Charlie Pittman pleads guilty in fiancee’s murder
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Charlie Pittman, accused of killing his fiancee, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. Pittman pleaded guilty during a Thursday morning hearing in Madison County Circuit Court. He was sentenced to serve 40 years at 100 percent. “Mr. Pittman is going to be in there a long time,” Pittman’s attorney George Googe said. “This is a tough decision for him to make as well.” He is accused of killing his fiancee, Olivia Greenlee, in February 2014 on the Union University Campus. “We agree to the terms of the plea agreement,” Greenlee family spokesperson Roger Wright said. “In order to bring healing to our grief stricken family and other impacted by the crimes of Mr. Pittman.” Police say Pittman stole a 9 mm pistol from his roommate and used it to fatally shoot Greenlee as she sat in her car on the edge of the Union campus. Investigators say he tried to stage evidence to cover it up. “The defendant then claimed that he locked the car doors and began to call people,” Asst. District Attorney Jody Pickens said,. “He was saying quote ‘to make it look like a suicide.'” But investigators said ballistic evidence showed differently. Pittman appeared emotionless Thursday morning as he entered the court room. He and his attorney had already agreed to the plea deal with a punishment of 40 years in a state penitentiary with no chance for parole. “It would have been extremely difficult for her to have held the gun 8 to 10 inches from her head and pulled that trigger,” Pickens said. But even before Thursday’s admission of guilt, prosecutors said Pittman bragged about the murder. “The state has proof that the defendant, while incarcerated, had confided in a cell mate that he shot and killed Olivia Greenlee,” Pickens said. “Saying she quote ‘never saw it coming.” A grand jury indicted the 22-year-old last year on first-degree murder and tampering with evidence charges. Pittman and Greenlee were 21 at the time of her death. Before Thursday’s plea deal, Pittman’s case was scheduled for trial in November.
