First Woman Executed in 70 Years ,16 Years on Death Row, Pope’s Plea Ignored, Final meal |Last words
The only woman on Georgia’s death row is set to be executed today. 46-year-old Kelly Renee Jysend Danner is set to die at 7 p.m. by lethal injection. She was convicted of murder for the 1997 stabbing of her husband. Prosecutors say she plotted his death with her boyfriend. She’ll be the first woman executed in Georgia since 1945.
After spending 16 years and 10 months on death row, Kelly Renee Gender was executed by lethal injection in the early hours of September 30th, 2015. She became the first woman put to death in Georgia in 70 years and the only woman executed in the entire United States that year. Her final meal, cheese dipped with chips, Texas fajita nachos, and a diet frosted orange drink.
Her final act, singing Amazing Grace through tears moments before the drugs entered her bloodstream. And her final words to her victim’s family were heartbreaking. But perhaps the most shocking part came before the execution when Pope Francis himself appealed for mercy, pleading with Georgia officials to spare her life.
It wasn’t just a case of crime and punishment. It was a case that divided families, rallied theologians, and shook the justice system to its core. But to understand how Kelly Gissendainer ended up here, convicted of orchestrating her husband’s murder with her lover, we have to go back back to the very beginning to a cold winter in rural Georgia.
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Kelly Brookshshire entered the world on March 8th, 1968 in rural Georgia’s cotton farming country. Her family lived in poverty, struggling to make ends meet from their small farm. Her parents, Larry and Maxine Brookshire, had married young, but their relationship quickly deteriorated under the weight of financial stress and personal demons.
Her dad, Larry Brookshshire, worked long hours in the fields, but the money never seemed to stretch far enough. Her mom, Maxine, began drinking heavily, using alcohol to escape the harsh realities of their situation. The couple fought constantly, their arguments echoing through their small home, while young Kelly and her younger brother Shane watched from the corners.
When Kelly was 4 years old, her parents divorced. The split came after Maxine’s affair with Billy Wade, a local man who promised her a better life. Within 8 days of the divorce being finalized, Maxine married Wade, bringing him into the household as Kelly’s stepfather. Billy Wade proved to be worse than Larry in many ways.
He had a violent temper and used his fists to settle disagreements. Kelly and Shane often hid in their rooms when Wade came home drunk, knowing that any small mistake could trigger his rage. The physical abuse was frequent, but it was the psychological damage that cut deepest. WDE called Kelly ugly and stupid on a regular basis.
He told her she was unwanted and would never amount to anything. These words became a constant soundtrack in Kelly’s developing mind, shaping how she viewed herself and her worth. The abuse extended beyond verbal cruelty. According to court documents filed years later, Wade sexually abused Kelly throughout her childhood.
School should have been Kelly’s refuge, but her traumatic home life made it impossible to concentrate. Teachers noticed her inability to focus and her frequent absences. But in rural Georgia during the 1970s, few resources existed to help children in her situation. Kelly struggled academically, which only reinforced WDE’s cruel words about her intelligence.
The family moved frequently, never staying in one place long enough for Kelly to form lasting friendships. Each new town meant starting over, always being the outsider, always having to prove herself to new classmates who often saw her as different. Her height made her stand out even more. By age 12, she was already nearly 6 feet tall, making her feel awkward and self-conscious.
Kelly learned early that love came with conditions and that the adults in her life could not be trusted to protect her. These lessons would shape every relationship she formed in the years to come, creating patterns of behavior that would ultimately lead to tragedy. By the time Kelly reached high school in the mid 1980s, her family had moved to Winder, Georgia, a small town about an hour from Atlanta.
Maxine divorced Billy Wade, but the damage to Kelly’s psyche was already complete. The 15-year-old girl who enrolled at Winder High School carried invisible scars from years of abuse and neglect. High school presented new challenges for Kelly. She was tall, awkward, and painfully shy. Her classmates, most of whom had grown up together, saw her as an outsider.
They called her trailer trash behind her back, a label that stung because it reflected her deepest fears about herself. To support the family, Kelly worked at the local McDonald’s, manning the drive-through window during evenings and weekends. While other teenagers were at football games or school dances, Kelly was earning minimum wage to help pay for groceries and rent.
The job further isolated her from her peers and reinforced her feeling of being different. Maxine imposed strict rules on Kelly’s social life. She was not allowed to bring friends home and dating was forbidden. These restrictions meant that even when Kelly did manage to connect with someone at school, the relationship could never develop beyond surface level conversations in the hallways.
