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Post by Graveyardbride on Nov 1, 2019 16:18:10 GMT -5
Trial Set in 1999 Murder of Dothan Teenagers
The trial of Coley McCraney for the 1999 murders of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett has been set for February 3, 2020. McCraney faces three capital murder charges for Beasley’s murder and two for Hawlett’s. The charges stem from DNA test results performed by Parabon Labs in Virginia, which matched McCraney’s DNA to evidence collected from the crime scene. Results were also confirmed by the Alabama state lab.
In an unrelated case, Judge Fred Steagall ordered McCraney to submit DNA in a paternity action filed by a woman who claims he is the father of her child born in September 1998. According to the paternity petition, during the summer of 1999, McCraney lived on Lisenby Drive in Ozark, a 1.08-mile straight walk from the location where the bodies of the two teenagers were found in the trunk of the car near the intersection of Herring Avenue and James Street. Both girls had been shot with a 9mm handgun.
If convicted, McCraney faces either life in prison without parole or the death penalty and Dale County District Attorney Kirke Adams has indicated he will seek death.
Defense attorneys Andrew Scarborough and David Harrison still insist their client is innocent.
Source: Michelle W. Forehand, The Dothan Eagle, October 4 and 7, 2019.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Nov 14, 2020 20:47:09 GMT -5
McCraney Trial Continued to 2021
The trial of Coley McCraney, the man charged in the 1999 murders of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, scheduled to begin November 16, 2020, has been continued to 2021. The continuance was granted on the motion of defense attorneys Andrew J. Scarborough and David J. Harrison, who requested the delay due to the continuing China virus pandemic.
McCraney, who claims he is innocent, has been held in the Dale County Jail without bond since his arrest in March 2019.
Sources: Teresa Whitaker, WRBL, September 25, 2020; Michele W. Forehand, The Dothan Eagle, September 23, 2020; and State of Alabama v. Coley Lewis McCraney, Case No. CC-19-187, 188, 189, 190, 191.
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Post by kitty on Nov 15, 2020 0:23:52 GMT -5
I'll bet the jails are getting crowded with all of these trials having to be rescheduled.
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Post by LostLenore on Nov 16, 2020 1:29:20 GMT -5
I recently read where someone said that his semen was on one of their sweaters, which the girl wasn't wearing when she was found. I'm not sure what they were implying, but is that part of his defense?
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Post by Graveyardbride on Nov 16, 2020 3:12:23 GMT -5
I recently read where someone said that his semen was on one of their sweaters, which the girl wasn't wearing when she was found. I'm not sure what they were implying, but is that part of his defense? |
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Post by catherine on Nov 16, 2020 9:53:15 GMT -5
JB Beasley was wearing a tank top, which is knit, and in my opinion, at some point, a man, who didn’t have a lot of knowledge about women’s clothing, called it a “sweater.” Because most people simply repeat what they’ve read or heard instead of checking for themselves, some are saying there was semen on her sweater, which she wasn’t wearing when her body was found, when it was actually on the tank top she was wearing. |
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Post by asixxdionysia on Sept 11, 2021 1:41:41 GMT -5
Beasley, Hawlett Murders Remain Unsolved 18 Years Later The grief-stricken mother pleads with the individual or individuals responsible for the death of the girls, saying, “These girls have actually been dead longer than they were alive.
Sources: Michele W. Forehand, The Dothan Eagle, August 19, 2017. I know exactly what this feels like. I lost my sister when she was 15 and this year she'll be gone 15 years. I don't know what it's like to have the case unsolved but I do know what it was like to lose my sister to the recklessness and irresponsibility of some asshat. And because of the interference of what I believe were corrupt cops, her Murderer never saw a day in jail. The murderer's dad's best friend was the captain of the state police at the time. So guess what department and which particular cop worked on the case to get it labeled as an accident and what little evidence was there was either never collected or destroyed. Small town and no one in my family had any clue about how these things worked. I had never heard about this case till now but wow these mothers are strong. My heart and prayers go out to them. No parent should have to bury their child because of violence like this. |
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Post by Graveyardbride on Sept 26, 2021 14:00:50 GMT -5
1999 Beasley, Hawlett Murder Case Set for Trial
Absent unforeseen delays, Coley McCraney, the man accused of killing J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett in July 1999, will face a jury of his peers in May of next year. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday, May 2. Two previous trial dates were rescheduled because of the pandemic.
McCraney was arrested in March 2019 following a DNA match. According to Dale County District Attorney Kirke Adams, 17 million men were profiled over an 18-year period and McCraney’s DNA was the only one that matched the semen stain recovered from the clothing of Ms. Beasley.
However, David Harrison and Andrew Scarbrough, McCraney’s lawyers, dismissed the evidence against their client as “flimsy” and declared he will be found not guilty.
The Honorable William Filmore will preside over the trial and other proceedings.
Sources: Ken Curtis, WTVY, September 23, 2021; and Seth Feiner, WDHN, September 23, 2021.
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Post by asixxdionysia on Sept 26, 2021 14:51:50 GMT -5
1999 Beasley, Hawlett Murder Case Set for Trial
McCraney was arrested in March 2019 following a DNA match. According to Dale County District Attorney Kirke Adams, 17 million men were profiled over an 18-year period and McCraney’s DNA was the only one that matched the semen stain recovered from the clothing of Ms. Beasley.
However, David Harrison and Andrew Scarbrough, McCraney’s lawyers, dismissed the evidence against their client as “flimsy” and declared he will be found not guilty.
