One of the biggest unsolved murders in Alabama, which remains unsolved today and is featured in Unsolved Mysteries, is the missing person case of Sherry Lynn Marler, who disappeared in 1984. From 1927-1976 there were 153 executions. The article, quoted on his entry on FindaGrave.com,says: ""Bill" Smith, the dead man, was a unique character and was known throughout all of this section as "Bell-Tree" Smith. Its not like notorious people are publicized like famous people or celebrities. In 2006, Betty was remarried in prison to Bill Campbell - an Army contractor who became highly obsessed with Betty after seeing her story on TV. The best hidden gems and little known destinations - straight to your inbox. On May 3, 1889, after deliberating for only 55 minutes, the jury decided that Richard deserved the death penalty. The study later became controversial: "When penicillin became the standard treatment for the disease in 1947 the medicine was withheld as a part of the treatment for both the experimental group and control group. This terrorist attack by the Ku Klux Klan on a black church is still the most notorious in Alabama history for its senselessness as well as for how long justice was delayed. The bombing resulted in the death of a spectator and wounded 111 others. The Wilson's marriage was troubled. Henry Wells, legendary prisoner, unknown birth-1876, The legend of the face etched in the Pickens County Courthouse window has been repeated for decades and appears in Kathryn Tucker Windham's beloved book "13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey." According to the book "Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949," he was among 36 suspected Klan members who were indicted for attacks on black and white residents in October 1927. He also held the title of exalted cyclops in the Ku Klux Klan and was once charged with "flogging" people but the charges were dismissed. Hells Gate Bridge is located in Oxford, Alabama, and acquired its name from the legend involving a young couple who drove off the bridge into the water below. CNN Former University of Alabama basketball player Darius Miles, 21, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in a shooting that killed a 23-year-old woman last month, will be held without. The Rev. In 1867,Gayle received a full pardon from Andrew Johnson. The bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963 took the lives of Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and Denise McNair, and injured about 20 others. But an angry mob took the four men and hung them from nearby trees. In December 1888, the famous Hawes murders took place in the earliest days of Birmingham, Alabama. It was the first time a pre-literate group created such a system. She had also been poisoning her daughter, Carol, with large doses of arsenic after taking out a life insurance policy on her. [1] Middleton reportedly fled to Briartown in Indian Territory where he lived with Belle Starr and her gang. In 1992, he was indicted for theft, conspiracy, and ethics violations, accused of taking $200,000 from a 1987 inaugural account to buy such things as marble showers. She and her daughter, by then 11 years old, had been living in Vincennes, Ind., and had just heard of the trial. He made it to Jackson, who gathered 1,200 infantry and 800 cavalry and marched toward Talledega, saving the town. He left his law office at 9 p.m. and was walking near the Elite Caf when an assailant shot him three times. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. The nine the teens and young men accused of raping two women aboard a train ranged in age from 13 to 20. On February 28, 1890, Richard Hawes was executed. Lincoln was assassinated four months later and Gayle was arrested in Alabama on May 25, 1865. ", (Source: Society for American Baseball Research), Edwin Alabama Pitts, pro baseball and football player, 1909-1941. "Alaska's Dirty Dozen," by Tom Brennan. "Jacob" Armstrong. Many famous murders in Alabama made headlines over the years. Mr. McMillian was an unlikely suspect. In addition, the major was erroneously credited as the man who wrote the bugle call played at military funerals, "Taps. Jonathan Myrick Daniels pushed her to the ground and was shot and killed in her place. She didn't believe her colleagues were really dead. She did not go into trances but instead read the grounds left in the bottoms of coffee cups. Half of the committee voted to hold off, citing an ongoing probe by the state attorney general's office.". 