During her senior year, Kelly finally found a friend in Mity Smith. Mity recognized Kelly’s loneliness and made an effort to include her in conversations and activities. For the first time in years, Kelly felt like someone genuinely cared about her well-being. Their friendship became a lifeline for Kelly during her final year of high school.
However, Kelly’s search for love and acceptance led her down a dangerous path. Desperate for affection and validation, she became sexually active with multiple partners. In a small town where gossip traveled fast, her reputation suffered. The same classmates who had ignored her now whispered about her behind her back for different reasons.
In the spring of her senior year, Kelly discovered she was pregnant. She managed to hide the pregnancy for several months, but by her sixth month, it became obvious to everyone at school. The teenage mother to be faced judgment and ridicule from classmates who saw her situation as confirmation of their worst assumptions about her.
Kelly refused to reveal the identity of her baby’s father, telling even her closest friend Mity that it could have been one of several young men. This secrecy added another layer of shame to her situation as she carried the burden alone. Despite everything working against her, Kelly managed to graduate from high school in June 1986. Two weeks later, she gave birth to a son she named Brandon Brookshshire.
At 18 years old, Kelly was now responsible for another life while still struggling to understand her own worth and place in the world. In 1987, at the age of 19, Kelly married Jeff Banks, a boy she had known from high school. The marriage was short-lived, lasting only 6 months. The final blow came when her father, Larry Brookshshire, threatened Jeff with a gun during a family dinner over a minor disagreement.
After this incident, Jeff left and the marriage ended. Now a single mother, Kelly moved back into her mother Maxine’s mobile home with baby Brandon. Life in the trailer was cramped and tense. Maxine’s chaotic lifestyle and history of abusive relationships made it a difficult environment to raise a child.
Kelly struggled to find steady work while caring for Brandon. She took on low-paying jobs as a cashier, waitress, and factory worker, but never managed to gain financial stability. The stress of single motherhood, coupled with unresolved trauma from her past, began to weigh heavily on Kelly. To cope, she turned to alcohol. Drinking helped numb the emotional pain, but also led to poor decisions and further instability.
In March 1989, Kelly met Douglas Gissender through a mutual friend at a local gathering. Doug was immediately attracted to Kelly’s striking appearance and what seemed like vulnerability beneath her tough exterior. At 6t tall with long blonde hair, Kelly commanded attention when she entered a room. Doug was everything Kelly thought she wanted in a man.
He came from a stable family, had steady employment, and seemed genuinely interested in both her and her young son, Brandon. For the first time in her life, Kelly felt like someone saw her as worth protecting and cherishing. Their courtship moved quickly. Doug was eager to play the role of father figure to Brandon, and Kelly was desperate for the security that Doug represented.
They spent every available moment together with Doug often staying overnight at Maxine’s trailer despite the cramped conditions. Doug’s parents had reservations about their son’s new girlfriend from the beginning. They could see that Kelly came from a troubled background and they worried about her influence on their son.
However, Doug was determined to build a life with Kelly, viewing her difficult past as something he could help her overcome through love and stability. In September 1989, Doug and Kelly married in a small ceremony. Doug’s parents attended but remained concerned about the union. Their worries seemed justified when they discovered that Kelly was already 4 months pregnant on her wedding day.
The newlyweds initially moved in with Kelly’s mother due to financial constraints. The living arrangement created immediate tension as Doug was not accustomed to the chaos and drama that seemed to follow Kelly’s family. Arguments were frequent and loud with Doug struggling to understand how to navigate the volatile dynamics he had married into.
Both Doug and Kelly lost their jobs shortly after the wedding, adding financial stress to their relationship problems. Doug’s parents helped out financially, but they made it clear that their support came with expectations about how the couple would conduct themselves. Doug made the decision to join the army, seeking the steady income and benefits that military service would provide for his growing family.
He believed that the structure and stability of military life would help Kelly overcome her troubled past and give them a fresh start together. In March 1990, their daughter Kayla was born and Doug felt optimistic about their future as he prepared for his deployment to Germany. In August 1990, Doug was shipped to Wheezboden, Germany, and Kelly followed with both children a month later.
The move represented a fresh start away from the toxic dynamics of Kelly’s family and the small town gossip that had followed her throughout her life. However, Germany proved to be a disaster for their marriage. Doug’s military duties required him to be away from base for days or weeks at a time, leaving Kelly alone with two young children in a foreign country.
The isolation and responsibility overwhelmed her, and she began acting out in destructive ways. When Doug was away on assignments, Kelly threw parties at their base housing, inviting soldiers and their wives for drinking sessions that often lasted until dawn. Neighbors complained about the noise and chaos, and rumors began circulating about Kelly’s behavior during her husband’s absences.
