charlie hits the nail on the head. At least in Louisiana, the two most worrisome and out of control costs are the unfunded pension liabilities for the state workers and the cost of the ever increasing geratric prison population.

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Forum consigliere

Charlie,

I'm so glad I found your post. I've been trying to find information on this case for years. However, I could never remember how to spell Louis's name and I could never remember Teresa's first name. She went by Kit when I knew her.

See, I was a young girl who didn't know any better and learned the hard way that she was very dangerous. I've always told my daughter the story about the murderer that I was roommates with but until I read her your post I don't think she believed me! The way Teresa told the story, there were two guys that they killed. And she did all the stabbing.

At any rate, thank you for posting. I had no idea that Louis was out of jail. I haven't seen Teresa (Kit) since 1982. But I do know of the "met a guy at a bar and he raped me story" you talk about too. She would also do things like invite guys over, engage in sex and then chase them out of the apartment with a knife. Needless to say, I wasn't her roommate for long!

Thanks!

I would like a copy of your book when you get it finished. If you would like to probe my aging mind for any more info on this incident PM me and I'll arrange a telephone conversation.

Shot em with a 32?!!!!!!

I think this guy deserved a pardon, a young man with ideals avenging his lady love? Poor sucker.
I dont know the facts ,but thats how I see it from reading the above.
Some guys have more heart than brains , and some ladies have no heart at all.

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the rules? there are no rules

Charlie, write your own damn book! Please!

You have a wealth of great stories and know how to tell them.

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Oh well, what the hell.

You never think about how evil some people can be until you come across a story like this . Really makes you think.

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Hue 68 noli me tangere

Sounds like word got back to the governor that Louis Griffin had been the chump in this deal and took pity on him. I'm not going to condone what Louis did, but I am pretty certain that he wasn't driving the bus if you get my drift.

Teresa Griffin sounds a bit like the wife of a guy I knew in England. Her method of control was to goad him into near violence then call the cops. In the UK back then it was ALWAYS the guy that went away, no matter how beaten or bloody. Eventually he did the sensible thing and moved out, permanently. By all accounts she was utterly baffled and hurt that her control scheme had failed. Most manipulative people somehow find a way to blame those who wise up to them.

Charlie,

I'll be more than happy to give you a copy of my book when it's finished. I have to warn you though, it's the second in a series and it's about my life, how it started screwed up, how I screwed it up and #3 will be about how I fixed it!

Since this story actually plays an important part in my life in H'burg, I would like to talk to you about it and include the truth from you in the book as well. Would you be okay with that?

And yes! Write a book! I bet you've got some great stories to tell about your time in LE. I would read it and beg for a signed copy!

Thanks, Charlie! I always enjoy your stories and the characters. What ever happened to the large lady wearing an all too revealing negligee that chased her smaller husband out of the trailer and the trailer park?

Rick, she went to prison for awhile for stealing a washer and dryer by herself. One of the deputies stopped her on the way to the scrapyard with her contraband and after serving a few months she's back out.

Thanks Charlie, I hope the recent unpleasant weather missed you.

Exacting revenge has its costs, usually all too high. The guy was wrong and committed murder, and probably thought he was doing the right thing. I have no problem with the pardon, I hope the lesson is learned.

Good to hear from you Charlie.

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Even older, even crankier....

Hi, I grew up right down the road from LakeThoreau and can not remember this murder.What was the name of the road Mr. Meeks body was found on? I know it was a dirt road near Lake Thoreau.

The area now looks nothing like it did back then. All the roads were gravel roads and a lot of them had logging trails running off of them. The railroad is long gone. The body was found on one of the logging trails near what is now Lake Thoreau Rd. It was all wooded back then, but there is a subdivision there now. When I wrote this three years ago I drove out there to see if I could find the spot where the body was found. I didn't recognize anything. It's all changed.