Key witness recants testimony against Freddie Owens, who is scheduled to be executed Friday
Two days before the first execution in South Carolina in more than a decade, a key witness in the case against the condemned man has recanted his testimony.
In 1999, Steven Golden told a Greenville jury that he was robbing a Speedway gas station with Freddie Owens in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 1997. When the clerk, Irene Graves, would not open the safe, Owens shot the mother of three in the head, Golden told the court at the time.
Almost 30 years later, he says that was a lie.
“Freddie Owens is not the person who shot Irene Graves at the Speedway on November 1, 1997. Freddie was not present when I robbed the Speedway that day,” Golden wrote in an affidavit submitted by Owens’ attorneys to the South Carolina Supreme Court as part of a renewed effort to convince the court to stop Owens’ execution.
Now the South Carolina Supreme Court will have to weigh this revelation and decide whether to pause Owens’ execution, set to take place by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Friday. Last week, the Supreme Court declined to halt Owens’ execution after his attorneys claimed errors were made in his original trial.
As the only eyewitness to Graves’ murder, Golden was a central witness in Owens’ trial. Owens — who later confessed to killing a cellmate — maintained his innocence in Graves’ killing, and no forensic evidence connected him to the crime. CCTV footage from the gas station showed two men, one in a ski mask, the other identified as Golden, wearing a stocking over his head.
But recent revelations about his testimony have been central to attempts by Owens’ attorneys to halt the upcoming execution. In an affidavit filed in August, Golden said that prosecutors in 1999 offered him a secret deal that they would not pursue the death penalty if he agreed to testify against Owens.
In his affidavit field Wednesday, Golden said that he had ingested cocaine just prior to being arrested on Nov. 11, 1997.
“The detectives told me they knew Freddie was with me when I robbed the Speedway,” Golden wrote. “They told me I might as well make a statement against Freddie, because he already told his side to everyone and they were just trying to get my side of the story. I was scared that I would get the death penalty if I didn’t make a statement. I signed a waiver of rights form and then signed a statement on November 11, 1997.”
Just 18 years old at the time, Golden said he felt pressured to sign the statement even though he knew it wasn’t true.
“In that statement, I substituted Freddie for the person who was really with me in the Speedway that night. I did that because I knew that’s what the police wanted me to say, and also because I thought the real shooter or his associates might kill me if I named him to the police. I am still afraid of that. But Freddie was actually not there.”
Golden did not name who he says actually shot and killed Graves.
While facing trial for murder and possession of a firearm during a violent crime, Golden said that prosecutors offered him a deal to testify that the statement he signed for police was true. While Golden testified on the stand that prosecutors had not offered him a deal, this was a lie, he said.
“I’m coming forward now because I know Freddie’s execution date is September 20 and I don’t want Freddie to be executed for something he didn’t do.” Golden wrote. “This has weighed heavily on my mind and I want to have a clear conscience.”
It is unknown whether courts will find Golden’s statement credible. In a previous order declining to stay the execution, the five Supreme Court justices found that the death sentence was proportionate because of the strength of the evidence against Owens. As well as Golden’s testimony, the court cited testimony from Owens’ mother, his then girlfriend as well as Nakeo Vance, who drove the getaway car. Vance testified that Owens told him that he’d shot Graves. Vance later threw the gun Owens used from a bridge, according to court filings.
Golden was sentenced to 28 years in prison for his role in the robbery leading to Graves’ murder. His time is prison hasn’t always been easy. In 2002, he and Owens were placed in the same cell block at the Allendale Correctional Institute. While being escorted to the shower, Golden said that Owens grabbed him, pulling him into a shower and repeatedly stabbing him in the stomach with a “shank,” according to documents Golden filed in federal court.
Throughout his time in prison, Golden has also received 35 disciplinary infractions for charges including “exhibitionism,” assault, as well as the possession of drugs, weapons and cellphones. While still in prison in 2018, Golden pleaded guilty to possession of meth or cocaine base as well as possession of a weapon by a prisoner. He received a two year sentence for earch charge.
In 2023, Golden also pleaded guilty to first degree assault and battery and was sentenced to an additional five years, to run concurrent with his other sentences. He will be eligible for parole beginning this December, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
In a separate appeal, Owens’ attorneys have also asked the U.S. District Court in Columbia to pause his execution due to the lack of information about the drugs that the South Carolina Department of Corrections intends to use.
This story was originally published September 19, 2024 at 12:13 PM.