Twenty-five years of her life are gone. "I went to visit him in the nursing home before he died and he said he wasn't afraid to die and he couldn't wait to see Carrie," Kubiszyn said. A woman who has been in prison for more than 30 years in the kidnapping of a young Jasper lawyer, whose body has never been found, has again been denied parole. "No matter what deck of cards life deals you, no matter how bad it is, you can overcome that. Court records don't include a defense attorney who could speak on behalf of Whited on the murder charge, but he already was awaiting trial on a methamphetamine charge with his trial scheduled for May. Ierardi was a known associate of Stephen The Rifleman Flemmi, the second-in-command of the Winter Hill Gang and a close friend of James Whitey Bulger. I honestly believe the trauma exacerbated my mother's Alzheimer's, and it certainly broke all of our hearts," Kubiszyn said. I always felt like he had this deep-seated feeling that he failed Carrie because he couldn't protect her," she said. One of the voices was determined to be Jerry Bland, and the other McPherson. The case file on Brown remains what it . After asking Senac to retrieve $5,000 from the bowling alleys safe, the gunmen shot all four several times. Here is a brief summary of some of the murders which have occurred in Jasper and Newton County in the last quarter of a century. Cold Case e-mail: coldcasetips@AlabamaAG.gov. The Meeks were tenants on land owned by the Taylors. The FBI took heavy criticism for its handling of the case. Others suggested that drug addicts had killed the Dardeen family in order to hock their possessions for drug money. She was also Bland's cousin by marriage, and the two were close. var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999); "And her lawyers called that night and said she was taking her story back. Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber. 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The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local. At first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary to the housewife. If you know anything about these persons, or their last known locations, please call 205-302-6464. They were saying something about exculpatory evidence that needed to be cleared up. She even managed to put away her groceries before she was attacked. Use at your own risk. Higher means more crime, U.S. average is 270.6. The potential suspect was described to then-Homicide Unit Commander Capt. Other clues at the crime scene included the position of the bodies. Last updated January 26, 2023. Click here to create a free account which will allow access to 5 stories every 30 days. Upon further investigation, the employee found $500 missing, along with four other employees. Shorter, AL. (Associated Press). But in the early morning hours of Oct. 13, a gunshot split the quiet night outside of a now-closed Tuscaloosa bar and left a young man bleeding on the pavement with a bullet in his head. They were able to tentatively identify him by his voice after releasing audiotapes of his ransom demands. if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write ("&exclude=" + document.MAX_used); The Irish pub, which was located downtown, was known to have a rather rough reputation. "I have four sisters-in-law and I'm close with them, but missing a sister is so difficult. "I knew, and I guess that I was overly hopeful, that the minute I got back to my house, the word is going to be that he released her and we'd find her," he said. McPhersons cousin, Jerry Bland, was identified as the main suspect and committed suicide as lawmen surrounded his home. Then he had to call Carrie's parents, David and Harriett Smith, in Tennessee. "The FBI was taping the call, but the tape recorder was turned off," Kubiszyn said. "Most of those people didn't know us at all," he said. Jones claimed. In fact, investigators later found that Christines shoes were coated in blood that did not belong to her. The third victim was identified as 27-year-old James Barker. You'd go to location A, and then he'd call you on that payphone and tell you to go to location B, which might be 20 miles down the road," Lawson said. When she entered the salon, she first saw the corpse of 62-year-old Dorothy Harris. [3] The unidentified killer used duct tape to tie up his victims before shooting them execution-style. Another Texas serial killer, Tommy Lynn Sells, confessed to the crime in 2000, but over the years, his story repeatedly changed. If mistakes were made, it wasn't because of a lack of effort. Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. All Rights Reserved. If you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one. All of these clues would be wasted during the initial investigation, which is blamed by contemporary law enforcement for failing to follow up on solid leads and outright ignoring pieces of evidence. The day the FBI pulled off the case, and out of Lawson's house, he found himself sitting in total darkness while he waited for a friend to come pick him up. The man who killed Carrie himself is dead, Frank Lancaster, McPhersons brother and the oldest of the five Lancaster children said in 2016. If you would like to buy one, you can reach Mitchell at (843) 683-0568, or on Facebook at Charles Mitchell. If you have any information on an unsolved murder, you can make an anonymous phone call to the LowcountryCrimeStoppers at 843-554-1111. Looks like they had a party. Mobile County Sheriffs Office Capt. The WCSO currently has two Cold Case investigators that work 40+ hours a week solely on cold cases. Then, when the police arrived, they found two more bodies in the utility room at the back of the store. It was kind of crazy.". When Lawson Sr. arrived at the site, however, there were about five police cars there totally unconnected to the kidnapping case, purely a coincidence. The case. "I was convinced as soon as we got him the money, we were going to get Carrie back and nail this bastard," Lawson said. The 2001 murder of Sherwin Gittens and the 1988 murder of Malakia Logan, as well as a handful of strange disappearances and abductions, including the 1985 disappearance of Jeremy Grice, the 1986 abduction of Jessica Gutierrez, and the 2011 disappearance of Amir Jennings, are just a few of the most infamous South Carolina murders and HARDEEVILLE, Sc. Jones claimed to have killed 21 women in five states in 12 years, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported in 2005. We were supported by thousands of people who didn't even know us, and that's one reason we've been able to move on. That doesn't make any sense. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? They were still missing a definitive link, until a cassette tape was found -- reportedly by a young boy at an apartment complex who turned them over to his father -- that had recordings of plans to kidnap Jasper businessman and coal executive Ellis Taylor. Karen McPherson, now 60, is. His penis had also been removed. November 20, 2020 / 6:33 AM / AP. Harris was found in the front room in a pool of her own blood. Jones recanted his confession and police found no evidence to link Jones to her murder, but have never eliminated him as a suspect. Carrie was declared legally dead two years after her disappearance. Cold Case toll-free hotline number: (866) 419-1236. Jones was also implicated in the deaths of Amanda Greenwell, 16, of Douglasville, Ga. and Katherine Collins, 45, a New Orleans sex worker. Kubiszyn was on a business trip in Cincinnati. [10] Keiths body would not be found until the next day. Alabama Department of Corrections lists McPherson as being in a Birmingham work release program. In 2000, the Smiths met with FBI agents and pleaded with them to reopen the case, but were told all leads had been exhausted. Over the years, weve added more names because unfortunately, weve lost more people, he said. The WCSO currently has two Cold Case investigators that work 40+ hours a week solely on cold cases. A popular theory has it that ex-cons Perry Smith and Dick Hickock, the main villains in Truman Capotes In Cold Blood, actually carried out the murders. Carrie's parents took up residence in a Jasper motel. Kubiszyn said Carrie was the bright light in their family. Despite being caught off guard by her attackers, Christine managed to fight back. Upon further investigation, the employee found $500 missing, along with four other employees. The strip mall, which was located on the northwestern edge of the city, included a yogurt shop with the witty name, I Cant Believe Its Yogurt! The firefighters managed to put out the blaze, but what they found inside necessitated the involvement of the Austin Police Department. These cases are solvable, but we need your help. The murder was the latest in a violent year for Tuscaloosa, marking the ninth homicide investigated by the multi-agency unit in 1996. Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site. Sells was executed in 2014. Christmas 1959 was supposed to follow this tradition. Bland left behind a suicide note of which the full contents have never been released. The sixth woman was also held captive but managed to survive. Get the Android Weather app from Google Play, Gallery: Habitat for Humanitys Three House Dedications, Georgia lawmakers hope to prevent gun violence, Man accused of killing 66-year-old enters not guilty, St. Patricks Day shuttle: Tanger Outlets to Savannah, Storm Team 3 Storm Tracker with Your Local Ford Dealers, Kaleidoscope Circus free and open to the public. But it wasn't one of our shining successes. (Ron Colquitt). This was due in part to the case of Detective Hector Polanco, who was investigated for coercing 13 false confessions. The note, however, left no clues on Carrie's whereabouts. Given the personal nature of these stolen items, investigators theorized that the killer or killers had known the Walkers, and given that Christine had been raped, it was likely that she was the main target.