More damaging were the rumors about Kelly’s infidelity. Multiple sources reported seeing her with other men while Doug was away. The tight-knit military community meant that gossip traveled quickly, and soon Doug was hearing whispers about his wife’s alleged affairs from his fellow soldiers. Doug confronted Kelly about the rumors, leading to explosive arguments that could be heard throughout their housing complex.
Kelly denied any wrongdoing, but showed no willingness to modify her behavior. The fights became more frequent and more intense with Kelly often threatening to leave Doug and return to Georgia with the children. The situation became untenable when Doug’s commanding officers began receiving official complaints about Kelly’s conduct.
Her behavior was reflecting poorly on Doug’s military record and jeopardizing his career prospects. The couple was told that if the problems continued, Doug could face disciplinary action. In frustration and embarrassment, Doug made the difficult decision to send Kelly and the children back to Georgia while he completed his tour of duty.
The separation was supposed to be temporary, giving both of them time to figure out how to save their marriage. Kelly returned to her mother’s trailer in late 1990, once again living in the chaotic environment she had briefly escaped. The failure of her time in Germany reinforced her belief that she was destined for unhappiness and that good things never lasted in her life.
Doug completed his military service and returned to Georgia in October 1991, hoping to rebuild his relationship with Kelly. However, the damage from Germany had been too severe. Kelly had changed during their separation, becoming more bitter and resentful about what she saw as Doug’s abandonment of her.
The couple tried to make their marriage work, but the constant arguments and mutual distrust made their home environment toxic. In November 1991, Kelly made an impulsive decision that would further destabilize their relationship. She decided to join the army herself, claiming she wanted her own career and independence.
Doug saw Kelly’s decision as another attempt to escape their problems rather than face them. The couple filed for separation in November 1991, acknowledging that their marriage had become unsustainable. Their divorce was finalized in May 1993, ending four tumultuous years together. Kelly’s military career lasted less than 2 years and ended in a way that would become a pattern in her life through manipulation and deception.
Unable to handle the discipline and structure of army life, Kelly deliberately became pregnant to secure her discharge from service. The father of her third child was a fellow soldier who was dying of cancer. Kelly had developed a brief relationship with him, and when she discovered she was pregnant, she saw it as her ticket out of the military.
The man died before their son was born, leaving Kelly to raise the child alone. In November 1992, Kelly gave birth to Jonathan Dakota Brookshshire, nicknamed Cody. She was now a single mother of three children by three different fathers, struggling to support her family on whatever jobs she could find. The pattern of instability that had defined her childhood was now repeating itself in her children’s lives.
After her discharge from the army, Kelly returned to Georgia and began the familiar cycle of job hopping and failed relationships. She worked at various retail stores, restaurants, and temporary agencies. Never staying in one position long enough to advance or build financial security. Kelly’s romantic relationships followed a similar pattern of intensity followed by chaos.
She would become quickly involved with men who showed her attention, but her neediness and dramatic tendencies would eventually drive them away. Each failed relationship reinforced her belief that she was unlovable and destined for unhappiness. In 1994, Kelly found work at the International Readers League of Atlanta, where she met Belinda Owens, who worked as her supervisor.
Belinda was a strong, confident woman who seemed to have her life together, and Kelly was drawn to her stability and success. The two women developed a friendship that extended beyond the workplace. Belinda invited Kelly to social gatherings and included her in activities with other friends. For Kelly, this friendship represented the kind of acceptance she had always craved but rarely found.
Through Belinda, Kelly met Greg Owen, Belinda’s younger brother. Greg was working construction jobs and living a quiet, solitary life. He was immediately attracted to Kelly’s dramatic personality and striking appearance. While Kelly saw in Greg someone she could control and influence. Their relationship developed quickly with Greg becoming completely devoted to Kelly despite her emotional volatility.
When Kelly was happy, Greg was happy. When she was angry or upset, he absorbed her negative emotions and tried desperately to fix whatever was wrong. Belinda watched her brother’s relationship with Kelly with growing concern. She could see that Kelly was manipulative and self-centered, using Greg’s devotion to get what she wanted without giving much in return.
The relationship was clearly unhealthy, but Greg was too infatuated to listen to his sister’s warnings. Kelly’s behavior in the relationship revealed patterns that would become important later. She was controlling and demanding, expecting Greg to drop everything when she needed attention. She tested his loyalty constantly, creating drama and conflict to see how far she could push him.
When Kelly’s moods turned dark, she would threaten to leave Greg, knowing that his fear of abandonment would make him do anything to keep her. These manipulative tactics gave Kelly a sense of power and control that she had never experienced in previous relationships. The relationship between Kelly and Greg lasted about 8 months before ending in early 1996.