1898-1953. Charles Christopher Sheats was the Winston County representative at Alabama's 1861 secession convention leading up to the Civil War. She enjoys discovering new places and currently calls North Alabama home. Burrow escaped but as he ran through town, Carter spotted him and opened fire. Here's some of America's most notorious female criminals: 1. In recent news, there was a rise in the reward for the 1991 murder of Elizabeth Spence, who is one of the many unsolved murders Montgomery, Alabama. Krenwinkel fought extradition to Californiabut eventually returned to California to stand trial. According to Project: Cold Case, from 1980 to 2019 there were 20,003 homicides in Alabama alone, leaving 7,893 unsolved murders in Alabama. After the children were found chained at the bottom of Lakeview Lake a mob came to the jail for vigilante justice and 10 people were killed by deputies. He was buried in the Old Fellows Cemetery in Las Cruces, New Mexico. 1880-death unknown. The next day, the local butcher identified the body as May Hawes. According to Tuskegee University the purpose of the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male" was to find proven treatments for the disease. Initially, Robert Bruce Sims, born in 1839, seemed an unlikely outlaw. Burrow had been captured and taken to jail in Linden when he charmed the guards, asking for food. Rumors attributed other slayings to this violence-prone man who in 1867 had fled another county after killing his brother-in-law. Hal and three other slaves were killed and the others recaptured. Although she was never charged with the deaths of her husbands, she became known as the Black Widow of Hazel Green. John Wylie was brought to trial for the murders of Emma and Irene, but the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence. Jennifer is the Alabama staff writer for Only In Your State and has nearly 15 years of professional writing experience. There was no physical evidence that connected either sister to the crime. Willie Maxwell, the Alexander City man known as the Voodoo Preacher, claimed to be the"seventh son of the seventh son"and people seemed to die wherever he went. Kennedy. ", where he lived with Belle Starr and her gang, A General Betrayal: The Sufferings and Trials of Carlotta Frances Roddey", "Alabama's Outlaw Sheriff Stephen S. Renfroe. The body was laid out to the general public at the local funeral parlor in hopes that someone would be able to identify her. Click here to read more. She also reputedly killed three other husbands, two children, her mother, her two sisters, a grandson and a mother-in-law. According to a Journal of American History description of the book "Alabama's Outlaw Sheriff Stephen S. Renfroe," his two years as Sumter County sheriff were "followed by six years of bizarre activities as a fugitive from justice before being lynched in July 1886. . Get more stories delivered right to your email. When the rumors began to swirl about her numerous dead husbands, Elizabeth left for Mississippi and was never heard from again. He is best known for his Stand in the Schoolhouse Door when he blocked the entrance to the University of Alabama in an attempt to stop the enrollment of black students. So, to answer how many homicides in Alabama 2019 by looking at the state of Alabamas Uniform Crime Report (UCR), there were 430 homicides in 2019 alone. Click hereto read more. Engineer Richard Hawes, his wife, and two children were brutally murdered in the event that baffled people for years. She was riding with her husband, H.C. Price Jr., when the lights on their car suddenly stopped working and it careened over an embankment. Bill eluded them, hijacking a train car in the process. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. But he turned his life around and learned blacksmithing and silversmithing. into the stories you've heard before, and encounter many others you haven't, in ways that actually help. (An Associated Press photo of Earle Dennison leaving the courtroom), Earle Dennison, black widow killer, ca. Alabama is the only state whose anti-death penalty organization (Project Hope to Abolish the Death Penalty) was founded by death row inmates in 1989. At the girl's funeral, Robert Lewis Burns, the girl's uncle, took justice into his own hands and shot 52-year-old Maxwell to death. The case was an immediate sensation. He didnt want May murdered. Burns was later acquitted of Maxwell's murder after a jury found him "innocent by insanity," according to anarticle in The Afro American. Sheats and many in Winston County opposed secession and declared the county neutral during the war. She was arrested, put on trial, and denied by Roddey. While some might assume the creepiest place is the site of a famous murder in Alabama, its actually