Biography
Robert Hillary King, also known as Robert King Wilkerson, is a former Louisiana prisoner and member of the Angola Three. His case involved the killing of another prisoner, separate from the prison-guard case against Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace. After his conviction was overturned, he accepted a plea to a lesser charge and was released on February 8, 2001. His personal account reports 31 years in prison, including 29 in solitary confinement.
The Angola Three feature described Robert Hillary King’s 2001 release after twenty-nine years in solitary, following reversal of his inmate-homicide conviction and a lesser conspiracy plea resulting in time served. It also recounted an earlier eleven-month jail detention on charges later dropped and a parole-violation imprisonment. The rounded retrospective durations do not establish exact endpoints or uninterrupted custody. Defenestrator, issue 44, April 2009, original PDF page 14. Source: https://we.riseup.net/assets/6831/versions/2/def44.pdf#page=14
Workers World describes the Angola Three solidarity campaign in September 2006. Its collective description of the 1972 guard-murder prosecution should not be used to attribute that charge to Robert Hillary King; the men’s distinct cases and release histories require individual evidence. Workers World, October 5, 2006, vol.48 no.39, original PDF page 3. Source: https://www.workers.org/pdf/2006/ww100506.pdf#page=3
Custody research — September 2026
King reports 31 years of imprisonment, including 29 in solitary, and release on February 8, 2001. The two durations are not additive.
- Robert King, personal website and account
- Prison Legal News, Louisiana Prison Activist Freed, June 2001
The 2007 Angola Three civil-rights report and recommendation records May 15, 1972 as the start of Robert King Wilkerson’s extended lockdown at Angola. This is a conditions-of-confinement date, not the beginning of his entire imprisonment. The report separately confirms his February 8, 2001 release after the murder conviction was reduced to a lesser charge; the existing release date and reported total duration remain unchanged.