Belinda was relieved when they broke up, hoping her brother could find someone who would treat him with respect and kindness. However, the connection between Kelly and Greg was far from over. In December 1994, while still involved with Greg Owen, Kelly made a decision that would set the stage for tragedy.
She reached out to Doug Gissendinger to reconcile. Their divorce had been finalized for over a year, but Kelly convinced Doug that she had changed and wanted to rebuild their family. Doug had spent the time since their divorce, working steadily and maintaining close relationships with his parents and sisters. He had dated occasionally, but found himself still carrying feelings for Kelly and missing the idea of having his children under one roof.
When Kelly contacted him, she presented herself as a woman who had learned from her mistakes and was ready to be the wife and mother he had always wanted. Kelly’s approach to winning Doug back was carefully calculated. She suggested they attend church together, presenting herself as someone who had found faith and wanted to build their relationship on a stronger foundation.
Doug, who had been raised with strong Christian values, was encouraged by what seemed like genuine spiritual growth in his ex-wife. They began spending time together regularly, with Kelly bringing all three of her children to these family outings. Doug had always cared for Brandon and Kayla, and he quickly developed affection for little Cody as well.
The vision of having a complete family was powerful for Doug, who had grown up in a stable home and wanted to provide the same for Kelly’s children. When Doug asked his parents for financial help to buy a house for his reunited family, Doug Senior and Sue Gissender refused. They had already spent thousands of dollars bailing Doug out of financial problems caused by Kelly during their first marriage, and they weren’t willing to repeat their mistakes.
Their refusal created tension in the family, but Doug was determined to prove that Kelly had changed. In May 1995, he and Kelly remarried in a small ceremony. Doug’s parents attended reluctantly, hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. The second marriage started with many of the same problems as the first. Kelly struggled with the day-to-day responsibilities of marriage and motherhood, while Doug worked long hours to support the family financially.
The honeymoon period lasted only a few months before familiar patterns of conflict emerged. By September 1995, Kelly and Doug were separated again. Kelly had resumed her relationship with Greg Owen, telling Doug that she needed space to figure out what she really wanted. Doug moved out of their shared residence.
Devastated by what felt like another betrayal. During the separation, Kelly played Doug and Greg against each other. She would tell each man that she loved him and wanted to be with him while simultaneously maintaining relationships with both. This manipulation gave her a sense of power and control. But it also created a dangerous dynamic between the two men who were competing for her attention.
Greg Owen, who had never gotten over his initial infatuation with Kelly, was willing to do anything to win her back permanently. He made threats about Doug, telling Kelly that her husband was standing in the way of their happiness together. These comments, which might have been dismissed as jealous posturing, would later take on much darker significance.
Kelly enjoyed the drama and attention of having two men fighting over her. For someone who had spent her childhood feeling unwanted and unloved, the experience of being desperately desired by two different men was intoxicating. She had no intention of choosing between them permanently, preferring to keep both men available for whatever she might need from them.
Doug’s family and friends could see that Kelly was manipulating him, but their warnings only made him more defensive about his relationship choices. He was committed to the idea of making his marriage work and providing stability for Kelly’s children, even if it meant enduring her emotional manipulation and infidelity. By early 1996, Kelly had convinced Doug to give their marriage one more chance.
This time, Doug was determined to provide Kelly with everything she said she wanted. A nice home, financial security, and the respectability of being a married woman in a stable relationship. Doug took out a highinterest loan to purchase a small three-bedroom ranch house on Meadow Trace Drive in Auburn, Georgia.
The house represented everything Kelly claimed to have always dreamed of. A real home in a subdivision away from the trailer parks and rental properties that had defined her housing throughout her life. Moving into the house in November 1996, Doug threw himself into the role of suburban husband and father. He worked on home improvement projects, maintained the yard, and spent time playing with all three children.
For outside observers, the Gizendainer family appeared to have achieved the American dream of home ownership and domestic stability. However, Kelly’s commitment to domestic life was largely an act. While Doug focused on work and family responsibilities, Kelly was secretly maintaining her relationship with Greg Owen.
The affair had resumed shortly after Kelly and Doug’s reconciliation, with Kelly convincing Greg that she was only staying with Doug temporarily. By November 1996, Kelly had convinced Greg that the only way they would be together was if Doug was out of the picture. She presented their situation as impossible to resolve through divorce, claiming that Doug would never leave her alone and would make it difficult for her to keep the house and custody of the children.
Kelly painted herself as a victim of Doug’s possessiveness and control, telling Greg that her husband had threatened her and made it clear he would make her life miserable if she tried to leave him again. These claims were fabrications designed to manipulate Greg’s protective instincts and his desire to be Kelly’s hero.
