Joe & Mattie Harvey - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

crystaldawn · 02-19-2006, 01:15 PM

Does anyone know if Cheryl Holland was sentenced to death for killing Joe and Mattie Harvey? I was searching and came across some legal papers filed on Eddie Wootens' behalf. They said he was given 2 concurrent life sentences and they wouldn't seek the death penalty against him if he would testify against Holland, which he agreed to do. They did say in the court papers they were going to seek the death penalty against her. I found a list of female Tennessee death row inmates (not sure if it was comprehensive though) but her name wasn't on it. I'm sure she used that fact that she had two small children (that she abandoned while running from the law) in an effort to save her life. It did say that she pled guilty to two counts of first degree murder so maybe since she pled and they didn't have to go through the cost or aggravation of a trial they didn't ask for death.

Mr. Fuji · 02-19-2006, 05:58 PM

Well, this is what Kane wrote on a previous thread:

They never went to death row

http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/opinions/...2/wootenea.opn

While searching through Google, I typed in "Cheryl Holland" and Wooten, and came upon the link above. It is a post-conviction appeal file dated May 21, 1998.

It mentions that Cheryl Holland pled guilty to the murders of her uncle and aunt (Clarence and Mattie Harvey), as did Edward Wooten. They were both given life sentences, and were spared the possibility of the death penalty.

kadrmas15 · 06-28-2006, 02:53 PM

Sorry dont mean to bring this back to the forefront. Yes Cheryl Holland and Eddie Wooten are both serving life sentences. Holland is at a prison in Nashville and Wooten is at a prison in Mountain City. Wooten will become first eligible for parole in 2021 and Holland will be first eligible for parole in 2022. I think that they got off easy. Of course Wooten has been trying to weasle his way out of it for years now. Claiming all this stuff. I know the state lectured him in that court document for wasting their time with an appeal. Just an extremely sad case and it is one of the first cases I remember seeing on UM as a little kid. Would anyone on here consider writing to Wooten or Holland?

greatgarrett2 · 07-08-2006, 01:15 AM

Murder for profit and especially of the elderly always gets me.....

kadrmas15 · 07-10-2006, 10:45 PM

Well I checked Wooten's thing once again. He must get time knocked off every so often for good behavior. For some reason I think his parole eligibilty date is wrong. The reason I think this is that he pled guilty and when he was sentenced it was before Tennessee passed a law requiring a mandatory 25 year sentence for 1st degree murder. At the time he was sentenced in Tennessee on average a person that pled guilty to 1st degree murder became eligible for parole after 19 years. Wooten's parole date is December 17th, 2020. I dont know if this is his final release date. At the time Wooten was sentenced if someone was sentenced to life it was very rare that someone was actually kept in for life. If he is released at that time if he isnt paroled first, Wooten would be 60 years old when released. Cheryl Holland took a similar plea bargain to what Wooten was offered to spare a trial. Holland also was sentenced before Tennessee passed a 25 year minimum sentence law for first degree murder. Holland's parole eligibilty should be earlier but it says July 7th, 2022. Holland would be 58 at that time.

kadrmas15 · 07-10-2006, 11:15 PM

What always got me about the case was just the extreme coldness. The Harvey's beloved niece Cheryl Holland kills her aunt and uncle for 150 thousand dollars they were known to have. As others have said, the Harvey's were the type of people that would have given their niece most of the money she wanted had she just asked them for it. They would have done anything to help her out. However Holland for whatever reason decided it would be easier to just kill them. I am assuming this was planned for at least a few weeks maybe even months before it actually happened. On March 4th, 1991 Chery Holland accomponied by her boyfriend and the father of her children Eddie Wooten showed up at the Harvey residence around 9 p.m. I think the UM segment was based on Eddie Wooten's account of what happened. I think he told the truth in his first account and then after Holland was caught he changed his story. Wooten said they showed up and went in the house where Joe Harvey was sitting on the couch in the living room he had been watching television but had nodded off but the tv was still on. When they walked in Joe woke up. He talked to them for a bit and then he turned away and was watching the tv, Cheryl went to go talk to Mattie who was in a back bedroom. Eddie Wooten then pulled out a pistol and shot Joe Harvey in the head at point blank range. Mattie Harvey heard the gun shot and came running out of the back bedroom when Eddie Wooten shot her too. He and Cheryl then loaded the bodies of the Harvey's into the trunk of the Harvey's car. Eddie Wooten drove the Harvey's car across the border into Alabama while Cheryl Holland followed in their truck. They then drove the car into the river where it sank. Then after this Eddie Wooten and Cheryl Holland drove back to Tennessee where Cheryl Holland dropped off Eddie Wooten and their kids at their residence she then went back to the Harvey residence where she stole their money and then attempted to burn down the house. However Holland botched it and she only ended up burning part of the house and she didnt burn it down. She left the gas can on the table and it had her finger print on it.

