SHARE George Howard Putt outside Judge William Williams' courtroom on April 24, 1973. (Fred Griffith/The Commercial Appeal) Bernalyn and Roy Dumas. (Courtesy of Michael Dumas) Serial killer George Howard Putt has died. George Howard Putt outside Judge William Williams' courtroom on April 24, 1973. (Fred Griffith/The Commercial Appeal)

By Yolanda Jones and Jody Callahan of The Commercial Appeal

George Howard Putt, an infamous serial killer who terrorized Memphis during the summer of 1969 when he murdered five people in less than a month, died in a state prison hospital late last year, officials confirmed Wednesday.

Putt died Oct. 26 of natural causes at the Lois DeBerry Special Needs Facility in Nashville. He was 69. After no one came forward to claim Putt's body, he was given a state burial. It was unclear why officials with the state Department of Corrections didn't release the information at the time of Putt's death.

"A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I logged into the website and it showed he was deceased," said Michael Dumas, whose parents were Putt's first victims. "It was surprising that they didn't let the victims know, the families of the people who died as well as victims being Memphians my age or older who recall that summer 47 years ago."

Putt's grim spree put Memphis on edge like nothing ever had before, or likely since. Residents made runs on hardware stores for stronger locks. Streets were nearly deserted at night. A Memphis police task force grew to more than 50 officers assigned to the case.

"In my 29 years here, I've never seen anything like the state the city was in," former Memphis police Deputy Director Don Lewis said in 1989. "There have been other murders that were bad, but they didn't compare with... the savagery with which he killed."

Added former homicide chief Bob Cochran: "I just don't have the words to describe the atmosphere. It was a 29-day period of pure hell."

This all began in May 1969 when Putt, 23, was sentenced to six months on a Mississippi penal farm for burglary. A month later, on June 26, Putt walked away from a work farm. He and his wife, Mary, fled to Memphis later that summer.

Putt's murderous spree began on Aug. 14, when he strangled Roy Dumas, 58, and his wife, Bernalyn, 46, in separate bedrooms of their apartment at 1133 S. Cooper, just south of Cooper-Young. Bernalyn had been sexually mutilated. Michael Dumas made the grisly discovery after his folks failed to show up at a birthday party.

Dumas said he eventually forgave Putt for what he did, but that he never got over the pain the killer caused.

"My reaction (to Putt's death) was remorse, because it brought back all the painful memories of that summer," Dumas said. "The death of my parents has always been painful. One part of me was happy that maybe this is over with. We all carry our pain from the past. You never get over that."

On Aug. 25, 11 days after the Dumas killings, Putt strangled and sexually mutilated 80-year-old Leila Jackson at her rooming house on Somerville. Putt met Jackson when he asked about renting a room from her a month earlier.

After the killings of Bernalyn Dumas and Jackson, Putt strategically placed a lamp so that it shone on their bodies.

Putt struck again four days later, when he abducted Glenda Sue Harden, a 21-year-old employee at Jackson Life Insurance, after she left Downtown's Falls Building. The next day, police found her body in Riverside Park. She had been stabbed 14 times, her hands bound with her pantyhose. Officials wouldn't say at the time if she'd also been mutilated.

Putt cooled off for several days, but on Sept. 11, he struck again. He'd been drinking at a Midtown bar called the OK Cafe earlier that day, reports said. That afternoon, he made his way to the apartments at 41 N. Bellevue, where 59-year-old Christine Pickens lived.

Putt stabbed her repeatedly, but she let out a scream that alerted others in the complex. A janitor, Henry Currie, encountered Putt and slowed him down.

At that point, Walker Armstrong, who lived across the hall from Pickens, emerged with a gun. Wearing just his undershorts, Armstrong chased Putt down the street, firing at least six wild shots. Armstrong and Currie got in a car and continued the pursuit. Police were alerted, and two officers soon caught Putt on Pasadena a little north of Linden.

"It was the highlight of my career," Officer R.G. Noblin said in 1989. "If I didn't do anything else, I made the greatest catch in the history of the city of Memphis."

Putt later confessed to all five murders, but was only tried for three: Ray and Bernalyn Dumas and Pickens. After a death sentence was commuted, Putt was eventually sentenced to 497 years in prison, a term that would have run through 2432.

In an interview with Memphis magazine on the 20th anniversary of the murders, Putt showed little remorse.

"I think where I'm at now is where I'm supposed to be. If it meant me understanding ... to get where I'm at (mentally and spiritually), I'd do it all again."