Kelly envisioned a sizable life insurance payout and keeping the house and her kids, all while getting to be with Greg. The financial motive was clear. Doug’s death would solve all of Kelly’s problems at once. She would inherit his life insurance money, keep the house he had purchased, maintain custody of her children, and be free to pursue her relationship with Greg.
During late 1996 and early 1997, Kelly and Greg began having increasingly specific conversations about eliminating Doug from their lives. What started as wishful thinking and vague complaints evolved into detailed planning sessions about how Doug’s death could be accomplished. Greg, who had always been eager to please Kelly and desperate to secure her love permanently, found himself agreeing to discussions that should have horrified him.
Kelly’s manipulation was so complete that Greg began to see murdering Doug as an act of love. Something he would do to rescue Kelly from an impossible situation. The planning phase revealed Kelly’s calculating nature and her ability to think several steps ahead. She considered alibis, timing, methods, and cleanup procedures.
She thought about how to make Doug’s death appear to be the result of a robbery or random crime rather than a planned murder. Kelly also began preparing emotionally for widowhood. Practicing the role of grieving wife that she would need to play after Doug’s death, she studied how other widows behaved, noting what seemed genuine versus what appeared suspicious to observers.
The frequency of phone calls between Kelly and Greg increased dramatically during this period with the two conspirators coordinating their plans and reinforcing each other’s commitment to their deadly scheme. Phone records would later show that Kelly and Greg spoke 47 times in the days leading up to Doug’s murder, revealing the intensive planning that went into the crime.
What happens next would shock the entire state of Georgia. A murder so calculated it felt like something out of a crime novel. But before we get to that night, make sure you’re subscribed to No Way Out. This is where we follow real people through real decisions right to the edge. Hit the like button if you’re still with us.
Tap the bell so you never miss an ending. And get ready because the plan to kill Doug Gender is already in motion. February 7th, 1997 began as an ordinary Friday for Doug Gissendainer. He had no idea that his wife had spent weeks planning his death with her lover or that this would be his last day alive. Doug went to work as usual, looking forward to the weekend and time with his family.
Kelly had prepared carefully for this day. She arranged for her three children to spend the night at her mother’s house, telling Doug that she planned to go out with friends from work. This arrangement served two purposes. It gave Kelly an alibi and ensured that the children would not be present when Doug was murdered. Doug spent the evening at a friend’s house working on a car repair project.
He was a skilled mechanic who enjoyed helping others with their automotive problems. And these informal sessions were both social time and a way to earn extra money for his family. Around 1000 p.m., Doug decided to call it a night and headed home to Meadow Trace Drive. While Doug was working on the car, Kelly was executing her part of the murder plan.
She picked up Greg Owen at his apartment and drove him to her house, letting him inside and providing him with weapons, a nightstick and a knife. Kelly instructed Greg to make the murder look like a robbery gone wrong, taking Doug’s wallet and jewelry to support this cover story. After arming Greg and positioning him inside the house, Kelly left to establish her alibi.
She went to dinner and then to a dance club with three female co-workers, making sure to be seen by multiple witnesses during the time frame when Doug would be killed. Kelly had given Greg specific instructions about where to take Doug after the initial confrontation. She wanted the murder to occur away from the house in a remote location where the body might not be discovered immediately.
Luke Edwards Road, a wooded area in Gwynette County, had been selected as the kill site. When Doug arrived home around 11 p.m., he found Greg Owen waiting for him inside his house. Greg held a knife to Doug’s throat and forced him back outside to his own car. Despite having military training and combat experience, Doug complied with Greg’s demands, possibly hoping to diffuse the situation or protect his family.
The drive to Luke Edwards road must have been terrifying for Doug, who surely realized that he was in mortal danger. Greg forced Doug to drive to the remote location, then ordered him out of the car and up an embankment into the woods. In the dark woods, Greg forced Doug to his knees and struck him in the head with the nightstick.
He then stabbed Doug multiple times in the neck, scalp, and shoulder. Doug was left bleeding and dying in the forest, bent forward with his face in the dirt. Greg took Doug’s wedding ring and watch, following Kelly’s instructions to make the crime appear to be a robbery. He then drove Doug’s car to meet Kelly, who had left her friends at the dance club, claiming she felt like something bad was going to happen.
