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Speaker 1: Hi there, I'm Steve Fishman from Orbit Media and I've

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Speaker 1: got a goodie for you. Today we're dropping the first

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Speaker 1: episode of ear Witness, which is a favorite podcast of

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Speaker 1: mine from our friends at Lava for Good. They released

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Speaker 1: it in twenty twenty three and it didn't get enough attention,

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Speaker 1: so luckily they're re releasing it in their Bone Valley feed. Personally,

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Speaker 1: I think this podcast will rile you. It riled me.

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Speaker 1: It's the story of Tafarest Johnson, a man who was

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Speaker 1: wrongfully convicted for murder in Alabama and is still on

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Speaker 1: death row. There weren't any eyewitnesses, no physical evidence to

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Speaker 1: forrest had ten witnesses who put him at some place

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Speaker 1: other than the scene of the crime. The state tried

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Speaker 1: to convict a different man for the same crime. Maybe

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Speaker 1: most disturbing of all is that his conviction relied on

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Speaker 1: an ear witness that's the name. This was a woman

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Speaker 1: who claimed to have evesdropped on an incriminating phone call,

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Speaker 1: a woman whom prosecutors paid for her testimony in secret,

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Speaker 1: a secret they never revealed. Fans of the Burden and

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Speaker 1: Empire and Blood will love this story. All eight episodes

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Speaker 1: of ear Witness are available now wherever you get your podcasts. Enjoy.

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Speaker 2: This is quite a wall here. Oh, these are some

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Speaker 2: great photos.

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Speaker 3: That's Jimmy Carter enough me, uh huh, yes, me and

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Speaker 3: Lorena Lynn.

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Speaker 4: How did this come about? She was given a.

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Speaker 3: Concert in burmah Allen carrying me backstage to leader.

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Speaker 5: Look at this suit that you have on. Maybe you've

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Speaker 5: never heard of Bill Baxley, but here in Alabama he's

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Speaker 5: a big deal.

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Speaker 6: Oh.

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Speaker 7: Wow.

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Speaker 5: Baxley is eighty two, slightly balding, with silver hair and eyebrows.

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Speaker 5: In the pictures he's showing me on the wall of

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Speaker 5: his office. I see him looking younger. His hair is dark,

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Speaker 5: and he's standing with famous musicians and politicians.

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Speaker 3: As my dad, I sweared me in for my first term.

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Speaker 8: Wow.

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Speaker 5: Baxley was elected as Alabama's Attorney general when he was

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Speaker 5: just twenty eight years old. He later served as lieutenant governor,

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Speaker 5: and he's still practicing law today. During his career, Baxley

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Speaker 5: prosecuted hundreds of cases and sent three people to Alabama's

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Speaker 5: death row.

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Speaker 3: There are some crimes that are so wrong and so

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Speaker 3: horrible that they only deserve one punishment.

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Speaker 5: He's a lifelong defender of the death penalty. A true believer,

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Speaker 5: like when the US Supreme Court outlawed the death penalty

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Speaker 5: in the nineteen seventies, Baxley worked hard to bring executions

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Speaker 5: back to Alabama. He's that kind of true believer. So

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Speaker 5: it's not surprising that Baxley was skeptical when his son,

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Speaker 5: who's also an attorney, asked his dad to look over

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Speaker 5: a case because he believed an innocent man was on

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Speaker 5: death row.

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Speaker 3: Over the course of my long career, I've had dozens

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Speaker 3: and dozens of answerces were these I'll call them do gooders,

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Speaker 3: but they are. They're good people. They take up there's

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Speaker 3: causes of people that have been sentenced to death, and

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Speaker 3: they get interested in trying to help them, and they

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Speaker 3: all think they're always innocent.

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Speaker 5: Baxley didn't even glance at the case file until weeks later.

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Speaker 5: On an icy winter morning, it was too slippery to

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Speaker 5: walk down the driveway and grab the newspaper, so he

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Speaker 5: picked up the file that his son sent him and

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Speaker 5: began reading about a black man named to Forrest Johnson,

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Speaker 5: who was sentenced to death for killing a shareff's deputy.

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Speaker 3: I mean mid morning, I couldn't believe what I was reading.

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Speaker 3: I wouldn't have believed that something like this could have happened.

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Speaker 5: What was so unbelievable about it?

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Speaker 3: Everything? Everything. I don't know how the guy got indicted,

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Speaker 3: how they got I didn't see how the jury convicted him.

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Speaker 3: I would have never believed that that could have happened

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Speaker 3: in Alabama, no question in my mind. This guy was

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Speaker 3: not guilty of this crime, and I couldn't comprehend how

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Speaker 3: this could happen.

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Speaker 5: There's only one other case where Basley thought the defendants

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Speaker 5: were innocent, and that case is almost one hundred years old.

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Speaker 5: So what is it about this case to Forrest's case

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Speaker 5: that convinced Basley that Alabama is trying to execute an

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Speaker 5: innocent man?

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Speaker 3: If it's a unique absurdity that I've never sleen before,

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Speaker 3: it's too late to give him back all those years

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Speaker 3: he's been on death road, but it's not too late

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Speaker 3: to correct it today and get him out for the future.

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Speaker 3: It's wrong that it's gone this long. It is still

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Speaker 3: not too late to correct.

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Speaker 5: My name is Beth Shelburne. Like Bill Baxley, I was

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Speaker 5: born and raised in Alabama. I grew up about a

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Speaker 5: mile away from where the crime at the center of

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Speaker 5: this story took place. I'm a journalist and writer, and

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Speaker 5: for the last three years, I've been investigating the case

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Speaker 5: that rocked Bill Baxley's world. The story begins on a

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Speaker 5: hot July night in nineteen ninety five. It unfolds in

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Speaker 5: two places at once, the Crown Sterling Sweet's Hotel and

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Speaker 5: a nightclub that's almost four miles away called Tea's Place.

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Speaker 5: By the end of the night, one man will be

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Speaker 5: shot dead and two others will encounter someone who will

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Speaker 5: put them at the center of the murder investigation to

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Speaker 5: Forrest Johnson is still on death row and he's running

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Speaker 5: out of time.

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Speaker 9: M do you heed my man?

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Speaker 10: Laughter?