sdb4884 · 12-03-2008, 08:54 AM

Evil people should have been given a slow torture death

eabdeb8176 · 03-28-2011, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kadrmas15

Well I checked Wooten's thing once again. He must get time knocked off every so often for good behavior. For some reason I think his parole eligibilty date is wrong. The reason I think this is that he pled guilty and when he was sentenced it was before Tennessee passed a law requiring a mandatory 25 year sentence for 1st degree murder. At the time he was sentenced in Tennessee on average a person that pled guilty to 1st degree murder became eligible for parole after 19 years. Wooten's parole date is December 17th, 2020. . Holland's parole eligibilty should be earlier but it says July 7th, 2022. Holland would be 58 at that time.

To me it looks like his next parole hearing. Since they were sentenced to life, a parole board doesn't have to let a person out. To me I think they should have both received the death penalty. Because the murders took place during the commission of a robbery and there was premeditation. But since Eddie helped the police with the investigation that possibly was the reason for them to go easy on him

mattc · 08-20-2011, 04:47 PM

My guess is that the Prosecution consulted the family of Joe and Mattie Harvey (who were obviously also the family of Cheryl Holland), and the family agreed to the plea deal that would avoid the death penalty, as well as keep the family from having to relive the tragedy through a trial.

Obviously the evidence against Holland was air tight, so the State did not need to plea the case. I'm sure that the family had a lot to do with making the plea happen.

I also agree with other posters that Cheryl Holland, regardless of addiction, debts, etc, is obviously a sociopath. There is simply no other way to explain her cold, calculating and manipulative behavior. She is very lucky that her family allowed the plea, because I can almost guarantee she would have gotten the death penalty, as this case screams death penalty.

Just really sad overall. I hope she is never let out of prison, and I hope the parole board realizes the magnitude of her crimes.

02-19-2006, 01:15 PM	#1
crystaldawn Member Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Dec 17, 2002 Location: Illinois Posts: 4,261	Joe & Mattie Harvey Does anyone know if Cheryl Holland was sentenced to death for killing Joe and Mattie Harvey? I was searching and came across some legal papers filed on Eddie Wootens' behalf. They said he was given 2 concurrent life sentences and they wouldn't seek the death penalty against him if he would testify against Holland, which he agreed to do. They did say in the court papers they were going to seek the death penalty against her. I found a list of female Tennessee death row inmates (not sure if it was comprehensive though) but her name wasn't on it. I'm sure she used that fact that she had two small children (that she abandoned while running from the law) in an effort to save her life. It did say that she pled guilty to two counts of first degree murder so maybe since she pled and they didn't have to go through the cost or aggravation of a trial they didn't ask for death.

07-08-2006, 01:15 AM	#4
greatgarrett2 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 11, 2006 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 544	Murder for profit and especially of the elderly always gets me.....
	__________________ "To thyne own self, be true........." "If we don't know something, then our model of reality is inadequate" Start making money today: http://tasks4job.com/?refer=55797 http://www.amazon.com/Garrett-Campbe...8662355&sr=8-5 Plus, follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/greatgarrett2

02-19-2006, 05:58 PM	#2
Mr. Fuji Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 23, 2004 Posts: 235	Well, this is what Kane wrote on a previous thread: They never went to death row http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/opinions/...2/wootenea.opn While searching through Google, I typed in "Cheryl Holland" and Wooten, and came upon the link above. It is a post-conviction appeal file dated May 21, 1998. It mentions that Cheryl Holland pled guilty to the murders of her uncle and aunt (Clarence and Mattie Harvey), as did Edward Wooten. They were both given life sentences, and were spared the possibility of the death penalty.