When Kelly arrived at the murder scene, she wanted to see Doug’s body for herself. She climbed the embankment and confirmed that her husband was dead or dying. The sight of Doug’s body didn’t appear to disturb her. She was focused on completing the cover up phase of their plan. Kelly had brought kerosene to the scene, and she and Greg used it to burn Doug’s car in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The fire would make it difficult for investigators to find fingerprints or other forensic evidence that might connect them to the crime. After destroying the car, Kelly and Greg made phone calls from separate payoneses at approximately the same time, creating a timeline that they hoped would confuse investigators. Kelly then dropped Greg off at his apartment, and they agreed to avoid contact for a while to prevent suspicion from falling on them.
Kelly returned home to an empty house on Meadow Trace Drive in the early morning hours of February 8th, 1997. Kelly waited until a reasonable hour on Saturday morning before beginning her charade. She called Doug’s parents, Sue and Doug Senior, expressing concern that Doug hadn’t come home the night before. She told them she had been out with friends and expected to find Doug at home when she returned, but his absence worried her.
Doug’s parents immediately sensed something was wrong. Their son was responsible and reliable, not the type to stay out all night without calling. They began making phone calls to Doug’s friends and co-workers, trying to piece together his movements from the previous evening. By midm morning, Kelly had filed a missing person report with the local police.
She spoke with investigators, describing Doug as a devoted husband and father who would never voluntarily disappear. She presented herself as a loving wife, desperate for information about her missing husband’s whereabouts. Kelly’s initial statement to police was carefully crafted to avoid raising suspicions.
She described their marriage as happy and stable with no serious problems or conflicts. She made no mention of Greg Owen or her extrammarital affair, presenting herself as a faithful wife who couldn’t understand why her husband might have vanished. However, Kelly’s behavior on Sunday raised red flags for Doug’s family.
When Doug’s burned out car was discovered on a dirt road in Gwynette County, the situation became much more serious. The family gathered at Doug Senior and Sue’s house to provide mutual support and coordinate search efforts. Instead of staying with the family during this crisis, Kelly made the bizarre decision to take her children to the circus.
Doug’s parents were shocked by this choice which seemed inappropriate for a woman whose husband had just gone missing under mysterious circumstances. Kelly’s explanation for going to the circus was that she needed to maintain normaly for her children. But her behavior appeared callous and self-centered to the juster family. They began to suspect that Kelly knew more about Doug’s disappearance than she was admitting.
Throughout the search for Doug, Kelly gave several television interviews, appealing for information about her missing husband. She cried on camera and begged for Doug’s safe return. But something about her performance struck observers as artificial and rehearsed. 4 days after Doug’s disappearance, while search teams were still looking for him, Kelly returned to work.
This decision further alienated Doug’s family and friends who couldn’t understand how she could resume her normal routine while her husband remained missing. Kelly’s behavior during television interviews and public appearances revealed someone who was trying too hard to appear griefstricken. Her tears seemed forced and her statements had a rehearsed quality that made viewers uncomfortable.
She appeared to be performing grief rather than experiencing it genuinely. The contrast between Kelly’s public persona and her private actions became more apparent as the investigation continued. While she played the role of desperate wife for the cameras, she showed little genuine emotion or concern when she thought no one was watching.
Kelly’s performance was beginning to crack under the pressure of maintaining a false narrative while dealing with intensive police scrutiny. Investigators were already suspicious of her story, and her odd behavior was only reinforcing their doubts about her innocence. February 19th, 1997. 12 days had passed since Doug Gissender disappeared into the night.
The search teams had combed through the usual routes, questioned neighbors, and followed every lead that trickled in. But nothing prepared them for what they would find on this cold Wednesday morning. A group of game wardens was checking for poachers in Dacula in Gwynette County, Georgia, when they found Doug’s body. The discovery came almost by accident.
The wardens were conducting routine patrols in the wooded area near Harbin’s Park when they spotted what initially appeared to be a pile of discarded trash among the trees. He was on his knees, bent at the waist with his head and shoulders leaning forward and his forehead in the dirt. The position was haunting.
Doug had been forced to kneel execution style before his attacker struck. The scene told a story of calculated violence, not a random encounter gone wrong. The location was approximately 1 mile from where Doug’s burned car had been discovered days earlier. This premity wasn’t coincidental. Someone had planned this carefully, selecting a remote area where the body might never be found.
The thick Georgia woods had provided cover for the killer, but now they revealed their secret. with wild animals destroying his face. The police positively identified him as Doug with the help of his dental records. The decomposition and animal activity had made visual identification impossible. What remained was a shell of the man who had worked on cars with friends just two weeks prior.
Who had planned church work for that Saturday morning who had believed he was rebuilding his marriage. Detective Doug Davis, who had been leading the investigation, arrived at the scene within hours. The methodical search of the area began immediately. Every piece of evidence was photographed, cataloged, and preserved. The crime scene technicians worked with precision, knowing that this discovery had transformed a missing person case into a homicide investigation.