[2]. Copyright 2019 WSFA 12 News. The newborn girl was pulled into the world and then summarily beaten to death. For a time, Illinois investigators suspected serial killer Angel Maturino Resendiz, a Mexican-born and Texas-based transient who was arrested in 1999. There is talk among both departments of forming a special cold case unit. "Detectives met with Whited who reenacted the crime to detectives and provided corroborated information about the murder," the statement said. I've got a rifle pointed at your head. My uncle lived in Nebraska. During the wait, Bland killed himself. They rushed to the car, and it began. The couple got dressed and jumped into their Ford Explorer parked in the carport. The FBI, usually tight-lipped, staunchly defended their actions in an interview with The Birmingham News. The source material for author Beth Lowrys 2016 true crime book Who Killed These Girls?, the yogurt shop murders continue to haunt the citizens of the Lone Star State. The woman claimed to be a nurse at Walker Regional Medical Center. The murders were carried out for a variety of apparent reasons, ranging from greed to bloodlust. The victims included 34-year-old manager Stephanie Senac, who was in her office with her 12-year-old daughter Melissa Repass, and 13-year-old babysitter Amy Houser. Years later, in 2000, the daughter of a man named Fred Harbison told the local media that her father had written a deathbed confession claiming to have carried out the triple homicide as part of a contract killing drawn up by Uland.[8]. Johnny Swinten, Vietnam Vet. Then they got in my car and they left.". These rumors provided investigators with their first major theory. Let's just arrest him on a drug charge, get him in jail.' Lawson left the money at the payphone, as directed, and drove off. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. It turned out to be anything but cut-and-dry. "Thousands of people sympathized, empathized with their family. With no football fans or tourists in town, the cool but clear fall weekend had been a relatively uneventful one for Tuscaloosa. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. It's a case that people still talk about. Jump to a detailed profile, search site with google or try advanced search. The numbers are only getting. Benjamin Welton is a West Virginia native currently living in Boston. A ransom demand was made, and paid, but Carrie Lawson was never found. There were psychics, and more inmates looking for a way out of lockup for a day, but never any success in finding Carrie's remains. Police even managed to obtain the killers voice on the emergency phone call. I think probably in the last 10 years, he's more resigned to the fact that we probably won't find her, but if anybody calls him and says they know something, he's going to follow up on it. Now. Investigators found that Glenna, John, and Dana had been bound with white medical tape and appliance wire, and all three had suffered stab wounds along with being bludgeoned and strangled. Lawson has since remarried, has three children and continues to work as an attorney. This quick thinking saved the young girls life, and, for a time, it saved her mothers life as well. "We all went to bed that night thinking they were going to arrest him then," Kubiszyn said. I remember someone saying he could kill himself.". Furthermore, on February 11, 2008, a composite sketch of the killer was released showing a young black male with tight and thick cornrows. The victims hands were bound, and their throats had been so deeply slit that they had all nearly been decapitated. Tragically, school shootings, terrorist attacks, and random acts of violence are all too common in the United States. You lose your future, and also your connection to the past.". 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The cover of "Facing September," a murder mystery based on the case of Kelly Lynn Albright's murder. The only tangible evidence is a composite sketch released in 1990 which shows two middle-aged black or Hispanic males with mustaches. Please note in order for the office to follow up on any information . If the case was easily solved, it would have not gone cold. Glenna and Tina Sharp would suffer the same fate, although Tinas skeletal remains would not be found until years later. And it still, in some ways, marks Walker County. What's more, another witness in the parking lot informed police at the time of the shooting that they saw a white man wearing black clothing run behind the lounge immediately after the shot rang out. "It was amazing to watch. The murder of the 38-year-old mother is profiled in an episode of Netflixs reboot of the classic Unsolved Mysteries that points to Alabama Death Row inmate Jeremy Bryan Jones as a possible suspect. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Read about more disturbing unsolved murders on 10 Unsolved Murders Linked To Organized Crime and 10 Unsolved Murders With Strange Links To The Occult. The most recent in May 2017 Jamol Horton who was shot and killed in his home in Ridgleand. Home; News; Sports; Extras; Walker Magazine; Subscribe; He drove away with Carrie as Lawson assured himself she would be OK. She had to be OK. "Back in 1991, nobody got kidnapped. The murders shocked the area and although the . Twenty-four-year-old Robert Bruce Springsteen and 25-year-old Michael James Scott were the only two to go to trial, and both men were convicted on flimsy DNA evidence. `` i have four sisters-in-law and i 'm close with them, but need... Were able to tentatively identify him by his voice after releasing audiotapes of his ransom demands four other employees the. 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