Phillip Lee Ingle (August 7, 1961 – September 22, 1995) was an American serial killer who murdered two elderly couples in Cherryville, North Carolina in 1991. Before he was arrested, Ingle, who knew one pair of his victims, confessed to a friend, saying he enjoyed watching people die in agony. After being sentenced to death, he waived his appeals, saying that he wanted to spare the families of his victims from any more pain. He was executed in 1995.
Early life
Ingle was born on August 7, 1961, in Lincoln County, North Carolina. He had a very troublesome childhood. According to family friends, his mother and father split soon after he was born, and his mother was around only from time to time. In addition, family members said that Ingle's cousin sexually abused him during childhood. Ingle attempted to commit suicide when he was five or six years old, and was treated for psychiatric issues several times in the late 1980s.
Ingle previously served time in jail for breaking and entering and assault in the early 1980s.
Ingle shot himself in the stomach when he was 18 years old. In December 1986, a drunken Ingle was sent to Broughton Hospital. He was released five days later, and sent to Black Mountain's 28-day treatment program.
Murders
In July 1991, Ingle went into the home of William Fred Davis, 68, and Margaret Davis, 67. The door was unlocked, and he entered armed with an axe handle from his car. Margaret was in the kitchen, and Ingle, who knew the Davises, beat her to death. He then moved into the den of the house, where William was watching television. He did not hear Ingle attacking his wife due to the volume of the television. Consequently, Ingle was able to catch him off-guard and beat him to death as well.
Two weeks after the first two killings, Ingle tried to check himself into a state mental hospital after he was found drunk and threatening to commit suicide. He blamed his problem on alcohol and was released to the care of his brother-in-law. However, after examining him, doctors told him to seek treatment for alcoholism in a private facility and sent him home. William Rafter, the director of Black Mountain's treatment program, said Ingle's case demonstrated a problem for those who were "dually diagnosed". That is, the system did a bad job of finding and treating people who suffered from both mental illness and substance abuse problems. "Unfortunately one of the things that happens is that drug and alcohol abuse can mask the pathology," Rafter said.
Before Ingle's arrest, the Davis's 29-year-old son-in-law, Joey James Melton, was strongly suspected of the murders, but was not arrested. Melton was a high-school dropout, and the Davises has been adamantly opposed to his marriage to their daughter, Ruth Davis. However, they later helped set the family up financially giving them money for a mobile home and later a house. However, their relationship remained unstable. Neighbors and family members said Melton had personal issues which troubled the couple and possibly attracted the attention of the authorities. Newspapers reported that Melton underwent psychiatric treatment in the 1980s, and neighbors said he used to use drugs, but did not appear to be doing so prior to his death. Locals said the police very frequently questioned Melton.
"They were all over the place, and all over him," said Floyd Terry, someone who knew Melton. "I asked him straight out right after it happened. He said, 'I couldn't do nothing like that, I couldn't. And if I did, I wouldn't be crazy enough to let my wife go back there the next day.'" However, as time passed and police found no evidence linking Melton to the murders, the pressure on him seemed to ease.
In August 1991, Ingle crawled through the unlatched window into the home of E.Z. Willis, 70 and Sarah Willis, 67, and beat them to death with a tire iron. E.Z. fought back with his cane, striking Ingle several times and giving him a black eye and a gash on his face. Ingle's injuries were bad enough that he ended up skipping work.
After the second pair of murders were discovered by the couple's daughter on September 9, Melton became a suspect once more, and investigators returned to question him. The next day, he committed suicide. Melton's wife refused to reveal the contents of his suicide note.
Ingle later said he envisioned his four victims were "demons with red eyes, horns and tails", and claimed he believed he was doing God's work by killing them. Before he was arrested, Ingle confessed to a friend, telling him that he enjoyed watching people die in agony.