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Speaker 11: Haads?

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Speaker 4: My fe.

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Speaker 10: Souls save bly is in this bad of tears? I

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Speaker 10: want to see revelation. I want to know who you are,

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Speaker 10: am reation in this inspiration to the Who's holding stand,

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Speaker 10: to the Who's holding Stand.

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Speaker 5: I'm Beth Shelburne. This is ear Witness, Chapter one, behind

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Speaker 5: the Crown a Lot.

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Speaker 8: Yes, ma'am, this is very calling from Crown Sterling Sweet

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Speaker 8: Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama. I'm calling because I've had several

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Speaker 8: guests report what appears on the windows who have been

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Speaker 8: two gunshots and people running in the parking lot.

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Speaker 5: It's twelve fifty five am on July nineteenth, nineteen ninety five.

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Speaker 4: It's twenty three critch flight.

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Speaker 8: That is correct. I have security on the premises, which

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Speaker 8: is ship of the County Police. But I'm calling you

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Speaker 8: because I want to make sure that the Birmingham Police arrive.

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Speaker 8: Please all right, we'll get the one out, thank you

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Speaker 8: very much.

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Speaker 4: All right.

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Speaker 5: The Crown Sterling Suites Hotel was a nine story building

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Speaker 5: in Birmingham. Today, the hotel is an embassy suites. Inside

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Speaker 5: the main entrance of the hotel, there's a pale tiled

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Speaker 5: walkway that leads through the lobby. The front desk is

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Speaker 5: to the left, but keep walking past it and you

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Speaker 5: enter a huge atrium, an open space surrounded by windows

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Speaker 5: with an indoor garden of leafy green plants and trees.

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Speaker 5: The tiled walkway leads to a koi pond with a

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Speaker 5: fountain at the center. It's lush and humid inside, but

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Speaker 5: despite all the windows, the field is dim and moody.

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Speaker 5: Keep walking past the koi pond and there's a short

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Speaker 5: hallway that leads to the hotel's back parking lot. It

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Speaker 5: was here outside the double doors of the Crown Sterling

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Speaker 5: Suite's hotel, where a deputy sheriff was killed. No one

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Speaker 5: saw the murder, but a few people heard gunshots.

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Speaker 12: I remember hearing popping noises from the distance.

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Speaker 5: Barry Rushikov was working at the front desk when he

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Speaker 5: made made that nine to one one call.

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Speaker 12: When I heard it, I believe that's when I tried

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Speaker 12: to call Officer Hardy on the radio with no response.

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Speaker 5: Officer William Hardy, who went by Bill, had been a

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Speaker 5: deputy with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office for twenty three years.

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Speaker 5: He was also a security guard at the hotel, where

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Speaker 5: he worked the night shift to make extra money. Hardy

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Speaker 5: was five foot ten, had a thin mustache, and wore

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Speaker 5: his hair in a Jerry curl. He was known to

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Speaker 5: be easy going and friendly. When Deputy Hardy wasn't making

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Speaker 5: hotel security rounds, Barry usually saw him wearing his brown

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Speaker 5: and tan deputy uniform, sitting at one of the tables

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Speaker 5: in the hotel's atrium, smoking more brand menthol cigarettes and

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Speaker 5: drinking coffee.

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Speaker 12: You know, when I worked there, and when I was

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Speaker 12: working nights, it was me, you know, Officer Hardy or

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Speaker 12: whatever officer on duty, and or we would sometime have

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Speaker 12: a house who is cleaning floors or something, but very

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Speaker 12: minimal group, and I never felt unsafe.

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Speaker 5: Barry wasn't the only person to hear the popping noises.

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Speaker 5: A few guests at the hotel also heard gunshots, including

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Speaker 5: Marshall Kelly Cummings, a guest in a fourth floor room

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Speaker 5: directly above the hotel's back exit.

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Speaker 13: David, I can remember like it was yesterday now as

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Speaker 13: far as the details.

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Speaker 5: As I worked on this project, I started referring to

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Speaker 5: Cummings as the Keebler cookie guy, because in nineteen ninety

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Speaker 5: five he worked for Keebler as a truck driver.

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Speaker 13: When I was with Keebler driving Wonder step Lands and

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Speaker 13: delivering cookies and crackers and stuff.

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Speaker 5: And Cummings was staying at the Crown Sterling for a

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Speaker 5: company training. After the workday was over, he drank a

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Speaker 5: few beers at the hotel bar with some coworkers, and

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Speaker 5: then he and the other Keepler employee he was rooming

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Speaker 5: with turned in between ten and eleven PM. But Cummings

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Speaker 5: was not asleep for long.

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Speaker 13: But it just I woke up and it was I

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Speaker 13: kept hearing somebody talk kind of talk.

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Speaker 5: So you heard some voices and it sounded like they

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Speaker 5: were arguing or not.

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Speaker 13: Really bad, but they.

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Speaker 2: Were having a conversation.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, it was male voices.

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Speaker 13: Yeah. Well they quit arguing and then I didn't hear anything.

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Speaker 13: So I laid back down. And it probably wasn't twenty seconds,

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Speaker 13: thirty seconds, forty five.

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Speaker 14: I'm out.

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Speaker 13: I didn't count boom, small caliber gun. They won a

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Speaker 13: big caliber and all of a sudden, a few secons

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Speaker 13: of a boom about the second time I saw it, Ben,

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Speaker 13: that was a.

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Speaker 5: Gun, he remembers, turning to the coworker he was sharing

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Speaker 5: a room with and.

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Speaker 13: I said, you hear that? He says, yeah. So I

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Speaker 13: stood up and opened the blind to get my eyes

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Speaker 13: fixed because it was dark. Then they had the lights, and.

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Speaker 5: The lights directly beneath his window. Cummings sees a four

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Speaker 5: door car it's dark copper or light brown with a

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Speaker 5: vinyl top, parked facing the hotel's back double doors. He

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Speaker 5: sees a tall person get into the driver's side of

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Speaker 5: the car, close the door, and slowly pull away with

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Speaker 5: the headlights off.

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Speaker 13: And so I called down to the front desk. I said, hey,

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Speaker 13: there's men shots fired. I heard I did you hear that?

