Robert Lee Willie (January 2, 1958 – December 28, 1984) was an American serial killer who killed at least three people in Louisiana from the late 1970s to 1980.

[4] On May 23, 1978, Willie and his cousin, Perry Wayne Taylor, beat and drowned 19-year-old Dennis Buford Hemby, and then stole his marijuana.

[2] On May 28, 1980, Willie and Joseph Jesse Vaccaro picked up Faith Hathaway, who was walking home after celebrating with friends the night before she was to enter the U.S. Army.

[5] They left her body at Frickes Cave, a borrow pit, south of the parish seat Franklinton, Louisiana, along Highway 25 and near the Bogue Chitto River.

[6] Three days later, on May 31, 1980,[6] the pair kidnapped 20-year-old Mark Allen Brewster and his girlfriend, 16-year-old Debbie Cuevas, both from Madisonville.

At the trials, Willie and Vaccaro presented disputing accounts as to which man had what role in the crimes.

[6] Elizabeth Oalman, who'd helped her son evade the police, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and served one year of a 5-year sentence.

[9] In total, Vaccaro received two life sentences for the murder of Hathaway and the kidnapping of Cuevas & Brewster.

Vaccaro served his sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and died in prison on January 22, 2008, at the age of 55.

[6] It was later revealed that Willie had pleaded guilty in his federal kidnapping case in an attempt to avoid execution in Louisiana.

[11] While on death row, Willie pleaded to second degree murder for killing Dennis Hemby and received a life sentence.

In addition, Willie confessed to participating in the murder of 25-year-old St. Tammany Parish Deputy Sheriff Louis Wagner II on June 3, 1978.

[13] Willie allegedly recanted that others were involved after his father told him he'd violated the code of honor among criminals by being a snitch.

In May 1984, serial killers Henry Lee Lucas and Ottis Toole confessed to killing Wagner.

Willie then recanted completely, saying he'd only confessed to Wagner's murder so he could stay in the St. Tammany Parish Jail since he thought it was easier to escape from.

He said he hadn't planned on killing the man but ran him over after he threw a brick through Willie's windshield.

A teacher in New Orleans, she was one of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille and had acted as spiritual adviser to another inmate on death row.

When Faith's parents, Vernon and Elizabeth Harvey, went to John's home and asked him if he believed in capital punishment, he said he was willing to pull the switch himself.

"In the courtroom during his second sentencing trial, a deputy sheriff was standing less than two feet in front of me with his unstrapped, holstered .357 Magnum pistol," he said.

"I contemplated ramming the car and trying to push it into the lake, but then I figured those federal marshals hadn't done me any wrong," he said.

Prior to his execution, he said to Hathaway's mother and stepfather, Elizabeth and Vern Harvey, who were there as witnesses, "I hope you get some relief from my death.

"[18] Feeling that victims' families were overlooked in the criminal justice system, the Harveys founded a group, Parents of Murdered Children, to help others.

[2] Sister Prejean wrote a non-fiction book Dead Man Walking (1993) about her encounters with Willie and Elmo Patrick Sonnier, the first convicted murderer for whom she had served as spiritual adviser, and with personnel in the prison system.

She explored the effects of holding people on death row and being involved in executions for guards, chaplains and other officials.

The character Matthew Poncelet, played by Penn in the film, and his crime, were drawn from Willie and Sonnier.