much different. After draining the lake, Irene's body was discovered. The outlaw brothers were executed on Nov. 18, 1859, for murder: Irvin and Stephen Ward were hung for the murder of Allen Page during a failed cotton wagon robbery near Brewer Creek in Conecuh County, Ala. A posse caught the brothers, who confessed." Phillip Henry Pitts, builder of Pitts Folly, ca. These murders resulted in a delay riot that quickly garnered media attention across the country. He was captured a few days later and killed by Murdoch M. Fountain, who was named sheriff. Lackey was sentenced to death on April 3, 2008, and was later executed in Alabama by lethal injection on July 25, 2013. By the time he donated his collection to the Alabama Department of Archives and History in 1937, he'd amassed more than 50,000 native artifacts from surrounding counties, including jewels from a long-dead Indian princess, according to a 1928 Associated Press article published in thePrescott, AZ, Evening Courier. In the 1910s, a religious sectwas formed in Limestone County by the Rev. Even today, relatives of the Anglins claim to have evidence the brothers survived. Siebert died on April 22, 2008 in Holman Prison near Atmore of complications from cancer. "Carpenter, a southerner, became a feared terrorist during the Civil War. Then suddenly the truth was revealed. $15.95. In 1987, Hilley escaped from the prison after being given a 3-day pass to visit her new husband. A former Playboy and Maxim model entered a plea deal this week in the death of a 71-year-old psychiatrist who paid her $3,200 per-month rent until he abruptly stopped in 2018. However, political and business figures from any generation were fair game. (Source: Reita Jones via Encyclopedia of Alabama), Christopher Sheats, declared neutrality in Civil War, ca. You'll receive your first newsletter soon! Hawes was charged with all three murders, but the trial focused on May's murder. Doctors of the Tuskegee Experiment, Dr. Taliaferro Clark, 1867-1948, Dr. Eugene H. Dibble, 1893-1968. Audrey Elaine Reed Ferguson, 1978 Audrey Elaine Reed Ferguson went to a coin laundry near her home in Prichard on the night of September 5, 1978. The people of Florence dedicated a memorial plaque to mark the grave, the inscription of which reads, in part: "The notorious outlaw gang leader who boasted that no one would ever run over Tom Clark lies buried near the center of Tennessee Street where now all who pass by do run over him. Born in 1853 to a circuit-riding preacher in Texas, Hardin would kill his first of an estimated twenty-seven men when he was fifteen years old, according to the book "Alabama Scoundrels: Outlaws, Pirates, Bandits and Bushwhackers." Get more stories delivered right to your email. Robert Bentley signed an official pardon for the nine young men wrongfully accused of rape in 1931. Murder of Judge Edward Aaron - Birmingham, Alabama 1957. Don Noble's newest book is "Alabama Noir," a collection of original stories by Winston Groom, Ace Atkins, Carolyn Haines, Brad Watson, and eleven other Alabama authors. While frightening in its fervor, the collection is an example of folk art at its most primitive. In May of 1992, Betty Wilson and her twin sister, Peggy Lowe, were arrested and tried for hiring James White to kill Betty's wealthy, well-known husband, Dr. Jack Wilson, an eye surgeon in Huntsville, Alabama. Blackwood sentenced Wilson to life in prison. Cagle died of a heart attack in 1938 and was buried in a 3-foot-wide casket in Thrasher Cemetery. Dr. Wilson had planned a trip to Santa Fe to help their marriage, but the night before they were to leave on their trip, Betty found her husband clubbed to death. Reuben Houston Burrow was fascinated by tales of Jesse James and his gang of outlaws. Other famous murders in Alabama include mass murders, including the 2009 Geneva County Massacre and the 1963 Baptist Church Bombing. Why would he want to kill his family? Her crimes were committed in four states from the 1920s-1953. If they refused, they were killed. If anyone has more information, email kkazek@al.com. Marshall Herff Applewhite came to teach chorale students at the University of Alabama in 1961. In 2016, there were around 30 murders in Montgomery, Alabama, alone. On July 8, 1918, Alabama Gov. These Alabama unsolved murders and kidnappings date back to the 1970s, leaving their families little hope for current media attention. What was strange about this situation is that while many people believed Richard and Emma were married, others claim Richard was divorced and traveled to Columbus, Mississippi to remarry. Walter Cagle was a large man who lived in an isolated area