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Speaker 12: I believe I got a phone call from someone in

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Speaker 12: the room saying they heard gunshots.

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Speaker 5: So Barry makes that initial nine to one one call,

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Speaker 5: hangs up, and decides to investigate it.

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Speaker 12: Jumped over the counter to walk back, and I was

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Speaker 12: walked back. I saw Offsta Hardy's radio.

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Speaker 5: Barry sees Deputy Hardy's radio on a table in the

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Speaker 5: hotel's atrium, and right next to it his cigarette still

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Speaker 5: burning in an ash tray. Meanwhile, back on the fourth floor,

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Speaker 5: Marshall Kelly Cummings hangs up the phone with Barry and

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Speaker 5: goes back to the window.

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Speaker 13: And I kept looking, and I kept looking. Finally my

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Speaker 13: eyes got where I could see, and I looked down.

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Speaker 13: I could see him laying on the ground.

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Speaker 3: I went, oh, no, this ain't good.

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Speaker 5: Cummings spots a body on the ground and realizes someone

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Speaker 5: has been badly hurt. It's right around this time Barry

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Speaker 5: makes the same terrible discovery.

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Speaker 12: There's a hallway that went to the door that went

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Speaker 12: back out to the back parking lot. As I turned

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Speaker 12: the corner to go down that hallway and I looked

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Speaker 12: out the door in the distance, I saw Offsta Hardy

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Speaker 12: on the ground. That's when I ran back to the

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Speaker 12: front desk, made an emergency phone call to the police.

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Speaker 8: Yes, man, it's a very cross again and I have

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Speaker 8: a pit what appears to be a.

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Speaker 4: Go to the county police officer shot.

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Speaker 8: In the back of our ability. He ends that moving

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Speaker 8: people in.

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Speaker 4: The car drove away and he's lying on the on

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Speaker 4: the pavement. I'm a little afraid to go. Yes, he

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Speaker 4: is a Birmingham police out Jefferson County. He is a

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Speaker 4: hired night time security for us. Right, do you know

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Speaker 4: if you can.

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Speaker 15: Sign out anything like if you breathe?

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Speaker 8: I protesting how much flood I'm trying, man, my my promise.

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Speaker 8: I don't know if the people are still out there.

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Speaker 4: Okay, we we should be that Charlotte, you say much.

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Speaker 8: I'm gonna go back. Okay, thank you.

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Speaker 4: Jess County Debut has been shot on the back entrance

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Speaker 4: of the hotel clown show Sweet. It is one of

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Speaker 4: us and we are they have got one down who

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Speaker 4: has been shot and it looks too bad. Three three two?

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Speaker 4: Do we have any information? Do we have anything?

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Speaker 10: No?

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Speaker 4: Nice afect anything.

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Speaker 5: After he makes the second nine to one one call,

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Speaker 5: Barry walks down the hallway to the back parking lot,

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Speaker 5: and then I went back out the office.

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Speaker 12: Already he was not a good condition. He did have

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Speaker 12: a wound to his face. He was making a gurgling,

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Speaker 12: gasping noise.

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Speaker 3: You know, he was not conscious.

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Speaker 12: I believe I took my jacket off, my uniform jacket off,

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Speaker 12: to try to cover him, or put under his head,

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Speaker 12: or try to comfort him. But fortunately officers arrived so

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Speaker 12: quickly and I was removed from that area immediately.

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Speaker 5: More than a dozen officers from four different agencies arrive

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Speaker 5: at the hotel. One of them is Detective Tony Richardson,

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Speaker 5: who says he'd known Deputy Hardy since he first started

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Speaker 5: working for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office in nineteen seventy eight.

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Speaker 16: Being black and Bill being black, naturally I noticed him.

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Speaker 16: I was told more than once to get a haircut.

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Speaker 16: That you know, to be a deputy sheriff, you gotta

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Speaker 16: have your haircut. So the reason I mentioned that is

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Speaker 16: because from the first day that I ever saw him,

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Speaker 16: his hair was out.

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Speaker 17: To hear big afro, big afro, and he would put

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Speaker 17: on his hat. He wore that hat religiously everybody else's.

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Speaker 17: The shaff's office hated those hats. They didn't want to wear,

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Speaker 17: you know, but he always wore his hat.

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Speaker 5: Deputy Hardy often wore his traditional broad brimmed tan smoky

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Speaker 5: the bear style sheriff's hat. It was later entered as

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Speaker 5: evidence from the rhyme see with a bullet hole through

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Speaker 5: the brim, and he.

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Speaker 14: Would have it on his head and all that hair

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Speaker 14: would be on the side would be out here, And

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Speaker 14: I'm like, who is this guy? How can he get

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Speaker 14: away with that? And not only that, he is in

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Speaker 14: the Sheriff's office. How can he get away with that?

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Speaker 14: So I was in treat by him, fascinated by him,

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Speaker 14: but I was scared of him.

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Speaker 16: I was scared to meet him because I thought, of

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Speaker 16: my mind, this guy's got to be crazy, you know

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Speaker 16: who to do that and get away with it. He's

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Speaker 16: got to be crazy. I was scared of him.

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Speaker 9: But anyway, when I first met him, I met him

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Speaker 9: and talked to him.

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Speaker 16: He started to.

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Speaker 9: Feel better about well. I started to feel better about him.

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Speaker 16: We were never just bullsom buddies real close, but we

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Speaker 16: were close and we knew each other.

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Speaker 5: Tony Richardson and Bill Hardy had been colleagues at the

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Speaker 5: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office for seventeen years. He remembers the

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Speaker 5: last time he saw Hardy alive.

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Speaker 16: The last day I saw Bill, my brother and I

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Speaker 16: My brother would put a sheriff's office also, and we

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Speaker 16: were standing there smoking and Bill drove out the alley

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Speaker 16: and he was pulling up twenty second and he stopped

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Speaker 16: in the road and he started to talk to us,

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Speaker 16: and he said, Hey, guys, how y'all doing loan me

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Speaker 16: some money. It's just you know, stuff like that. And

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Speaker 16: we laughed and talked for a minute. And that was

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Speaker 16: the last time I saw him. And the next time

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Speaker 16: I heard Bill's name was about two o'clock in the

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Speaker 16: morning when I got the call saying that he had

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Speaker 16: been shot. At that time, I was what was considered

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Speaker 16: a Crimes against Persons detective, which meant that I worked homicides.

