Gary Wayne Sutton, a Tennessee death row inmate convicted in the 1992 killings of siblings Tommy Griffin and Connie Branam. Sutton, who has spent three decades on death row, had been scheduled to receive a lethal injection on December 3.
The governor ordered an independent review into the incident, saying no further executions would take place until the investigation is complete. Sutton, 61, has been on Tennessee’s death row since 1996. He and his uncle, James Dellinger, were convicted for the murders of Tommy Griffin and Griffin’s sister, Connie Branam, in Blount County in February 1992.
The pair had last been seen alive with Sutton and Dellinger after the two men posted Griffin’s bail and later attended his funeral before leaving town. Sutton has exhausted his federal appeals. However, his family had asked Gov. Lee to grant executive clemency. For now, Sutton and Pike will remain on death row at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution. Their execution cannot proceed unless Tennessee completes its independent review and the state sets a new schedule.
Griffin, 24, was found shot in the back of the head near the Little River on Feb. 24, 1992. Branam, 34, was discovered five days later inside her burned vehicle.
Investigators were zeroing in Sutton and Dellinger within days of the killings, according to Knox News .
Family members also cited an ongoing feud between Griffin and Sutton’s brother before the killings.
Dellinger died in prison of natural causes in 2023 at age 71. jurors sentenced them to life imprisonment in that case While both men were convicted in Branam’s death. They later received death sentences for Griffin’s murder.
