30 years later, Louisiana death row inmate still maintains he didn’t pull the trigger

It has been 30 years since the shooting that put Bobby Hampton on death row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, and not only has the convicted felon's claim of innocence never changed, but there is evidence one of his co-defendants confessed. The anniversary of the crime committed at a Thrifty Liquor Store on the corner of Monkhouse Drive and Greenwood Road will be Tuesday, but Hampton has maintained he wasn't the man who shot and killed employee Russell Coleman. Court documents reveal he isn't the only person who told it that way.

Hampton is one of 14 men from Caddo or Bossier parishes on death row without an execution date, up to 40 years after the crimes for which they were sentenced.

As in another case that sent a man convicted in Caddo to death row, James Tyler, Hampton's representation decided to focus on preventing a sentence of death rather than contesting his involvement.

"Point one: Bobby was present and participated in the robbery. No dispute there," court records show defense attorney Alan Golden said. He went on to admit that Hampton was armed and pointed his weapon at someone along with giving a false alibi and more. But he insisted it ended there. "What was Bobby's intent here? It was to commit a robbery."

It is the question of who pulled the trigger to put three bullets in Coleman's back that Hampton's court filings insist should prevent him from being executed.

Who fired the deadly shots? According to the case against Hampton, he entered the liquor store about 12:55 a.m. with two other men — Elbert Williams and Michael Williams — intent on a robbery. Colette Shinberger was working at the cash register, and Frank Tesnear was walking to the storeroom to get trash bags. The third employee, Coleman, waited near the exit door for the final customers to leave.

Though neither of the victim's co-workers claim to have seen anyone fire, each initially identified Elbert Williams as the shooter, based on their perspectives. Hampton was convicted of first-degree murder on May 27, 1997, and the jury recommended the death penalty the next day. Judge Eugene Bryson formally pronounced that sentence.

Elbert Williams was sentenced to life for second-degree murder on March 29, 1999. Michael Williams received a sentence of 30 years for manslaughter.

In the years since Hampton's sentencing, defense investigator Carla Boose testified in a hearing that Elbert Williams admitted to her in 1997, before his own trial, that he had been the shooter. She quoted him as saying "Bobby didn't kill anybody. I was the one that was the shooter."

Defense attorneys asserted in one memo that the timing of the confession should "corroborate the trustworthiness of the statements" because of its timing. Also, the investigator's claim that the statement came "spontaneously" and without prompting further increased the likelihood it was true.

The strength of the state's case

According to appeals documents, both Hampton's mother and one of the investigators working for the defense encouraged him to take a plea deal for second-degree murder, but he proclaimed his innocence. Dr. George McCormick, then the Caddo Coroner, testified the shots must have come from the direction where the co-workers told police Hampton had been standing. Mark Rogers, a member of the Shreveport Police Department with expertise in crime scene analysis, offered the same evaluation.

Nine days after telling police he thought Elbert Williams was the shooter, Tesnear — according to court documents — approached police to say he had considered where bullet holes were found in the store and where the robbers stood, and that had made him realize it must have been Hampton who fired the deadly shots.

Shinberger stuck to her story. She testified under oath on Sept. 28, 1995, that "the tall one," meaning Elbert Williams, had fired the shots. Asked directly if she believed he fired the shots, she replied, "Yeah, I am sure."

Where was the missing witness?

When it came time for the defense to present its case, Golden attempted to call cashier Shinberger to present testimony she believed Elbert Williams to be the shooter, but she couldn't be found. Prosecutors said they had subpoenaed her but that a local man had told them she'd left town and that warrants in Bossier City may have something to do with that.

Although the defense said it subpoenaed her as well, the prosecutor said during his glance through paperwork and he "didn't see many defense subpoenas. That wasn't one of them." Bryson wouldn't allow a long delay to locate her.

Source: shreveportbossieradvocate.com, Brian McCallum, August 12, 2025

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde