Percy Shoots William Wharton

After returning John Coffey to his cell, the guards release Percy Wetmore from the restraint room. Percy, now possessed by the tumorous evil that Coffey extracted from Melinda Moores, walks up the Green Mile in a daze. He stops at William Wharton's cell and, without warning, draws his gun and shoots Wharton six times, killing him instantly. Percy then collapses into a catatonic state, his mind destroyed. The guards are shocked but quickly concoct a story to cover up the truth: that Percy simply went mad and shot Wharton. The incident eliminates the dangerous Wharton and permanently silences Percy, but it also implicates the guards in a cover-up.