Investigators now had a crime scene, a cause of death, and a timeline. The methodical work of building a murder case could begin in earnest. The burned car, the isolated location, and the execution style killing all pointed to a premeditated crime. Someone had wanted Doug Gizendainer dead, and they had planned it carefully.
The question that would drive the next phase of the investigation was simple but crucial. Who would benefit from Doug’s death? The answer would lead detectives directly to the two people closest to him, his wife Kelly and her secret lover, Greg Owen. This two were questioned severely with nothing to hold them.
But on February 24th, 1997 marked the moment Greg Owen’s carefully constructed alibi crumbled. His roommate had initially backed Owen’s story about being home all night on February 7th, but under police pressure, the roommate changed his testimony. He admitted Owen had left the apartment that night and didn’t return until 8:00 a.m. the following morning.
Detective Doug Davis brought Owen back for questioning. This time, prosecutors had a weapon that would change everything. A pre-deal. Owen faced two choices. continue denying involvement and risk the electric chair or confess and receive life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Owen chose to save his life.
When the plea deal was brought to the table stating that he would get life with parole after 25 years rather than a possible death sentence if he testified against Kelly Gissendainer, he quickly agreed and began confessing to murdering Doug. The confession unraveled Kelly’s master plan piece by piece. Owen detailed how Kelly had approached him three months before the murder.
Asking about a way to get rid of her husband. She convinced him that murder was the only solution. Doug would never leave her alone through divorce. And this way she could keep the house and collect his life insurance money. Phone records supported Owen’s account. In the days before Doug’s murder, Kelly and Owen had exchanged 47 phone calls.
Kelly had initiated 18 of those calls, contradicting her claim to police that Owen constantly harassed her with unwanted contact. Owen’s confession painted Kelly as the mastermind behind a calculated murder plot. With Owen’s detailed testimony secured, prosecutors now had their key witness against Kelly. The physical evidence, the burned car, Doug’s body location, and the phone records all supported Owen’s account.
Kelly’s carefully constructed story was falling apart. On February 25th, 1997, just after midnight, police arrived at Kelly’s home on Meadow Trace Drive. She was arrested for the murder of her husband, Doug Gissender. Officers searched the house thoroughly, looking for any additional evidence that might support Owen’s confession.
Kelly’s reaction to the arrest shocked investigators. Instead of the griefstricken widow act she had maintained for weeks, Kelly immediately began crafting a new story. She finally admitted seeing Owen on the night of February 7th, but claimed she was an innocent victim of his violence. According to Kelly’s new version of events, Owen called her after killing Doug and forced her to meet him.
She claimed Owen showed her Doug’s body and threatened to kill her and her children if she reported the crime to police. This story portrayed Kelly as a terrified mother protecting her family rather than a conspirator in murder. Investigators found Kelly’s latest story unconvincing. The phone records contradicted her claims about unwanted contact from Owen.
Her behavior after Doug’s disappearance, going to work, shopping at Cracker Barrel during his funeral, and showing no genuine distress, suggested someone who knew exactly what had happened to her husband. Prosecutors formally charged Kelly with malice murder, felony murder, and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony.
Before trial, prosecutors offered both Owen and Justinder a plea deal of life in prison and no chance of parole for 25 years. Jend Dainer, however, rejected the plea deal. Kelly’s defense attorney advised her to reject the plea offer. Owen took the offer, but Gissender’s lawyer talked Gizendana into refusing the offer since he never thought a jury would hand down the death sentence.
This decision would prove to be a fatal miscalculation. Kelly maintained her innocence despite overwhelming evidence. She continued to claim that Owen acted alone and that she was an unwilling victim forced into silence by his threats. The stage was now set for a capital murder trial. Kelly Gissender’s trial began on November 2nd, 1998, nearly 2 years after Doug’s murder.
The case drew significant media attention as Kelly became the first woman to face George’s death penalty in decades. Television cameras were permitted in the courtroom, broadcasting the proceedings to a fascinated public. The jury consisted of 10 women and two men, all sequestered during the trial. Prosecutors sought the death penalty, arguing that Kelly was the mastermind who orchestrated her husband’s murder for financial gain.
Defense attorneys maintained that Owen was the real killer and that Kelly was an innocent victim. Greg Owen took the witness stand as the prosecution star witness. His testimony largely matched his confession, though some details had changed. In court, Owen testified that Kelly arrived at the murder scene as he was killing Doug, not afterward, as he had initially stated.
