OMAHA -- Prosecutors knew they were in for a tough fight when they went up against Omaha defense attorney J. William “Bill” Gallup.
“Bill was always battling for his clients,” Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said Tuesday. “When you went into court against him, you knew you were in for a fight. He was a no-nonsense guy, who was very good at what he did.”
Gallup, 87, died Friday in his Omaha home after a lengthy illness, said Paula Gallup, his wife of 59 years. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church, 6116 Dodge St.
Kleine said Gallup was a man of his word. He was known for saying what he thought and meaning what he said.
“He was so well-prepared every time that he went into court,” Kleine said. “You could trust what he said and you knew that he always had his client’s best interests.”
Gallup came up with the epitaph, “The Defense Rests,” that is written on his tombstone, his wife said. Getting him to rest, even as his health failed, was nearly impossible, she said.
“He had his brains about him until the very end,” Paula said. “”He loved the law, and it was very hard for him not to be in the courtroom and office. You could set your clock by Bill Gallup going to work and coming home every day.”
Gallup was born in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, and moved with his family to western Nebraska and then Omaha. He graduated from Omaha Benson High School in 1953 and a received a bachelor’s degree from Omaha University in 1957, followed by a master’s degree from the school in 1959.
A naturalized American citizen, Gallup served two years in the U.S. Army before enrolling in Creighton University Law School, graduating in 1964. He met his wife while attending law school.
“We were both at a law fraternity party with other people,” Paula said. “We were introduced and that was it. Bill always said that he (left Creighton) with his degree in one hand and his wife in the other.”
Upon graduation, Gallup worked as an assistant prosecutor for the City of Omaha and then the Douglas County Attorney’s Office. He later worked for the U.S. attorney for Nebraska before entering private practice.
Gallup often said he was proud to be the only Nebraska attorney he knew to walk a client from death row to freedom. His diligence led to the overturning of the conviction and death sentence for Jeremy Sheets in connection with the 1992 abduction and slaying of a North High School student.
Adam Barnett told authorities that he and Sheets had kidnapped a girl at knifepoint. Barnett hanged himself in jail before he could testify at Sheets’ trial. The Nebraska Supreme Court agreed with Gallup’s argument that the trial court judge should not have allowed prosecutors to play Barnett’s statement because Sheets was not able to confront his accuser.
Outside the courtroom, Gallup enjoyed reading and wrote numerous articles for legal magazines. He accepted an invitation to join the American Board of Criminal Lawyers and served as its president from 1982 to 1983.
A daughter, Bridget Gordman of Omaha, said her father’s sensitive side was most evident around his 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
“He loved his grandchildren and all kids, really,” Gordman said. “People, I think, were surprised by how soft and patient he would be with them. He was very loving.”
Other survivors include daughter Pamela Conrad of Malibu, California; sons Sean of Denver and John Jr. of Omaha; and sister, Djel Ann Brown of Omaha.
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