Hallmon is arrested twice for aggravated assault in a two-week span and booked into the Carroll County Jail. Hallmon is just 15. A note in the file after the second assault charge says, "hold for reform school." Before he turns 18, he's arrested for fighting, disturbing the peace, assaults and burglary. The records for some of these detentions are in a drawer of booking cards still stored in the now defunct jail. There are still traces of Hallmon in his old corner cell there:

Hallmon is arrested for stabbing an acquaintance named Elbert Blackmon Jr. "with a knife in the upper left neck, forehead, back, the back of his head and shoulder, that being a means likely to produce death or serious bodily harm," according to court records. He is charged with aggravated assault. On May 26, 1993, he appears before Judge Joseph Loper, the same judge who years later will preside over two of Curtis Flowers' trials, and pleads guilty. Loper sentences Hallmon to seven years in prison, but immediately suspends three of those years. He's given a four-year sentence — though he won't spend even that long behind bars — and three years of probation after his release.

Indictment for aggravated assault

Just three weeks into his prison sentence, Hallmon is issued a rule violation for assaulting a guard and receives a detention notice for assaulting an inmate. In the two-and-a-half years that follow, he's disciplined at least 16 times, including write-ups for various rule violations, time in solitary confinement for pushing a guard and a demotion in security status for allegedly raping an inmate.

Incident report, guard assault

Detention notice, inmate assault

The parole board refuses to release Hallmon at his first parole hearing because, according to prison records, "the ability or willingness to fulfill the obligations of a law abiding citizen is lacking." He will be denied parole again, on Jan. 25, 1995.

Just a year after being denied parole a second time, Hallmon is discharged from prison and begins three years of probation. After pleading guilty to stabbing a man in the neck and head, he has served less than three years in prison.

Records show Hallmon works at the Hankins Lumber Co. in Elliot, Mississippi, for a year.

An arrest warrant is issued for Hallmon, who's been out of prison just nine months, for violating his probation by being involved in three "assaultive altercations," on Aug. 13, Aug. 16 and Sept. 6.

Arrest warrant

Still free, Hallmon violates his probation again, this time by testing positive for cocaine.

On this date, Hallmon is arrested in Carroll County and charged with strong arm robbery for using physical and verbal threats to force a man to give him $262. While he's being held, another arrest warrant is issued for Hallmon's various probation violations: using cocaine, committing robbery and failing to make restitution payments.

Arrest warrant

Hallmon is indicted in the robbery case from January but never convicted. On May 29, 1997, the case is "remanded to files" and never resurfaces.

Indictment for strong arm robbery

Hallmon is sent to a restitution center in Jackson and ordered to work off a court-imposed $2,099 debt owed to the man he stabbed in 1992 — a reimbursement for his medical bills and court costs.

After all of three days, Hallmon refuses to work at the restitution center and returns to the county jail.

Violation report for failure to pay restitution

Hallmon is returned to prison for violating his probation. He must now serve the three additional years from his 1993 aggravated assault conviction that had previously been suspended. Again, he's not a model prisoner. In Parchman prison, he receives at least 49 citations for various rule violations. This is the same prison where Curtis Flowers will soon be incarcerated. It's some time during this period in late 1997 and 1998 that, Hallmon will later claim, Flowers admitted to him that Flowers committed the Tardy Furniture murders.

In the first of six trials, Curtis Flowers is convicted of murdering Bertha Tardy and sentenced to death. Odell Hallmon isn't involved, but his sister, Patricia Hallmon, testifies for the state against Curtis.

Hallmon's first documented involvement in the Flowers case is a letter to Curtis' mother, Lola. In this letter, and a subsequent one to Curtis' lawyer, Hallmon says that he talked his sister Patricia into lying on the stand in Curtis' first trial so she could claim the reward money offered in the case and bail her brother out of jail. Hallmon offers to now tell the truth and testify in Curtis' defense.

Letter to Lola Flowers

Letter to Chokwe Lumumba

Flowers' second trial, this one for the murder of Derrick "Bobo" Stewart, takes place in Gulfport. Hallmon is transported there from Parchman to testify for the defense. He says that his sister Patricia, who has testified for the prosecution that she saw Flowers on the day of the murders, has been lying. Hallmon testifies that he talked Patricia into lying for the reward money. Flowers is found guilty anyway and receives a second death sentence.

Flowers 2 testimony

After serving two-and-a-half years, Hallmon is discharged from Parchman prison.

Less than three months after his release from prison, Hallmon is arrested for simple assault. Two weeks later, the case is dismissed.