He also claimed that Kelly threw the kerosene from her car window rather than participating directly in burning the vehicle. Owen told a jury that Gissender had first approached him about a way to get rid of her husband 3 months before the murder. He described Kelly’s financial motivations and her belief that murder was preferable to divorce because it would allow her to keep the house and collect insurance money.
The prosecution presented additional witnesses who damaged Kelly’s credibility. Laura McDuffy, a fellow inmate, testified that Kelly had asked her to find someone willing to provide false testimony for $10,000. Kelly had given McDuffy a handdrawn map of her house and a written script detailing what the fake witness should say.
Handwriting experts confirmed that Kelly had written the script herself. This evidence showed Kelly’s continued attempts to manipulate the legal system even after her arrest. The prosecution argued this proved her guilt and her willingness to corrupt the judicial process. One of Kelly’s closest friends testified about disturbing phone calls after the arrest.
The friend claimed Kelly had confessed to the murder during a jailhouse call, saying, “I did it.” before later claiming Owen forced her involvement through threats. Defense attorney Edwin Wilson attacked Owen’s credibility, pointing out inconsistencies in his testimony and noting his incentive to lie in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Wilson argued that Doug, with his military training and combat experience from Desert Storm, would never have willingly followed Owen’s instructions without fighting back. Wilson questioned how someone as small as Owen could control a larger trained soldier like Doug. He suggested the prosecution’s timeline didn’t make sense and that Owen’s testimony was unreliable because of his plea agreement.
The defense also attempted to discredit jailhouse informant Laura McDuffy, describing her as a career criminal, willing to say anything to reduce her own sentence. Wilson argued that Kelly’s alleged confession to her friend was misheard during an emotional phone call. Despite the defense’s efforts, the evidence against Kelly was overwhelming.
Kelly Renee Gizendainer is an American woman sentenced to death in Georgia on November 20th, 1998 for recruiting her lover to kill her husband on February 7th, 1997. The jury deliberated for only 2 hours before returning a guilty verdict on November 18th, 1998. Kelly was convicted of malice murder and felony murder.
The felony murder conviction was later vacated by operation of law as Georgia law prohibits multiple convictions for the same act. During the penalty phase, both sides presented evidence about Kelly’s character and background. The prosecution emphasized the premeditated nature of the crime and Kelly’s continued attempts to obstruct justice.
The defense highlighted Kelly’s difficult childhood and history of abuse. After another brief deliberation lasting just 2 hours, the jury recommended death. On November 20th, 1998, Kelly Gissendainer was formally sentenced to death, becoming Georgia’s only woman on death row. Kelly Gissender spent nearly 17 years on death row at Arendelle State Prison.
During this time, she underwent what many described as a genuine religious transformation. She enrolled in a theology program through Emory University, studying the works of theologians like Dietrich Bonhaofer and developing a correspondence with German theologian Jurgen Moltman. Kelly became a mentor to other female inmates, helping prevent suicides and encouraging women to turn their lives around.
Former inmates formed a group called the Struggle Sisters. After their release, crediting Kelly with changing their lives through conversations conducted through air vents in the prison. As her execution date approached, Kelly’s case attracted national attention. Arch Bishop Carlo Maria Veigano on behalf of Pope Francis urged the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parles to spare Gizendainer’s life.
Former Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Norman Fletcher supported clemency, arguing that the death penalty was disproportionate to her crime since she didn’t personally kill Doug. Kelly’s execution was originally scheduled for February 25th, 2015, but was postponed due to winter weather. A second execution date of March 2nd, 2015 was delayed when prison officials discovered the lethal injection drugs appeared cloudy, though they were later determined to be safe.
Kelly Gissender was executed by lethal injection at 12:21 a.m. on September 30th, 2015 at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. Her last meal included cheese dip with chips, Texas fajita nachos, and a diet frosted orange beverage. This meal was requested ahead of her execution, marking her final act of choice before death.
Gissender cried, prayed, and sang Amazing Grace. Her last words were, “And I love you, Sally. And I love you, Susan. You let my kids know I went out singing Amazing Grace.” And tell the Dainer family, “I’m so sorry. That amazing man lost his life because of me. And if I could take it back, if this would change it, I would have done it a long time ago, but it’s not.
And I just hope they can find peace. And I hope they find some happiness. God bless you. She became the first woman executed in Georgia since 1945 and the only woman executed in the United States in 2015. Greg Owen, who committed the murder, remains in prison serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Doug Gissender’s family finally received the justice they had sought for nearly two decades, though the pain of their loss remained unchanged. If this story moved you, if you believe in truth, accountability, and the stories that echo long after the headlines fade, then subscribe to No Way Out. We uncover the darkest paths people choose and the price they pay when there’s no way out.
