William Henry Hance (November 10, 1951[1] – March 31, 1994) was an American serial killer and soldier who is believed to have murdered four women and molested three in and around military bases before his arrest in 1978.

[2] The disparate groups of victims were linked by a letter to the local police chief written on United States Army stationery.

The handwritten note purported to be from a gang of seven white men who were holding a black woman hostage and would kill her if the Stocking Strangler were not apprehended.

[2] The seven white vigilantes wished to be known as the "Forces of Evil", and wanted the police chief to communicate with them via messages on radio or television.

[1][4] Soon afterward, following instructions in yet another call from the "Forces of Evil", a second black woman's body was found at a rifle range at Fort Benning.

[2] Using the profile and aware that both Jackson and Thirkield were prostitutes, Georgia Bureau of Investigation officers searched near the fort for bars which had generally black patrons.

In dissent, Justice Harry Blackmun said that even if he had not recently reached the conclusion that the death penalty cannot be imposed fairly within the constraints of our Constitution .

[8]Hance had an IQ of 75 –79 points, which classifies him as "borderline intellectual functioning" on modern medical scales of mental retardation.

[4] Other issues besides Hance's mental and psychiatric status had created controversy prior to the day of his electrocution, and one—the question of racial bias in the state sentencing jury—veritably exploded afterwards.

The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles had not even proofread its order denying his stay of execution, and conflated it with another document about some other prisoner.

The other jurors had told her that she could be convicted of perjury if she continued to hold out, since she had testified, during jury selection, that she could vote for the death penalty.

[11]At a law school conference the following year, attorney Ronald J. Tabak stated at some length his opinion that Hance's race contributed to the sentence.