Court record, simple assault

Acting on a tip that Hallmon is selling drugs, Carroll County deputies track him down at a local gas station. He tries to make a break for it, but they apprehend him. They find two containers of crack cocaine worth an estimated $800. He's charged with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute. Sheriff Don Gray tells the local newspaper, The Conservative, that, "He got sort of belligerent and went outside, saw the other officers, and broke and ran toward the highway. All gave chase, and Deputy Carver tackled him. Odell is a pretty good-sized fella." Hallmon is released on a $75,000 bond.

The Mississippi Supreme Court overturns Curtis Flowers' conviction and death sentence, citing missteps in the first trial by prosecutor Doug Evans. He will attempt to retry Flowers for the murder of Bertha Tardy. But by this time, the two jailhouse informants whom Evans utilized in the first Flowers trial have recanted their testimony. Prosecutors no longer have evidence that Flowers confessed. In a few months, Hallmon will change all that.

While out on bond for the crack cocaine charge, Hallmon is caught in Montgomery County with 9 mm firearm, which, as a convicted felon, he's not legally allowed to have. He is again arrested and again released on bond — $20,000, posted by his mother.

Affidavit, illegal firearm

A Montgomery County grand jury indicts Hallmon for the offense of felon in possession of a firearm. This case won't reach a final disposition for over a year.

Indictment for felon in possession of firearm

Montgomery County sheriff's deputies arrest Hallmon on a warrant for an armed robbery committed five days earlier. During the arrest, they find "two small bags of a green substance" in his red Oldsmobile van. He's charged with armed robbery and possession of marijuana. He is released four days later on bond.

Arrest report, armed robbery and marijuana

Just over a week after his last release from jail, Hallmon is arrested again, this time on a warrant for stalking. Police Sergeant Tommy Bibbs pulls him over on Highway 407 in Winona in a car with three passengers, according to The Winona Times. Bibbs searches the car and finds 132 rocks of crack cocaine (about 23 grams) with an estimated street value of $2,600. Hallmon is booked into jail on drug dealing and stalking charges. Bond is set at $500,000 and Hallmon appears at a preliminary hearing five days later.

Affidavit, crack cocaine

After four arrests and with a mounting list of felony charges pending against him, Hallmon is finally stuck in jail. A timesheet from the Carroll-Montgomery County Regional Correctional Facility in Vaiden indicates that Hallmon is officially being held on pre-trial detention, connected to the February firearm charge for which he's been indicted.

This is a day that likely changes the lives of both Curtis Flowers and Odell Hallmon. Inside the Vaiden jail, Hallmon sits down with Doug Evans' investigator, John Johnson. They record two videos together. In the first, recorded at 11:30 a.m., Hallmon claims that he lied during the second Flowers trial and that he did so at Flowers' behest. He says Flowers promised him cigarettes and money if he'd say that his sister Patricia's testimony was false.

In the second video, recorded three hours later and with Hallmon's lawyer present, Hallmon spins a more elaborate tale. He claims that Flowers asked him to kill a witness and insinuated that Flowers had committed the Tardy Furniture murders. From this day on, Hallmon serves as a key witness in the prosecution of Curtis Flowers.

During this period, Hallmon also writes a letter to Evans. The letter is undated, but in it, Hallmon goes much further than in his video statements. He claims that Flowers confessed to him outright and even provided details about the crime.

Letter to Doug Evans

A week after joining the prosecution as an informant in the case against Flowers, Hallmon's own robbery case is dismissed on a motion by the county attorney. According to court records, the reason is a "failure to prosecute."

Court record, robbery

Hallmon's two pending crack cocaine cases seem to just go away. Both make it through initial hearings and both are handed over to Doug Evans' office in the Circuit Court for presentation to a grand jury. But Hallmon is never indicted on either charge.

Court record, Vaiden

Court record, Winona

More than a year after being indicted for possessing a firearm as a felon, Hallmon agrees to plead guilty to this one charge. He is sentenced to serve one year behind bars and two years of probation.

Plea deal, felon in possession of firearm

Two weeks after pleading guilty to the firearm charge, he is released from jail on time served. He must remain on probation for two more years. He faces no other punishment for his many arrests in 2000 and 2001.

Jail timesheet

While Hallmon is still on probation, he is caught in a sting operation run by the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. Deputies send an informant to make a buy at a suspected drug house and then arrest five men, including Hallmon, on drug, robbery and assault charges, according to The Winona Times. Two weeks later, the charges will be dropped for, according to records, lack of evidence. For the fourth time in less than three years, Hallmon has escaped a drug-related charge.