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Speaker 16: The lieutenant felt like because it involved a deputy sheriff,

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Speaker 16: and you know that we needed all the help that

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Speaker 16: we could get, So I got called up.

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Speaker 2: Did you go to the actual scene?

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Speaker 3: Yeah?

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Speaker 2: What did you encounter when you got there?

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Speaker 16: Well, by the time I got there, Beale's body was gone.

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Speaker 5: Paramedics had already lifted Bill Hardy into an ambulance and

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Speaker 5: rushed him to the emergency room of Birmingham's largest hospital.

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Speaker 5: He is gravely injured, with two gunshot wounds to his

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Speaker 5: head and jaw. A medical examiner notes a bullet wound

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Speaker 5: to Hardy's finger likely means he raised his hand in

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Speaker 5: a defensive posture when he was shot. Police go to

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Speaker 5: his house to tell his wife, Patricia Diane Hardy, and

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Speaker 5: bring her to the hospital. Jim Woodward, the chief deputy

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Speaker 5: in Jefferson County, also rushes over when he hears that

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Speaker 5: Hardy was shot. What do you remember about the incident?

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Speaker 15: I got to call that Hardy had been shot, and

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Speaker 15: they told me some looked very serious. So I got

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Speaker 15: in my car and went down to the hospital. I

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Speaker 15: stood there while they were operating on me, and then

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Speaker 15: I just heard one say that's it.

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Speaker 17: It's over.

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Speaker 3: We can't do it anymore.

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Speaker 15: It's over. We can't save him. He's gone.

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Speaker 5: What does that feel like when you are a career

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Speaker 5: law enforcement officer and one well.

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Speaker 15: It's kind of devastating to you. You know, you get

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Speaker 15: to know these guys, and I knew Hardy that's a

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Speaker 15: very devastating thing that happened to you.

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Speaker 5: Deputy Bill Hardy is pronounced dead seven hours after he

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Speaker 5: was shot. The cause of death is two gunshot wounds

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Speaker 5: fired at close range. I wanted to know more about

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Speaker 5: Deputy Hardy, so I wrote to several family members inviting

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Speaker 5: them to talk. They never responded, and I can only

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Speaker 5: imagine his murder must be one of the hardest things

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Speaker 5: they've ever experienced. But I have learned a few things

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Speaker 5: about Deputy Hardy. He was married to Patricia Diane Hardy.

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Speaker 5: He had two children and four adult step children. Hardy

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Speaker 5: started working as a deputy in nineteen seventy two. His

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Speaker 5: duties included delivering subpoenas and directing traffic outside the courthouse.

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Speaker 4: You know.

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Speaker 16: It was rough.

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Speaker 6: It was rough.

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Speaker 3: It's rough right now.

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Speaker 16: There's a rough right as many working homicide. I've worked

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Speaker 16: at bunch, but none of them affected me like the

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Speaker 16: killing of a deputy ship. You know, you have a

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Speaker 16: bond with the guys you work with in the uniform.

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Speaker 16: Whether you know him or not, you have a bond.

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Speaker 16: So when I was a deputy shareer working another deputy

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Speaker 16: SHA's murder, do you think that was emotional. Yes, it

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Speaker 16: was very and had it been my decision the day

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Speaker 16: we caught the people that did it, let's put them

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Speaker 16: on death throat.

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Speaker 5: Lead Detective Tony Richardson and his team of investigators have

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Speaker 5: no eyewitnesses to the shooting, and there's no known motive.

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Speaker 5: A fellow officer has just been shot, and they have

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Speaker 5: almost no evidence to go on. At the exact time

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Speaker 5: that Deputy Bill Hardy was shot to Forest Johnson and

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Speaker 5: his friend ar dragas Ford were four miles away from

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Speaker 5: the crime scene at a downtown Birmingham nightclub called Te's Place,

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Speaker 5: but they would soon become the focus of Tony Richardson's investigation.

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Speaker 5: Just a few hours before Deputy Hardy is shot, our

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Speaker 5: dragas Ford gets into the passenger side of his nineteen

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Speaker 5: seventy one black Monte Carlo. It's an old car and

376
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Speaker 5: the driver's side door doesn't open, so he slides over

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Speaker 5: into the driver's seat, starts the ignition, and heads out

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Speaker 5: to pick up his friend to Forrest Johnson to go

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Speaker 5: to a club called Te's Place. I wasn't able to

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Speaker 5: interview to Forest Ardregas for this podcast. The Alabama Department

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Speaker 5: of Corrections doesn't allow people on death road to do

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Speaker 5: interviews with reporters like me. So I was unable to

383
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Speaker 5: talk to Forrest directly. And Ardregas died in twenty twenty one.

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Speaker 5: I didn't get a chance to interview him before then.

385
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Speaker 5: I was able to speak to Ardregas's mother, Joyce Ford.

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Speaker 7: That particular night, they said they was going to teas

387
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,359
Speaker 7: and see he would go to tease every Tuesday and

388
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Speaker 7: he have his particular same parking space and everything because

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Speaker 7: he will give them good tips.

390
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Speaker 5: Ardregas was willing to pay for a good parking space

391
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Speaker 5: because he was in a wheelchair. When Ardregas was a teenager,

392
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Speaker 5: a group of men began shooting outside an apartment building

393
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Speaker 5: he was visiting. He was shot trying to shield his

394
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Speaker 5: cousin and her baby from gunfire.

395
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Speaker 7: My son when he got shot when he was fifteen,

396
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Speaker 7: I had just gotten off from work. I was tied

397
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Speaker 7: in the phone, Rang Rang Rang. I didn't answer the phone,

398
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Speaker 7: you know, and I finally answered it and they stated

399
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Speaker 7: that he had gotten shot. I need to rush to

400
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Speaker 7: the murdency room. Who That was like a dream, you know.

401
00:26:20,440 --> 00:26:24,080
Speaker 7: You hear about things happening to other people, but when

402
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:28,440
Speaker 7: it hit home, you know, and then he got spinal

403
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:33,000
Speaker 7: cord injury, got shot in the back. Yeah, and he

404
00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,879
Speaker 7: was paralyzed to realize from chests down T four they

405
00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:41,480
Speaker 7: called it. So that was like a nightmare.

