Glen Gore was the third person to be arrested and convicted of the 1982 rape and murder of Debbie Sue Carter. Before Gore’s conviction, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz were convicted of Carter’s murder. They spent 11 years in prison before they were exonerated of any wrongdoing by the same DNA evidence that eventually implicated Gore.
The story of Carter’s murder was eventually adapted into a nonfiction book by John Grisham, titled The Innocent Man: Murder & Injustice in a Small Town. Now, it’s been re-created as a six-part docu-series on Netflix under the same title: The Innocent Man.
Gore is now 58 years old, serving out a life sentence without opportunity of parole, his death sentence having been commuted. He resides at the Mack Alford Correctional Center in Atoka County, Oklahoma.
Here’s what you need to know:
From 1982-2003, Gore Was in & out of Prison For Various Offenses, While Williamson & Fritz Were in Prison for the Murder of Carter
Debbie Carter
Throughout the years from 1982 to the early 2000s, Gore was arrested several times. He served stints in prison for assault, burglary, pointing a firearm at an officer, and escape from confinement immediately preceding his trial for murder.
In 1999, Gore was serving time in prison for a firearm-related conviction when Williamson and Fritz were exonerated. Shortly after, he was working with a prison crew when a television crew approached him and asked him questions about being a newfound subject in the Carter murder. According to News Oklahoma, Gore walked away from the work crew and returned to prison with his attorney later that day.
It was soon revealed that Gore was the prime suspect in the Carter investigation; the same DNA results that exonerated Williamson and Fritz had implicated Gore, specifically through the semen traces found in Carter’s apartment.
In 2001, Gore was arrested and charged with the murder of Debbie Carter. At the time, Gore was already serving a 40-year sentence on an unrelated charge, per The Oklahoman. He had also served as a witness in Williamson’s murder trial, claiming he saw Williamson and Carter arguing the night of her death. He pleaded not guilty.
Gore Was Arrested in 2001 for the Murder of Carter; He Was Convicted of First-Degree Murder in 2003
Glen Gore
During Gore’s trial, lead prosecutor Richard Wintory pointed out that Gore outweighed Carter by 20 pounds, and that he was “bouncer material,” according to a local ABC affiliate.
In response, Defense Attorney David Smith argued, “The point there is that Debbie was, not that she was capable of fighting him off, but she was capable of putting up some kind of a fight. And whoever would have assaulted her probably would have born the marks of that.” Smith says at the time of the murder, Gore’s body showed no signs that a physical altercation had occurred.”
Gore was eventually convicted of the first-degree murder of Debbie Carter. It was a unanimous decision by a twelve-man, two-woman jury that took only two hours of deliberation, per an archived article from The Oklahoman.
In that article, lead prosecutor Richard Wintory said, “To have 12 people agree, with this difficult of a case, that he should suffer the same penalty he inflicted on an innocent woman shows that just because the system can make a mistake doesn’t mean we’re afraid to impose justice.”
Gore’s trial included witness testimonies by an ex-girlfriend and his ex-wife, both of whom attested to his violent behavior; his ex-wife, Gwen, had stated that she left him after eight months of marriage because he’d become too violent. Another woman testified that she dated Gore in the months after Carter’s death, and that one night he raped her on the side of the highway while her young son was in a nearby car. Gore has a daughter with this woman; their names were not identified.
Gore’s murder conviction marked the third and last time a person was tried and convicted for the death of Debbie Carter. To The Oklahoman, Carter’s father, Charlie Carter, said, “Hopefully, we don’t have to do this again.”
READ: Glen Gore’s Prison Entry & Photos
He currently resides at the Mack Alford Correction Center in Atoka, Oklahoma, on a life sentence without parole; his death sentence has since been commuted. He is 58 years old.
Here is what the prison entry for Gore says:
Oklahoma State Prison SystemGlen Gore, 3/24/2000
Glen Gore, 10/2/2003
Glen Gore, 3/6/2012
Glen Gore, 7/13/2012
Oklahoma State Prison SystemGlen Gore, 7/13/2012
Oklahoma State Prison SystemGlen Gore, 1/29/2004
Glen Gore, 6/18/2015
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