Court record, aggravated assault and strong arm robbery

Court record, armed robbery and assault dropped

Flowers' appeal of his second conviction — for the murder of Derrick "Bobo" Stewart — is successful. The Mississippi Supreme Court overturns the Circuit Court's judgment and grants Flowers a new trial.

At about 11 a.m. several people are standing outside a house in Montgomery County when Hallmon allegedly pulls up in a car and begins shooting at them, according to The Winona Times. No one is hit, but one of the bullets goes through the wall of the house and strikes a television. Hallmon goes into hiding and his post-release supervision is revoked. He is arrested several months later and returned to Parchman for violating his probation.

Order revoking post release supervision

Hallmon testifies for the prosecution that Flowers confessed to the Tardy murders. It's the first of four Flowers trials that will feature testimony from Hallmon.

A grand jury in Montgomery County indicts Hallmon for the drive-by shooting. Even though Hallmon has two prior felony convictions, he's not indicted under Mississippi's version of the three strikes law. The case goes nowhere.

Indictment for shooting into a dwelling

Eight months after he testifies against Curtis Flowers, Hallmon sees his charge for the drive-by shooting into a dwelling dismissed. Court records say the case is dismissed on a motion by the prosecution because witnesses couldn't be found.

Court record, shooting into dwelling dismissed

With his shooting charges dropped, Hallmon's probation is reinstated and he is released from prison. This is the fifth felony case against Hallmon that's been dismissed or dropped in the little over three years since he became a state's witness in the Flowers case.

Hallmon is arrested again for drug possession, this time about 10 grams of cocaine. He's released on a $10,000 bond, but not before receiving three citations in the county jail.

While he's out on bond from his last drug charge, Hallmon is caught with roughly 50 grams of cocaine and another gun — a stolen .380-caliber pistol. A warrant is issued for Hallmon's arrest for possession of a stolen firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell.

Hallmon is indicted for possession of the 10 grams of cocaine. Since he already has two prior felony convictions, he's also charged as a habitual offender, a provision of Mississippi law stipulating that he should be sentenced to the maximum possible penalty. Hallmon is now facing years behind bars.

Indictment for 10g of cocaine

Hallmon is indicted again, for possession of the 50 grams of cocaine and being a felon in possession of a firearm. And once again, he's charged as a habitual offender. The indictment says that Hallmon, "upon conviction, shall be sentenced to the maximum term of imprisonment ... which is 30 years."

Indictment for 50g of cocaine and firearm

With five charges in two separate indictments hanging over him, prosecutors cut Hallmon a seemingly generous deal. The smaller drug case — the 10 grams of cocaine — is dismissed. Hallmon pleads guilty to the larger drug charge — the possession of 50 grams of cocaine — but gets the gun charge and the habitual offender enhancement dropped. Where he'd been facing a combined total of 46 years in prison, prosecutors recommend a sentence of 14 years with 5 additional years of probation. Judge Clarence E. Morgan III, who tried Curtis Flowers' first four trials, agrees. Hallmon evades a third-strike conviction for what appears to be the 10th felony case against him.

Plea deal, 50g of cocaine and firearm

Dismissal, 10g of cocaine

Hallmon begins his 14-year sentence. He'll serve just over eight years. During this time, he receives at least 82 citations for breaking prison rules, a rough average of one violation every month.

Note: This file contains lewd language.

Prison rule violation report

The Mississippi Supreme Court throws out the conviction in Curtis Flowers' third trial, citing the prosecution's improper use of race in jury selection.

Hallmon — driven in from Parchman prison — again testifies that Flowers confessed to him. This time, though, the jury deadlocks and the case ends in a mistrial.

Hallmon receives a prison citation for "killing OR assaulting anyone." This is the eighth violation Hallmon has received in the nine months since he testified in the fourth Flowers trial. Other infractions include another assault, possession of contraband and fighting.

Hallmon is again brought in from prison to testify for the prosecution, and again the jury deadlocks, ending the proceedings in a mistrial.

A prison assessment notes that Hallmon has spent time in administration segregation, commonly known as solitary confinement, and is a "disruptive core member" of the Vice Lords.

Prison administrative segregation assessment

He once again tells a jury that Flowers confessed to him. He says he's received nothing in exchange for his testimony, that he wants to clear his conscience after being diagnosed HIV positive. Flowers is convicted and sentenced to death.

Having served eight-and-a-half years of his 14-year sentence, Hallmon is discharged from Parchman. On Facebook, he celebrates his release.

Meanwhile, Curtis Flowers remains on death row.