406
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Speaker 5: In his early twenties, ar Dregis outfitted his Monte Carlo

407
00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:50,879
Speaker 5: with a makeshift system so he could throw his wheelchair

408
00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,680
Speaker 5: in the back and drive the car using just his

409
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Speaker 5: upper body.

410
00:26:55,560 --> 00:27:01,080
Speaker 7: He would cut a broom you know, the broomstick. He

411
00:27:01,119 --> 00:27:04,040
Speaker 7: would put one to the brakes, one to the clerator,

412
00:27:04,359 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 7: and he would tape it to the car.

413
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Speaker 9: He would tape it to it.

414
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Speaker 11: So he like retro fitted his Yeah, he did.

415
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Speaker 4: Did.

416
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 7: He didn't buy the regular equipment that he should have used.

417
00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:20,440
Speaker 5: Are dragas and to Forrest actually came up with this

418
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Speaker 5: idea together. Here's to Forrest's cousin, Antonio.

419
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Speaker 6: Green Drake's was. I guess that was a pride thing.

420
00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 6: He didn't want the handicap accessible pedals and stuff in

421
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Speaker 6: his car. But as far as come up with this great,

422
00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:38,000
Speaker 6: this genius idea where they're gonna well some metal rods

423
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,040
Speaker 6: to the break and accelerator pedal so he could use

424
00:27:41,080 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 6: his hands and dry, well, he get to thinking about

425
00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:48,000
Speaker 6: this thing and metal rods, Well did from the brake

426
00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:51,159
Speaker 6: pedal or the accelerator. That's not too good of an

427
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,640
Speaker 6: idea in case you get in the accident. He hate

428
00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:56,520
Speaker 6: to see Draga's impaled through the seat right here. So

429
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,720
Speaker 6: he goes and buys two brooms out of the little

430
00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:06,240
Speaker 6: dollar store or wherever. And no measurements, no, just nothing

431
00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:09,040
Speaker 6: precise about it. He just gets the broom and breaks

432
00:28:09,119 --> 00:28:13,680
Speaker 6: them and Duc tape the sticks one to the accelerated

433
00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,400
Speaker 6: pedal and one to the brake pedal, so Dragas could

434
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Speaker 6: drive his car.

435
00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 2: Could he get around?

436
00:28:20,359 --> 00:28:20,520
Speaker 7: Well?

437
00:28:20,520 --> 00:28:22,480
Speaker 11: I mean did he grow real?

438
00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:31,800
Speaker 5: Well, it's been a while since to Forest and our

439
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:35,600
Speaker 5: dregas have hung out because to Forest had recently gotten

440
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,680
Speaker 5: out of prison. He was arrested for driving with a

441
00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:42,720
Speaker 5: suspended license, and as officers padded him down at the

442
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:46,640
Speaker 5: city jail, he tossed something into a nearby trash can.

443
00:28:47,680 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 5: Officers reached into the can and found a plastic bag

444
00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:55,680
Speaker 5: of cocaine. To Forest ended up pleading guilty to drug possession.

445
00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,239
Speaker 5: To Forest served about a year in prison, and by

446
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:03,360
Speaker 5: the night of Hardy's murder, he'd been out about three months.

447
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,840
Speaker 5: To Forrest puts on jean shorts and a Tommy Hill

448
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,440
Speaker 5: figure blue and white shirt, then gets into the passenger

449
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:16,320
Speaker 5: side of Ardregis's car and they head downtown. They pull

450
00:29:16,440 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 5: up and park outside Tea's Place, but it's too early

451
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,520
Speaker 5: to go inside, so they hang out in the parking

452
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,320
Speaker 5: lot flirting with some girls who work at the car

453
00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,000
Speaker 5: dealership across the street. To Forrest buys a hot dog

454
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:33,680
Speaker 5: from a cart on the sidewalk. Regulars start trickling into

455
00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:40,320
Speaker 5: the club, drinking, dancing, and catching up. Inside. There's thumping music,

456
00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,560
Speaker 5: low lighting. It's Tasty Tuesday at Teas Place, which means

457
00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:46,640
Speaker 5: women get in free.

458
00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:51,160
Speaker 2: I used to go to Teas Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

459
00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:57,040
Speaker 5: Barbetta Hunt was one of the regulars who was there

460
00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:01,360
Speaker 5: that night. What's your nickname back then?

461
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 2: Mama Cat.

462
00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:07,959
Speaker 5: That's like in the world of nicknames, that's in them.

463
00:30:08,080 --> 00:30:11,520
Speaker 2: Mother, it's the purpose and my father, Fred Perkins, they

464
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:13,560
Speaker 2: gave me that name when I was born. But that's

465
00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:15,160
Speaker 2: my name. My name is Mama Cat.

466
00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,920
Speaker 5: When she was in her early twenties, Mama Cat spent

467
00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,000
Speaker 5: a lot of nights hanging out at Tea's Place.

468
00:30:22,120 --> 00:30:24,480
Speaker 2: When you walk into the door, that's my spot right there.

469
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:28,040
Speaker 2: It's on the right hand side. Every time I got

470
00:30:28,080 --> 00:30:30,560
Speaker 2: that was my spot. I see, I don't move from

471
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:31,040
Speaker 2: this spot.

472
00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:32,760
Speaker 9: I don't walk to the bag.

473
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:35,480
Speaker 2: I don't walk there. I say, right there. Me and

474
00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 2: my friend Velinicia Aqui Sanders, we were together.

475
00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 11: We got there before eleven because the club was always

476
00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:45,240
Speaker 11: free on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday before eleven for women.

477
00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:49,320
Speaker 5: This is Belanique Sanders nicknamed Queisi.

478
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,520
Speaker 11: Anything after eleven it was five dollars and me and

479
00:30:53,600 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 11: Barbetta was very cheap, so we tried to make sure

480
00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 11: we got there in free because the little money we had. Say,

481
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:01,920
Speaker 11: we wanted to something to eat, and I love to

482
00:31:01,960 --> 00:31:04,120
Speaker 11: get a chicken plate from there, a chicken breast with

483
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:05,000
Speaker 11: some French fries.

