A Northampton County man and the state's oldest death row inmate died Sunday morning of natural causes.

John Henry Fleming, 83, according to a news release from the state Department of Correction, was sentenced to death in Northampton County for the May 1996 murder of Genie Pelham of Pleasant Hill.

Fleming was convicted of breaking into Pelham’s home before beating and strangling him.

According to state court records, Fleming was indicted on September 23, 1996, for the first-degree murder of Pelham.

He was tried capitally and found guilty of first-degree murder on the basis of premeditation and deliberation.

Following a capital-sentencing proceeding, the jury recommended a sentence of death; and the trial court entered judgment accordingly.

The State's evidence at trial tended to show the following:

On or about 17 May 1996, defendant entered the home of the victim and assaulted him with a blunt object. Based upon the blood-spatter marks found at the crime scene, Anthony Jernigan, a special agent with the State Bureau of Investigation and a crime-scene specialist, concluded that the assault began in the victim's den.

The victim moved from the middle of the love seat to the north end of the love seat. While the assault continued, the victim moved from the den, to the kitchen, and finally to the main hallway.

Judging from the level of the blood-spatter marks, the victim rose and fell approximately six different times as his assailant hit him on the head.   Defendant's black watch and a shoe impression matching defendant's unique shoe imprint were found at the scene of the crime.

The autopsy revealed over a dozen contusions and lacerations on the victim's head. The forensic pathologists also found abrasions on the victim's neck, arms, and right leg.

The injuries to the victim's arms and shin may have been defensive wounds.   Additionally, the left side of the victim's hyoid bone, which is found at the base of the tongue, was broken.

The cause of death was strangulation with the hand or hands. This conclusion was consistent with the fingernail marks found on the victim's neck, the hemorrhage into the tissues underneath the skin of the neck, and the fracture and hemorrhage of the hyoid bone.

At the time of the murder, the defendant and Eugenia Pelham, the victim's daughter, were having a relationship; the victim did not approve of this relationship.

The victim also intended to be a prosecuting witness against defendant for three counts of uttering forged checks on the victim's bank account. The defendant's uttering trial was scheduled for May 23, 1996.