Board of Enquiry

The Board of Enquiry was the official state-level investigation convened after the shooting of William Wharton by Percy Wetmore on E Block at Cold Mountain Penitentiary in the fall of 1932. It was the formal mechanism that closed the case, allowing the prison administration and the governor to avoid a politically damaging scandal by accepting a simplified narrative of the incident.

Causes and Background

The Board of Enquiry was triggered by the shooting death of William Wharton, a condemned prisoner who fancied himself Billy the Kid. On the night of the execution of Eduard Delacroix, Percy Wetmore, a guard related to the governor by marriage, drew his sidearm and emptied all six shots into Wharton as he lay sleeping in his cell. The shooting occurred after a series of chaotic events: Percy had been locked in the restraint room in a straitjacket by Paul Edgecombe, Brutus Howell, and Harry Terwilliger as part of a plan to take John Coffey to heal the warden's wife, Melinda Moores. After being released, Percy was seized by John Coffey, who transferred the brain tumor he had sucked out of Melinda into Percy's body. Percy then walked up the Green Mile, drew his gun, and killed Wharton. The sound of the gunfire was deafening in the enclosed space, and the aftermath left Percy catatonic, standing with his hands and jaw dangling, his bladder and bowels releasing.

What Happens

The Board of Enquiry was a formal proceeding, but it was described by Paul Edgecombe as "pretty tame and perfunctory." The governor, whose wife's nephew Percy had gone mad and killed a man, wanted the matter to "go away, and as soon as possible." The fact that Percy had shot a sleeping man was not quite sporting, but the victim was a convicted killer, which provided some cover. The Board accepted the simplified story that Percy had simply gone crazy and shot Wharton. The details of the night journey to heal Melinda Moores, the straitjacketing of Percy, the doping of Wharton, and John Coffey's supernatural transfer of the tumor were never brought up. The Board of Enquiry served as the official closing of the case, allowing the prison to return to normal operations.

Consequences and Aftermath

The Board of Enquiry's acceptance of the simplified narrative had profound consequences. Percy Wetmore was sent to Briar Ridge, a state mental facility, where he remained catatonic until his death in 1965. He never spoke again after the night of the shooting. William Wharton's body was removed, and the coroner removed the slugs; the fact that Wharton had been heavily drugged with morphine at the time of his death was never investigated. The guards who had participated in the night journey—Paul Edgecombe, Brutus Howell, Harry Terwilliger, and Dean Stanton—were never implicated. The Board's perfunctory investigation allowed them to keep their jobs and avoid prosecution. For Paul Edgecombe, the Board of Enquiry was the last official act that sealed the fate of John Coffey, who was executed shortly thereafter. The Board's failure to uncover the truth meant that John Coffey, an innocent man, was executed for a crime committed by William Wharton. The Board of Enquiry thus became a symbol of the institutional machinery that prioritizes political convenience over justice, a theme that haunts Paul Edgecombe for the rest of his long life.