484
00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:08,640
Speaker 5: Oh my god, did you know to Forest Johnson?

485
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:10,520
Speaker 16: Yes, I did.

486
00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:14,280
Speaker 11: I knew him from hanging out in the neighborhood in

487
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,720
Speaker 11: Ansley and I, oh my god, I had a crush

488
00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:18,160
Speaker 11: on him. He was the finest.

489
00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:22,360
Speaker 5: Yeah, what do you remember about what he looked like?

490
00:31:23,640 --> 00:31:29,560
Speaker 11: He was short, a nice body, Oh my god. Anyway,

491
00:31:30,720 --> 00:31:35,000
Speaker 11: he was a ladies man. I will say that, sweet,

492
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:39,360
Speaker 11: always kind. He was just a nice gentleman. Like his

493
00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 11: mama had raised him really well.

494
00:31:42,000 --> 00:31:43,840
Speaker 5: Did you guys ever go out or did he know

495
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:45,040
Speaker 5: that you had a crush on him?

496
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:48,000
Speaker 11: He knew I had a crush on him, but we

497
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,760
Speaker 11: never went out. No, we would just see each other.

498
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:53,880
Speaker 11: I smiled, be like, Oh that he is, I'm gonna

499
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:54,280
Speaker 11: get him.

500
00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:57,000
Speaker 9: Yeah, that's it.

501
00:31:59,080 --> 00:32:02,840
Speaker 5: To Forest mostly grew up in Birmingham's Pratt City neighborhood,

502
00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 5: or Pratt for short.

503
00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:09,280
Speaker 6: We grew up together, I mean closer than just cousins.

504
00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:11,800
Speaker 6: We were like brothers because we were all pretty much

505
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:14,560
Speaker 6: raised right in the same little local community.

506
00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,680
Speaker 5: While to Forest was growing up, most of his extended

507
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,800
Speaker 5: family also lived in or near Pratt, including his cousin

508
00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:23,920
Speaker 5: Antonio Green.

509
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:29,040
Speaker 6: And since we were toddlers, i mean babies, we were

510
00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,720
Speaker 6: kind of together, took out in this thing, and he

511
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 6: was a couple of years younger than I am, so

512
00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:36,800
Speaker 6: he always kind of held on to my shirt tail

513
00:32:37,000 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 6: and you know, so I've been closely connected with him

514
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 6: for our entire life.

515
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 3: Pretty much.

516
00:32:44,000 --> 00:32:47,480
Speaker 5: To Forest's mom, Donna was seventeen when she had him,

517
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,280
Speaker 5: and when to Forest was young, she was more like

518
00:32:50,360 --> 00:32:53,720
Speaker 5: a sister to him than a mother. Donna leaned on

519
00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 5: her parents and siblings to help take care of to Forest,

520
00:32:57,600 --> 00:33:01,320
Speaker 5: and as to Forest got older, on him to help

521
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:02,560
Speaker 5: take care of his little brother.

522
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:07,240
Speaker 6: He started at a very young age, much too young

523
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:11,320
Speaker 6: to really be faced with the type of responsibility that

524
00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:14,640
Speaker 6: he took on. He was at an age where he

525
00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:17,400
Speaker 6: was still a kid. I'm talking about eleven twelve, you know,

526
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,800
Speaker 6: just in nineteen years and had to take on the

527
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:23,600
Speaker 6: responsibility of taking care of his little brother. You know,

528
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,520
Speaker 6: he had a little brother that he got ready for school,

529
00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:30,520
Speaker 6: he earned his clothes, he did. You know, He's always

530
00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,960
Speaker 6: been that caring little dude, you know, and he did that.

531
00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,120
Speaker 6: So he had to take on some things during that time.

532
00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:38,400
Speaker 3: You know, his mom and.

533
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,720
Speaker 6: Dad was there, but his dad was a very very

534
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:42,560
Speaker 6: heavy drinker.

535
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:47,320
Speaker 5: To Forest's father, Ronald, was an alcoholic and would get

536
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:51,480
Speaker 5: violent when he drank, which was every day. This made

537
00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:55,600
Speaker 5: home life extremely volatile for to Forrest, his younger brother,

538
00:33:55,840 --> 00:34:01,160
Speaker 5: little ron and especially his mother, Donna. She eventually left

539
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:04,200
Speaker 5: Ronald when to Forest was a teenager and moved in

540
00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 5: with another man who had an apartment and the Tuxedo

541
00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:13,080
Speaker 5: Projects in Birmingham's Insley community, also known as the Brickyard.

542
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:15,440
Speaker 2: Oh it was called the Brickyard.

543
00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 5: Velainique aka Queisi, the one who had a crush on

544
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:22,600
Speaker 5: to Forest, also grew up there.

545
00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:24,880
Speaker 9: It was rough, idre.

546
00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,239
Speaker 11: You know, my mom had three girls, had three and

547
00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:31,399
Speaker 11: we lived in a five bedroom project with our grandparents.

548
00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:35,360
Speaker 11: So it was just a bunch of girls in the house.

549
00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:38,520
Speaker 11: But I mean, you know, I had just seen people

550
00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:41,680
Speaker 11: get killed right in front of me. My cousin got

551
00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 11: shot in the stummy.

552
00:34:42,880 --> 00:34:44,360
Speaker 18: You know, a lot of.

553
00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:46,719
Speaker 6: It was rough.

554
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:50,000
Speaker 11: You had family's daddy couldn't afford to eat, you know,

555
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,400
Speaker 11: kids come to school, you know, wearing the same clothes

556
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:55,080
Speaker 11: over and over.

557
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:56,319
Speaker 6: It was rough.

558
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,360
Speaker 9: It was rough growing up in the projects.

