Phillip Ingle

Ingle was executed by lethal injection on September 22, 1995. His last meal consisted of a medium-rare steak, a baked potato, a tossed salad, and butter pecan ice cream. Ingle spent his final hours with his wife, their two young daughters, and his mother. As he was wheeled into the death chamber, Ingle shouted "I'm going to heaven!"

In July 1991, Ingle went into the home of William Fred Davis, 68, and Margaret Davis, 67. The door was unlocked, and he entered armed with an axe handle from his car. Margaret was in the kitchen, and Ingle, who knew the Davises, beat her to death. He then moved into the den of the house, where William was watching television. He did not hear Ingle attacking his wife due to the volume of the television. Consequently, Ingle was able to catch him off-guard and beat him to death as well.

In August 1991, Ingle crawled through the unlatched window into the home of E.Z. Willis, 70 and Sarah Willis, 67, and beat them to death with a tire iron. E.Z. fought back with his cane, striking Ingle several times and giving him a black eye and a gash on his face. Ingle's injuries were bad enough that he ended up skipping work.

Ingle shot himself in the stomach when he was 18 years old. In December 1986, a drunken Ingle was sent to Broughton Hospital. He was released five days later, and sent to Black Mountain's 28-day treatment program.

Ingle previously served time in jail for breaking and entering and assault in the early 1980s.

Before Ingle's arrest, the Davis's 29-year-old son-in-law, Joey James Melton, was strongly suspected of the murders, but was not arrested. Melton was a high-school dropout, and the Davises has been adamantly opposed to his marriage to their daughter, Ruth Davis. However, they later helped set the family up financially giving them money for a mobile home and later a house. However, their relationship remained unstable. Neighbors and family members said Melton had personal issues which troubled the couple and possibly attracted the attention of the authorities. Newspapers reported that Melton underwent psychiatric treatment in the 1980s, and neighbors said he used to use drugs, but did not appear to be doing so prior to his death. Locals said the police very frequently questioned Melton.

Phillip Lee Ingle (August 7, 1961 – September 22, 1995) was an American serial killer who murdered two elderly couples in Cherryville, North Carolina in 1991. Before he was arrested, Ingle, who knew one pair of his victims, confessed to a friend, telling him that he enjoyed watching people die in agony. After being sentenced to death, he waived his appeals, saying that he wanted to spare the families of his victims from any more pain. He was executed in 1995.

Ingle was born on August 7, 1961, in Lincoln County, North Carolina. He had a very troublesome childhood. According to family friends, his mother and father split soon after he was born, and his mother was around only from time to time. In addition, family members said that Ingle's cousin sexually abused him during childhood. Ingle attempted to commit suicide when he was five or six years old, and was treated for psychiatric issues several times in the late 1980s.