atop Sand Mountain and gained a reputation for being able to foretell the weather. According to the Hawes housekeeper, the weekend before Mays body was discovered, she saw Richard and May assist Emma with packing. After making restitution and serving a period of probation, he was pardoned by the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles in 1998. He also passed a state bank holiday in March 1933, eight days before Franklin D. Roosevelt declared a national bank holiday as his greatest achievement. (Memorial to Selocta/Photo by Wrong Way Dave via FindaGrave.com), Selocta Chinnabee, Indian general, birth unknown-1835. The monument was inscribed: Erected by Pink Parker in honor of John Wilkes Booth for killing Old Abe Lincoln. After town officials refused his gift, Pink placed the marker in the yard of his Madison S.y. These murders resulted in a deadly riot and "The Magic City" soon gained national media attention. The sixth woman was also held captive but managed to survive. Many witnesses came forward claiming Betty wished her husband was dead. Today, Rudolph remains in the ADX Florence Supermax federal prison in Colorado. People were paying as much as $200 for tickets to watch the execution. As a cowboy in Texas in 1876, he killed a fellow buffalo hunter but was never prosecuted. Rhonda Bell Martin of Montgomery was executed in 1957 in Alabama's electric chair after confessing to killing her mother, two of her husbands and three of her children with arsenic, reportedly for the insurance money. Marshall Herff Applewhite, cult leader, 1931-1997. Injured were James Finney and Bob Patterson. On December 7, 1888, Mayes Hawes admitted that Richard told her he was divorced and only had one son, Willie. If youre interested in learning more about the horrific history of all murders in Alabama, you can find lists just by searching list of murders in Alabama or list of Alabama murders. If youre interested in learning more about famous murders, a simple search of Alabama famous murders will find you the results youre looking for. Ragsdale lived in Tuscaloosa's upscale Highlands neighborhood, and to this date, no suspect has been identified in the case. it was little wonder that the runaway slaves were not found" Eventually white settlers attacked and were "stunned to find the cabin and a stockade of cypress logs." Hart was raised 2 miles from Camp Scott. He was also Alabamas only first gentleman his wife Lurleen Wallace was governor from 1967-68. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. He was captured in 2003, and on August 24, 2005, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole - four consecutive life sentences plus 120 years. (Carter's gravesite via Iris Plowman/FindaGrave.com), Jefferson Davis Carter, merchant and outlaw killer, 1860-1920. Bobby Frank Cherry, born in Clanton, Ala., was a member of the Ku Klux Klan who was charged with murder in 2000, 37 years after a church bombing that killed four little girls. Read on to find out the true story behind the Hawes murders. Alberta Stewart was 21 years old when she married 81-year-old Civil War veteran William Jasper Martin on Dec. 10, 1927. Newman then grabbed his own gun and shot Lackey. Sequoyah, who lived in later life in DeKalb County, is known for inventing a syllabary in 1821, making it possible for the Cherokee to read and write. According to the article "The Life and Work of Sequoyah," by John B. Davis, Sequoyah drank heavily and spent all his money on liquor. Crime: Found guilty of killing six men between the years of 1989-1990. Today, a monument of a soldier with both U.S. and Confederate flags honors the county's dual history. These categories include assault, murder, rape, and robbery. He would guess their ages and vocations and was usually correct. 1868. After his release he petitioned to play pro baseball and eventually played for the Albany Senators. Derrick Dearman, 27, is charged with six counts of capital murder in the Saturday-morning deaths in Citronelle. Lyons survived, but lost her eyesight and received chronic injuries. Buy newspaper front pages, posters and more. Read all the AL.com coverage of the Bentley scandal here. The victims were identified as Jerome Maurice. Learn more about old Alabama insurance laws and women who used arsenic in this article. While he was in jail, he admitted to a guard that he paid John Wylie to commit the murders and then he decided to intoxicate May and drown her at East Lake Park because he was afraid she'd tell what he did to her mother and younger sister. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. 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