559
00:34:59,520 --> 00:35:02,160
Speaker 5: To four and his little brother moved there when to

560
00:35:02,280 --> 00:35:06,360
Speaker 5: Forest was sixteen. When he was seventeen, to Forrest was

561
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:09,280
Speaker 5: shot and a drive by shooting and spent three months

562
00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:13,160
Speaker 5: in the hospital. To Forest's mom told me the bullet

563
00:35:13,320 --> 00:35:19,640
Speaker 5: is still lodged in his chest. During this period, seven

564
00:35:19,760 --> 00:35:24,000
Speaker 5: of to Forest's friends would be shot and killed. No

565
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:28,080
Speaker 5: one was ever prosecuted for any of these crimes, and

566
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,719
Speaker 5: it was around this time that to Forest dropped out

567
00:35:30,760 --> 00:35:38,920
Speaker 5: of school. Several family members tell me that at twenty two,

568
00:35:39,520 --> 00:35:43,960
Speaker 5: to Forest was somewhat adrift. He spent his time working

569
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:47,759
Speaker 5: on old cars and playing video games. He was having

570
00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:52,640
Speaker 5: a good time dating different women. He had five children

571
00:35:52,920 --> 00:35:57,360
Speaker 5: who he loved, but he was also unsettled. He hadn't

572
00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:01,920
Speaker 5: yet figured out his purpose, and he didn't know he

573
00:36:02,120 --> 00:36:32,719
Speaker 5: was running out of time. As to Forrest and Ardregas

574
00:36:32,800 --> 00:36:36,920
Speaker 5: wait outside of Teas, Ardregas's beeper goes off a few times.

575
00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,080
Speaker 5: The beeps are from a girl he met a few

576
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:43,800
Speaker 5: nights before, but he ignores her, hoping to meet someone

577
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:48,680
Speaker 5: else inside. Tees to Forrest walks toward the club's entrance

578
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:53,280
Speaker 5: behind Ardregas and his wheelchair. They're focused on meeting girls

579
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:57,160
Speaker 5: and having a good time. They don't know that this

580
00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,839
Speaker 5: night will change their lives and the peace they run into.

581
00:37:01,200 --> 00:37:04,080
Speaker 5: Don't know they're about to become alibi witnesses.

582
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:10,400
Speaker 9: There was a love before eleven, and we were standing

583
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,160
Speaker 9: outside and they came up as far as it was

584
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:14,080
Speaker 9: pushing the Draca's.

585
00:37:15,080 --> 00:37:18,400
Speaker 5: One of the first people they run into is Kenyara Pickett,

586
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,240
Speaker 5: who was standing near the entrance.

587
00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:24,239
Speaker 9: I remember exactly where I was standing, right in front

588
00:37:24,239 --> 00:37:26,719
Speaker 9: of the club when he walked up, because I thought

589
00:37:26,719 --> 00:37:29,400
Speaker 9: I was shocked that night out. You know, back in

590
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,960
Speaker 9: the days. It was TFC wearing big clothes back then.

591
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:34,960
Speaker 9: And I had on some black, some black big jeans

592
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:38,000
Speaker 9: but shorts, and I had on some black and white

593
00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:40,000
Speaker 9: rebox and then I think I had on the button

594
00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:42,840
Speaker 9: down shirt. My sister she had just got out of

595
00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:45,200
Speaker 9: the hospital. She had a blood clot and I when

596
00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:46,880
Speaker 9: she got out to the hospital, we just went down there,

597
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:48,000
Speaker 9: you know, to celebrate that.

598
00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:52,080
Speaker 5: She came home to Forrest and Ardregas make their way

599
00:37:52,160 --> 00:37:56,240
Speaker 5: past Kenara and go into Tea's. Mama Cat and Velanik

600
00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,560
Speaker 5: are already inside, perched at their table right by the

601
00:37:59,600 --> 00:37:59,960
Speaker 5: front door.

602
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,719
Speaker 2: Or Tavarras Johnson. I remember he was pushing Adreka's flour

603
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:06,200
Speaker 2: in the wheelchair they came together.

604
00:38:07,160 --> 00:38:10,960
Speaker 11: I saw so far was pushing a Draca's in the club,

605
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,399
Speaker 11: because we always stand at the front by the door

606
00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:16,640
Speaker 11: so we can be nosy and see everything.

607
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,440
Speaker 5: You wanted to see who was coming in and who

608
00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:20,480
Speaker 5: was leaving with who?

609
00:38:20,960 --> 00:38:23,439
Speaker 9: Yes, yes, ma'am.

610
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:28,320
Speaker 19: About eleven o'clock, I saw Tafarest come in pushing Anddrega's

611
00:38:28,360 --> 00:38:30,120
Speaker 19: in and I was excited to sing him because I

612
00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:31,480
Speaker 19: hadn't seen him in a year because I had just

613
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:32,760
Speaker 19: got out the military.

614
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,879
Speaker 5: Stanley Chandler is also at Tease that night to catch

615
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:39,759
Speaker 5: up with friends. He and to Forrest knew each other

616
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:41,160
Speaker 5: as kids and Pratt.

617
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:44,640
Speaker 19: So we stood there and we start we talked, you

618
00:38:44,719 --> 00:38:47,560
Speaker 19: know about old times, you know, and I mean we.

619
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:52,239
Speaker 5: Joked, laying and laugh to Forrest and Ardregas settle in

620
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:56,440
Speaker 5: at a table chatting with people who stopped by watching

621
00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:57,279
Speaker 5: the dance floor.

622
00:39:00,239 --> 00:39:02,600
Speaker 18: I was sitting on the bathroom because when you go around,

623
00:39:02,719 --> 00:39:05,680
Speaker 18: it's like a little balcony part that you could sit at,

624
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 18: And so I seen Draca's and to Forest when they

625
00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:10,480
Speaker 18: came in the door because he was pushing them in

626
00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:11,080
Speaker 18: a wheelchair.

627
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:15,480
Speaker 5: This is Dedra Carter, who was celebrating getting released from

628
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:20,239
Speaker 5: the hospital with her sister Kenyara. Dedra was also at

629
00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:21,280
Speaker 5: Tease that night.

630
00:39:22,200 --> 00:39:25,879
Speaker 18: And him and my cousin Mona and my sister all

631
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,799
Speaker 18: us was just there talking and you know, I think

632
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,279
Speaker 18: Toft liked it Mona, so you know, he was trying

633
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:33,640
Speaker 18: to hook up with him, but she wouldn't.

634
00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:35,960
Speaker 2: No, she wouldn't never hook up with him.

