User blog:UnderAPineapple/Getting to Know: Neil Hamilton (Q&A)

Hi guys, so a quick update on how Hamilton is doing right now. I am halfway through the first episode, which will be hosted by Susan Summers, who is one of the eight hosts. I plan to divide that episode into four blogs to save space, and I intend to release that episode in a few days, if I finish it.

That being said, I think it’s very important that the people watching, get to know one of the hosts, the main hosts, and the person who’s last name is the title of the show. His name is Neil Hamilton, and this blog will consist of his life story, and what brought him here.



Neil Hamilton
First off, Neil Hamilton was born on January 17, 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia. The Peach State has always been where he lived, and he’s very proud of being from the state of Georgia. He was the second child of Carol Ann and Joe Hamilton Sr.; Joe Jr. was born in June 1939, while his younger sister Rose was born in November 1944. Hamilton remembers a lot of good memories from his father, who was a baseball coach, who taught him and his brother, Joe about hard work and passion. His mother, Carol Ann, took the time to be the housewife, cooking and cleaning for the three kids, while their father would work. For the first seven years of his life, Hamilton says he had a very happy childhood. On June 28, 1949 however, Joe Hamilton Sr., along with 15 others, were killed in a plane crash. A plane that was planned to head to New York City, ended up crashing into a desolate field in Richmond, Virginia. All of the members aboard were killed; Joe was 32 years old. Although Neil grieved greatly, he was able to cope a lot better with his father’s passing, as opposed to Joe, who showed serious signs of depression following the death of his father.

Neil Hamilton excelled in school, and graduated in 1960, going to the University of Pennsylvania to study law, in hopes of becoming a criminal prosecutor. According to him, he developed an inspiration in the criminal justice system, after studying what happened in Nazi Germany in school. He said that he wanted to become a prosecutor, because he knew about the injustice that occurred during that time, which was only 10 years before he was studying it. In 1965, he graduated from the college, and achieved his juris doctorate, after years of studying and taking courses. When asked about why it didn’t take so long for him to graduate, he credited his “all-nighters” for when he was studying for his Master’s. Joe Hamilton went to serve in the Vietnam War, and this caused great concern to Neil’s mother, Carol Ann, who developed a drinking problem. For the next few years, Neil took care of his mother while his sister Rose attended nursing school. Joe returned from the war in 1971, and at that time, Carol Ann was three years sober. That same year, Hamilton ran for Fulton County District Attorney, and won the election, becoming an elected official. He remained an elected official then for 26 years, resigning in December 1998 when he won the election for Attorney General. He served a total of seven terms in the process – 1971, 1975, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1991, and 1995.

As district attorney, Hamilton mostly dealt with homicide cases in Fulton County. Although he had been prosecuting for a while, he didn’t get known until December of 1979. A man by the name of Stephen Charles Johnson was accused of the 1977 murder of his neighbor. Johnson, who was what many described as “crazy and insane”, entered a plea of not guilty. But he opted to take the stand, telling his own attorneys that, “the truth shall set all of us free”. Hamilton, who was being televised, talked to Johnson for five hours straight, and in the middle of it, Johnson told Hamilton that it was him, who committed the murders, and how he did it. This secured an easy conviction on the jury’s part, who were struggling on whether he knew what he was doing or not. Johnson was sentenced to life imprisonment, and ended up dying of throat cancer in November 2011. Hamilton earned the nickname of the “Courtroom Killer” by opponents of capital punishment. As of 2018, thirty-one of his defendants have been put to death by the state of Georgia, all by either the electric chair, or by lethal injection. In 2017, a man named Patrick McDonough was put to death by the state of Georgia for the 1979 murder of a correctional officer during a prison riot. Throughout his career, he has been seen as a trustworthy citizen, and never once at any point in his time as a prosecutor, faced an investigation for prosecutorial misconduct, unlike many prosecutors in the state of Georgia.

Hamilton married his college sweetheart Ashley Roberts in 1966. Ashley who was two years younger than Neil, gave birth to four of his children, Neil Jr. (born January 1967), Greg (born August 1969), Phillip (born November 1981), and Madison (born April 1984). Hamilton affectionately calls his four children “the four seasons” – as they were each born in different seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter). Phillip, his youngest son, was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy, and as a result had to be in a wheelchair, and used a computer to verbalize. In December 1990, Hamilton’s wife Ashley was diagnosed with breast cancer, a devastating blow to the family, considering Hamilton’s mother just survived breast cancer a few years earlier. Unlike Carol Ann, Ashley’s health grew worse, and after over a year, she died on January 5, 1992, only 20 days before her 48th birthday. At the time of her death, Neil Jr., and Greg, were in law school.

The death of his wife of over 25 years, took a toll on Hamilton, and it eventually drove him to the point of wanting to commit suicide. He planned to take his own life on August 26, 1993, by jumping off a bridge in Atlanta, however, chose not to. According to him, a woman recognized him as the district attorney, and that woman stated that she wanted to get his autograph. Hamilton stated that woman told him that her daughter had been murdered years earlier in Fulton County, but that the murder was unsolved. Realizing this, Hamilton stated that he felt like it would be a “cowardly move” to take his own life, and instead went to the hospital to get some help, and asked Greg Hamilton, who wasn’t far from Atlanta to take care of Hamilton’s 11-year old son and 9-year old daughter. By the time he was out of the hospital, he met with that same woman again, and promised her that her daughter’s killer would be brought to justice. He fulfilled that promise in 1996.

Although he grieves often about the loss of his wife, Hamilton states that he does not dwell on it too much, as he realizes that life would be a lot different for his kids, and for his community, if he decided to jump off the bridge. Unfortunately, his brother wasn’t so lucky. On October 31, 2004, 65-year old Joe Hamilton Jr., took his own life, in his work office in Brunswick, Georgia. In a note, Joe wrote that he shot himself because of an ongoing dispute between him and his wife of 30 years, who he claims had been having an affair, and also blamed the death of his father, and the deterioration of his mother’s health, as to why he committed suicide.

Hamilton decided in 1997, that he wanted to run for Attorney General, for the Republican party. He faced off against the incumbent, who at the time was seen as “inaffective” and unpopular. He would go on to win this election, which he credits to a speech he wrote entitled, “Beat the System”. For nine more years, Hamilton served as Attorney General of Georgia, and working with governors to help reduce the crime rate in the state. Although he had considered possibly running in 2006 for Governor, he declined to run, citing an emotional toll on him considering his brother committed suicide only a few years earlier. He was ineligible to run for a third term in 2006.

Despite not being a politician or a prosecutor anymore, Hamilton kept active in politics and criminal justice. He spent a good amount of time taking care of his son, Phillip, until Phillip passed away in August 2015 due to pneumonia. Hamilton stated that although he was saddened by his son’s death, he felt relieved because, “Phillip had been in a lot of pain for his entire life. He had expressed some thoughts of wanting his life to end in the last years of his life, and as much as I want him to still be alive, I feel he’s in a much better place. I love him.” Hamilton’s mother is still alive. Carol Ann is currently 97 years old, and lives in a nursing home in Tallahassee, Florida.

Q&A
In the comments, you can ask Mr. Neil Hamilton any questions you want, and he will be able to answer them. You can ask him about his thoughts on stuff, questions about his life, any of his past cases, his family, and expectations on the show. He will be happy to answer your questions, and be sure to check him out on the show. Thank you very much!