"[1][2] In 2023, NPR obtained and released documents and tape recordings of several executions in Virginia's electric chair, one of which was that of Evans; the tape recording of Evans's execution did not include mention of it being botched, although press reports and witness accounts did.

Several newspapers in 1981 erroneously described the charges as being for capital murder and robbery, while The Washington Post described the charges in 1990 as being for assault; the Richmond Times-Dispatch further stated that Evans had entered a North Carolina credit union, taken an employee to a backroom, threatened to kill her while holding her at gunpoint, and beaten her.

[5][6][7][8] At approximately 3:30 pm on January 27, 1981, 47-year-old Deputy Sheriff William Truesdale, a native of Landover, Maryland, was in the process of transferring Evans and two additional prisoners in a van from the Alexandria Courthouse to the Alexandria City Jail following the extradition hearing at which Evans had testified.

[6] At trial, Evans apologized for the murder of Truesdale, testifying on the stand, "I didn't have no [sic] intention to shoot anyone.

[8] Evans also claimed that his desire to run was impulsive, testifying during the trial that "[he] ended up with a hold of the gun and [he and Truesdale] were tussling.

[8] On April 18, 1981, a jury of eight women and four men deliberated four hours before convicting Evans of capital murder in the shooting of William Truesdale.

On June 1, 1981, Circuit Court Judge Wiley R. Wright formally sentenced Evans to death, stating that the jury served as "the conscience of the community" and that "their verdict had to be given great weight."

The same day, Virginia Governor Chuck Robb signed legislation providing the state with the ability to re-sentence Evans.

In September 1983, a judge affirmed Evans's second death sentence, ruling that the prosecutors and state attorney general's office had not participated in intentional misconduct by waiting until the new law overriding Patterson went into effect before they admitted error in Evans's case.

Evans said he originally stood against a wall and stayed out of conflict until he saw inmates strip, bound, and begin sexually assaulting a nurse, at which point he stopped them and convinced them that it would be more difficult for them to negotiate for clemency if they harmed the guards they held hostage.

"[14] One of Evans's attorneys, Jonathan Shapiro, told the press, "This kind of behavior needs to be rewarded because it was the right thing to do.

Shapiro requested that the state parole board and Robb commute Evans's death sentence to life based on his role in protecting prison workers; Evans's legal team argued that his role in protecting guards during the prison escape demonstrated that he did not pose a future threat to society.

He said he wanted Truesdale's surviving family members to read his poetry to see how much he had changed and started caring about others while awaiting his execution.

He donated his poetry to the NAACP so they could use the proceeds to help impoverished youth in low-income, majority-minority neighborhoods.

Before he was led to the electric chair, he pocketed a copy of a plea on his behalf written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, in which Marshall called Evans's imminent execution "dead wrong" and said Evans's execution proved that the Supreme Court could not guarantee "that given sufficient procedural safeguards, the death penalty may be administered fairly and reliably."

Marshall, a death penalty opponent, was the only Supreme Court Justice to vote against the decision to turn down Evans's appeal.

[3][16] National Public Radio (NPR) and The Virginian-Pilot later called Evans's execution "one of the worst in Virginia's history.

"[16] Willie Lloyd Turner, who had helped Evans protect corrections officials during the Mecklenburg death row escape, was executed by lethal injection on May 25, 1995.

[17] In May 2011, the Alexandria Adult Detention Center was formally renamed the William G. Truesdale ADC, in honor of Evans's victim.

NPR stated that each photo depicted Evans as "he scratches his chin, raises his eyes, turns on his side and slumps his shoulders."