635
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,319
Speaker 18: We used to laugh, talk, joking like even we at

636
00:39:39,320 --> 00:39:41,840
Speaker 18: the club, music playing we're still cracking up, you know,

637
00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:43,800
Speaker 18: you know, just talking and stuff.

638
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:48,240
Speaker 5: To Forrest SIPs a Long Island iced tea and orders

639
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,360
Speaker 5: our Draga's a brandy and coke. At one point, to

640
00:39:51,480 --> 00:39:54,279
Speaker 5: Forrest goes back to the bar because Dragas says his

641
00:39:54,520 --> 00:39:57,360
Speaker 5: drink is too weak, and the bartender makes him a

642
00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,719
Speaker 5: new one. They linger at the club into the early

643
00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:02,280
Speaker 5: hours of Wednesday morning.

644
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:05,480
Speaker 18: When I say, we would probably ship the club now

645
00:40:06,880 --> 00:40:09,440
Speaker 18: we was there, I know it's probably like they used

646
00:40:09,480 --> 00:40:13,919
Speaker 18: to close about maybe one two o'clock, so we would

647
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:15,040
Speaker 18: leave right right before that.

648
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:17,080
Speaker 9: So I know it was like maybe one.

649
00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,279
Speaker 19: I ain't leaving a club roughly about I'm gonna say

650
00:40:20,280 --> 00:40:23,160
Speaker 19: around about right at one. And like I said, he

651
00:40:23,360 --> 00:40:25,600
Speaker 19: was staying across the club. You know, you could see

652
00:40:25,640 --> 00:40:28,720
Speaker 19: him because I mean, it wasn't a big, big club,

653
00:40:29,080 --> 00:40:32,319
Speaker 19: you know. And I just started to do signs.

654
00:40:32,080 --> 00:40:34,560
Speaker 2: Up and I left and I was still there.

655
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:35,600
Speaker 19: Yeah, he was stay there.

656
00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:36,040
Speaker 3: When I left.

657
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:44,319
Speaker 5: There are at least ten people who say they saw

658
00:40:44,400 --> 00:40:48,480
Speaker 5: to Forrest and Rodregis at Tea's place between eleven pm

659
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:53,040
Speaker 5: and one thirty am. Deputy Bill Hardy was shot right

660
00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:57,040
Speaker 5: in the middle of that time frame, around twelve fifty am,

661
00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:02,760
Speaker 5: four miles away at the Crowns Darling Sweet's Hotel. People

662
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:10,359
Speaker 5: like Kenyara, Dedra Stanley, Queisi, Mama Cat all remember that night.

663
00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:17,200
Speaker 5: Their corroborated statements weave together a shield. That shield should

664
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:21,360
Speaker 5: protect to Forest and Ardregis from the accusations about to

665
00:41:21,480 --> 00:41:22,080
Speaker 5: head their way.

666
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:24,080
Speaker 2: But it doesn't.

667
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:29,120
Speaker 5: The state would arrest to Forrest and Ardregis, try them

668
00:41:29,600 --> 00:41:32,640
Speaker 5: and seek the death penalty against both of them for

669
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:42,359
Speaker 5: Deputy Hardy's murder. For the last three years, I've been

670
00:41:42,400 --> 00:41:47,200
Speaker 5: trying to figure out how this happened. I've read through

671
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:52,239
Speaker 5: thousands of pages of court transcripts and investigative documents. I've

672
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:55,640
Speaker 5: done a full audit of all the media coverage and

673
00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:59,879
Speaker 5: interviewed more than eighty people, including several who were direct

674
00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:05,080
Speaker 5: involved in this investigation and prosecution, and many who have

675
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:10,279
Speaker 5: never spoken publicly about the case. I'm not trying to

676
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:15,520
Speaker 5: find the real killer of Deputy Hardy. I'm investigating why

677
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:20,120
Speaker 5: that person was never found. One of the first things

678
00:42:20,200 --> 00:42:24,080
Speaker 5: I tried to unwind, how did to Forrest Johnson and

679
00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:27,959
Speaker 5: ardregas Ford end up at the center of the investigation

680
00:42:28,560 --> 00:42:31,400
Speaker 5: when they were somewhere else at the time Deputy Hardy

681
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:38,319
Speaker 5: was killed. Here's one thing everyone agrees on. After they

682
00:42:38,440 --> 00:42:42,560
Speaker 5: leave Tea's place to Forrest and Ardregas pick up two

683
00:42:42,680 --> 00:42:46,480
Speaker 5: girls and the Monte Carlo. One sits in the back

684
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,960
Speaker 5: by Ardregas's wheelchair, the other one sits between Ardregas and

685
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:54,719
Speaker 5: to Forest in the front. And that girl the one

686
00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:59,040
Speaker 5: in the front seat. What she tells police will land

687
00:42:59,200 --> 00:43:03,279
Speaker 5: to Forest and dregis right at the center of the investigation.

688
00:43:08,239 --> 00:43:12,080
Speaker 16: I'm at to share his office headquarters along with Yolanda

689
00:43:12,480 --> 00:43:18,719
Speaker 16: Michelle Chambers. Yolanda is a black female. She's fifteen years

690
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:19,120
Speaker 16: of age.

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00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:29,840
Speaker 5: That's next time. Ear Witness is a production of Lava

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00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:33,879
Speaker 5: for Good Podcasts in association with Signal Company Number One.

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Speaker 5: Executive producers are Jason Flam, Jeff Kempler, Kevin Wardis, and

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00:43:40,200 --> 00:43:44,360
Speaker 5: me Beth Shelburn. The investigative reporting for this series was

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00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:49,480
Speaker 5: done by Me and MARAA McNamara. Producers are MARAA McNamara,

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00:43:49,840 --> 00:43:55,160
Speaker 5: Hannah Bial and Jackie Pauley. Kara Kornhaber is our senior producer.

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00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 5: Britt Spangler is our sound designer. Additional story at a

698
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:04,480
Speaker 5: time from Marie Sutton, fact Check help from Catherine Newhan

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00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:09,479
Speaker 5: and special thanks to to Forrest Johnson's legal defense team.

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Speaker 5: You can follow the show on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and

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Speaker 5: Twitter at Lava for Good. To see behind the scenes

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Speaker 5: content from our investigation, visit Lava for Good dot com.

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Speaker 5: Slash earwitness