Being younger and stronger, I just pushed him off and shot him right between the eyes. Just because he pissed me off. He was shot like an executioner would have done it. He fell to the ground lifeless and didn’t even wiggle.
Wardlow was 18 when he killed 82-year-old Carl Cole in Cason, TX. Wardlow shot Cole during an attempted robbery in which he said he had planned to steal Cole’s truck to leave the rural town and start a new life with his girlfriend.
Billy J. Wardlow. ALS. Pmk: August 23, 2005. SEALED. Contents unknown. Pristine.
a/k/a: "Bandit"
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics: Robbery
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder: June 14, 1993
Date of arrest: Next day
Date of birth: November 25, 1974
Victim profile: Carl Cole, 82
Method of murder: Shooting
Location: Titus County, Texas, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on February 13, 1995
Executed: July 8, 2020i
Billy Joe Wardlow (1974–2020 | age 46) was just 18-years-old when he and his girlfriend Tonya Fuller robbed 82-year-old Carl Cole at his Cason, TX home in 1993.
Wardlow shot him right between his eyes, stuffed his body in a closet, and stole his pickup truck. They drove up to Madison, NE, where they sold it. The next day, both were arrested in Madison, SD.
While waiting for trial, Wardlow wrote a confession to the sheriff investigating the murder. Part of it read:
“Being younger and stronger, I just pushed him off and shot him right between the eyes. Just because he pissed me off. He was shot like an executioner would have done it. He fell to the ground lifeless and didn’t even wiggle.”
The state of Texas executed Billy Joe Wardlow on July 8, 2020 for the 1993 East Texas robbery and murder. It was the state's first execution since the coronavirus swept through the state.
I came to death row a scared boy who made poor choices; I will leave death row a man that others admire because I weathered the storms of life with the help of people that loved me. We should all be so fortunate.
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i Blanco, J. (2023) Billy Joe Wardlow | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers, Murderpedia.org. Available at: https://murderpedia.org/male.W/w/wardlow-billy-joe.htm (Accessed: 4 March 2023).