06-28-2006, 02:53 PM	#3
kadrmas15 Retired from Board 03/03/11 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,910	Sorry dont mean to bring this back to the forefront. Yes Cheryl Holland and Eddie Wooten are both serving life sentences. Holland is at a prison in Nashville and Wooten is at a prison in Mountain City. Wooten will become first eligible for parole in 2021 and Holland will be first eligible for parole in 2022. I think that they got off easy. Of course Wooten has been trying to weasle his way out of it for years now. Claiming all this stuff. I know the state lectured him in that court document for wasting their time with an appeal. Just an extremely sad case and it is one of the first cases I remember seeing on UM as a little kid. Would anyone on here consider writing to Wooten or Holland?

07-10-2006, 10:45 PM	#5
kadrmas15 Retired from Board 03/03/11 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,910	Well I checked Wooten's thing once again. He must get time knocked off every so often for good behavior. For some reason I think his parole eligibilty date is wrong. The reason I think this is that he pled guilty and when he was sentenced it was before Tennessee passed a law requiring a mandatory 25 year sentence for 1st degree murder. At the time he was sentenced in Tennessee on average a person that pled guilty to 1st degree murder became eligible for parole after 19 years. Wooten's parole date is December 17th, 2020. I dont know if this is his final release date. At the time Wooten was sentenced if someone was sentenced to life it was very rare that someone was actually kept in for life. If he is released at that time if he isnt paroled first, Wooten would be 60 years old when released. Cheryl Holland took a similar plea bargain to what Wooten was offered to spare a trial. Holland also was sentenced before Tennessee passed a 25 year minimum sentence law for first degree murder. Holland's parole eligibilty should be earlier but it says July 7th, 2022. Holland would be 58 at that time.

07-10-2006, 11:15 PM	#6
kadrmas15 Retired from Board 03/03/11 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,910	What always got me about the case was just the extreme coldness. The Harvey's beloved niece Cheryl Holland kills her aunt and uncle for 150 thousand dollars they were known to have. As others have said, the Harvey's were the type of people that would have given their niece most of the money she wanted had she just asked them for it. They would have done anything to help her out. However Holland for whatever reason decided it would be easier to just kill them. I am assuming this was planned for at least a few weeks maybe even months before it actually happened. On March 4th, 1991 Chery Holland accomponied by her boyfriend and the father of her children Eddie Wooten showed up at the Harvey residence around 9 p.m. I think the UM segment was based on Eddie Wooten's account of what happened. I think he told the truth in his first account and then after Holland was caught he changed his story. Wooten said they showed up and went in the house where Joe Harvey was sitting on the couch in the living room he had been watching television but had nodded off but the tv was still on. When they walked in Joe woke up. He talked to them for a bit and then he turned away and was watching the tv, Cheryl went to go talk to Mattie who was in a back bedroom. Eddie Wooten then pulled out a pistol and shot Joe Harvey in the head at point blank range. Mattie Harvey heard the gun shot and came running out of the back bedroom when Eddie Wooten shot her too. He and Cheryl then loaded the bodies of the Harvey's into the trunk of the Harvey's car. Eddie Wooten drove the Harvey's car across the border into Alabama while Cheryl Holland followed in their truck. They then drove the car into the river where it sank. Then after this Eddie Wooten and Cheryl Holland drove back to Tennessee where Cheryl Holland dropped off Eddie Wooten and their kids at their residence she then went back to the Harvey residence where she stole their money and then attempted to burn down the house. However Holland botched it and she only ended up burning part of the house and she didnt burn it down. She left the gas can on the table and it had her finger print on it.

12-03-2008, 08:54 AM	#7
sdb4884 UM Meme Guy Senior Member Join Date: Sep 01, 2008 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 1,234	Evil people should have been given a slow torture death

08-20-2011, 04:47 PM	#9
mattc Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 16, 2008 Location: Virginia Posts: 273	My guess is that the Prosecution consulted the family of Joe and Mattie Harvey (who were obviously also the family of Cheryl Holland), and the family agreed to the plea deal that would avoid the death penalty, as well as keep the family from having to relive the tragedy through a trial. Obviously the evidence against Holland was air tight, so the State did not need to plea the case. I'm sure that the family had a lot to do with making the plea happen. I also agree with other posters that Cheryl Holland, regardless of addiction, debts, etc, is obviously a sociopath. There is simply no other way to explain her cold, calculating and manipulative behavior. She is very lucky that her family allowed the plea, because I can almost guarantee she would have gotten the death penalty, as this case screams death penalty. Just really sad overall. I hope she is never let out of prison, and I hope the parole board realizes the magnitude of her crimes.