The Honorable William Filmore will preside over the trial and other proceedings.Sources: Ken Curtis, WTVY, September 23, 2021; and Seth Feiner, WDHN, September 23, 2021. "Flimsy" huh? So what, she was just walking around with his semen stain on her clothing when someone else killed her? Or did it magically get there after she was killed? |
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Post by catherine on Sept 26, 2021 22:43:34 GMT -5
"Flimsy" huh? So what, she was just walking around with his semen stain on her clothing when someone else killed her? Or did it magically get there after she was killed? |
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Post by Graveyardbride on Mar 19, 2022 16:39:55 GMT -5
Trial to Begin May 2, Defense Attorneys Claim Police Officer Killed Girls
The trial in the case of Coley McCraney, the man charged with the murders of JB Beasley and Tracie Hawlett in July 1999, is scheduled to begin Monday, May 2, 2002, and now his attorneys are citing an old, and what many consider outlandish, allegation made by Rena Crumb that Keith Cauthon, who retired from the Ozark police force in 2009, killed the girls. They also are accusing the police department of covering up the crime to protect one of its own.
During a pretrial hearing, defense lawyers David Harrison and Andrew Scarbrough told Circuit Judge William Filmore they are prepared to present evidence that others may have killed the teenagers. The lawyers claimed they have one witnesses who will testify that an officer was seen near the crime scene hours before police discovered the bodies, and another who heard an Ozark police officer confess to the murders at a Christmas party.
Dale County Assistant District Attorney David Emery objected to what he labeled rumors and hearsay that failed to meet the legal threshold for admittance at trial. He also reminded the court that DNA implicates one person only: Coley McCraney.
In the meantime, Judge Filmore has placed a gag order on both sets of attorneys and others involved in the trial.
Sources: Ken Curtis, WTVY, January 13 and March 17, 2022; and Aaron Dixon, WDHN, March 17, 2022.
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Post by catherine on Mar 20, 2022 19:10:18 GMT -5
That bastard's guilty as sin, his lawyers know it and they're just grasping at straws.
For those unfamiliar with Rena Crumb's "outlandish" allegations, go to page 3 of this thread and scroll down to "Police Officer Breaks 'Blue Wall of Silence' and Confesses an Ozark Officer Killed Beasley and Hawlett."
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Post by madeline on Mar 21, 2022 12:17:03 GMT -5
That bastard's guilty as sin, his lawyers know it and they're just grasping at straws.
For those unfamiliar with Rena Crumb's "outlandish" allegations, go to page 3 of this thread and scroll down to "Police Officer Breaks 'Blue Wall of Silence' and Confesses an Ozark Officer Killed Beasley and Hawlett." |
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Post by Graveyardbride on Nov 22, 2022 16:26:19 GMT -5
Attorney General Taking over McCraney ProsecutionThe trial of Coley McCraney, the man accused of killing J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett in July 1999, is now set to begin April 17, 2023, with Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall prosecuting.
The attorney general’s office is taking the case at the request of District Attorney Kirke Adams of the 33rd Judicial Circuit. Adams decided to turn the case over to the state after Assistant District Attorney David Emery was seriously injured in a biking event when he was struck by an 18-wheeler last month in Montgomery.
McCraney, who has entered a plea of not guilty has been held without bond in the Dale County jail since March 16, 2019. The suspect had no criminal record, however, there are rumors of an assault while he was on active duty in the U.S. Air Force.
When the suspect was identified, Marshall said, “Today, all who have sought justice for Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley – including all the residents of the Wiregrass – are finally near closure in this long and painful case. For two decades the families of Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley have sought answers and a suspect in the unsolved brutal murders of their 17-year-old girls. DNA evidence recovered from Beasley’s body and clothing helped to create a profile of the suspect, but despite our best combined efforts law enforcement were never able to find a genetic match – until now. McCraney has remained anonymous to investigators until new DNA testing of forensic evidence utilizing family genetic analysis finally led law enforcement to McCraney as a suspect.” Sources: Michelle Mann, The Dothan Eagle, November 22, 2022, and Ken Curtis, WTVY, November 21, 2022.
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Post by Graveyardbride on Apr 5, 2023 2:48:19 GMT -5
Judge to Consider Legal Disputes Prior to April 17 Trial
The trial of Coley McCraney, charged with the 1999 murders of teenagers J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett, is scheduled to begin Monday, April 17, in Ozark, but before that, Judge William Filmore will make several decisions.
First, he will decide if jurors will be allowed to consider evidence from the trunk of the Mazda 923 where the bodies of the two 17-year-old girls were discovered. David Harrison and Andrew Scarborough, attorneys for the Defendant, claim such evidence should not be considered because police disposed of the vehicle 15 years ago, long before McCraney was charged, denying defense experts a chance to examine said vehicle.
Assistant Attorney General Jimmy L. Thomas, however, argued that evidence taken from the vehicle, which was released to an insurance company in 2007, was preserved and made available to McCraney’s attorneys.
Harrison and Scarborough also allege that following McCraney’s arrest in March 2019, almost 20 years after Beasley and Hawlett were killed, police continued to interrogate him in spite of his repeated demands for legal counsel in violation of his constitutional rights. Accordingly, they argue, his comments during the lengthy interrogation should be suppressed.
Filmore will hear these and other legal disputes on Thursday, April 13, four days before the trial begins.
Sources: Ken Curtis, WTVY, March 28, 2023, and State of Alabama v. Coley Lewis McCraney, Case Nos. Case Nos. DC-2019-000216.00, etc.
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