FILE 117 / 2 May 2019 / 153 MIN / full

Sexier Than Coal

Jasper, AlabamaListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Jasper's in north central Alabama here ... This is in Walker County, Zip Code 35501, Area Code 205. about 0:07:17

History, in brief

Town note

Lorenzo Dow established the first trading post in the area in the early 1800s.

about 0:08:31

Town note

The town motto is "experience from the past, knowledge for the future".

about 0:07:51

1822

In 1822 Dr. Gordon Musgrove donated the land for the town and built a log cabin that served as courthouse, school and church.

about 0:09:22

Town note

The town was named by Hugh Lawler in memory of Sergeant William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero of the Battle of Fort Moultrie in South Carolina.

about 0:09:54
All 14 history facts

Town note

Lorenzo Dow established the first trading post in the area in the early 1800s.

about 0:08:31

Town note

The town motto is "experience from the past, knowledge for the future".

about 0:07:51

1822

In 1822 Dr. Gordon Musgrove donated the land for the town and built a log cabin that served as courthouse, school and church.

about 0:09:22

Town note

The town was named by Hugh Lawler in memory of Sergeant William Jasper, a Revolutionary War hero of the Battle of Fort Moultrie in South Carolina.

about 0:09:54

1815

The area was settled around 1815 when Dow arrived and was incorporated in 1886.

about 0:10:01

Town note

During the Civil War Union troops marching towards Selma burned the courthouse and several other buildings.

about 0:10:18

1886

After the Civil War the railroad came through and the population grew from 200 people in 1886 to more than 3,000 in 1890.

about 0:12:28

1891

In 1891 the newspaper reported six coal mines, two sandstone quarries and 400 coke ovens.

about 0:13:32

1891

In 1891 the town also had a foundry, a machine shop, two saw mills, a brick works, four hotels and two banks.

about 0:14:01

1940

Franklin Roosevelt visited the town in 1940 to attend the memorial service of his friend William Bankhead.

about 0:14:34

Town note

Jasper is the county seat of Walker County and sits in the middle of the Warrior Coal Fields, the second largest coal fields in the nation.

about 0:14:50

Town note

Jasper appears in the SciFi Channel show Town of the Living Dead.

about 0:16:12

Town note

The actress Tallulah Bankhead is from Jasper.

about 0:17:08

The figures, as told

Religious

65%

Biggest faith: Baptist, 38%

about 0:22:01

Who lives here

White about 79% · Black 15.5% · Hispanic about 3%

Ethnicity can overlap race.

Crime / national average

Property crime
▲ three es

about 0:29:58

Violent crime
▲ more than twice

about 0:30:05

Money

Median home value$110,000
Two-bedroom rent$683 a month
Median household income$39,800
Cost of living83.3

For sale

$89,900

Two-bedroom, one-bath starter home, 996 square feet

about 0:26:46

For sale

$122,000

Four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath home, 1,984 square feet

about 0:27:12

For sale

$439,900

Five-bedroom, four-bath home, 4,868 square feet

about 0:27:55
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2019

Property crime rate

"three es"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:29:58

Violent crime rate

"more than twice"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:30:05

Population

"13,854"

Comparison: "down 3.2% since 2010". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:19:52

Median age

"38.6"

Comparison: "about a year older than normal". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:20:58

White population

"about 79%"

Comparison: "usually about 62%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:43

Black population

"15.5%"

Comparison: "usually about 12%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:43

Hispanic population

"about 3%"

Comparison: "normally about 17%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:56

Married population

"50-50"

Comparison: "like normal". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:21:21

Republican vote at the last election

"82%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:06

Democrat vote at the last election

"15.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:06

Independent vote at the last election

"about 2.5%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:21

Religious population

"65%"

Comparison: "normal is 50-50". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:22:01

Unemployment rate

"mid four percent"

Comparison: "about normal". Direction: about the same.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:49

Median household income

"$39,800"

Comparison: "normally about $58,000". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:23:56

Households earning under $15,000 a year

"17.5%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:09

Households earning $15,000 to $20,000 a year

"9.3%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:13

Households earning $20,000 to $30,000 a year

"11.2%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:21

Households earning under $30,000 a year

"about 35%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:25

Households earning over $200,000 a year

"higher than normal"

Comparison: "national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2019 about 0:24:55

Mining and quarrying jobs

"5%"

Comparison: "normally about 0.5%". No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:21

Cost of living index

"83.3"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:36

Housing cost index

"43.7"

Comparison: "100 is average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:51

Median home cost

"$110,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:25:53

Homes priced $80,000 to $100,000

"10%"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:00

Renters

"one third of the population"

Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:09

Average two-bedroom rent

"$683 a month"

Comparison: "about half the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:34

Two-bedroom, one-bath starter home, 996 square feet

"$89,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:26:46

Four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath home, 1,984 square feet

"$122,000"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:12

Five-bedroom, four-bath home, 4,868 square feet

"$439,900"

No direction stated.

As told in 2019 about 0:27:55

The reviews

1.5 / 5 · average of 2

2 stars

“There is a lot of crime; every other night you can hear gunshots and last week there was a break-in.”
about 0:17:25

1 star

“Jasper sucks: the mall is crap, Walmart is crap, they got a Cracker Barrel and the people of Jasper ruined it too; people drive like bats out of hell and think they own the road; the writer wishes they could move.”
about 0:18:01

In Alabama

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The story

Jasper is the county seat of Walker County in north central Alabama, about forty-five minutes outside Birmingham and in the middle of the Warrior Coal Fields.

None of it was true. Within a few months of leaving school, at about eighteen, she married Jeff Nelson. The marriage lasted six years, from 1987 to 1993. In 1994 she married Jimmy Tidwell, who divorced her after about five months.

She met Randy McCuller at the BC Lounge, a country bar in Jasper, and on 24 June 1995 they married in a small church ceremony near his parents' home. Just before the ceremony McCuller learned that her divorce was not final. The preacher, Halley, suggested they hold the ceremony as a rehearsal and repeat it legally once the paperwork was complete; the marriage certificate was filed on 11 July 1995.

The marriage soured within months. They separated after a couple of months. She had met Bill McIntyre Jr. at a sleeping bag plant. She was still married to McCuller, and pregnant with his child, when she went through the ceremony with McIntyre.

McIntyre was completing a home-study course in preaching and working at the factory. He talked her out of an abortion and was in the delivery room when their son Chad McIntyre was born. In fact she sold CDs for drinking money.

On 2 August 1996 McIntyre went to hospital and was diagnosed with AIDS. He moved back in with his parents. In September 1996 she began seeing Ronnie Webb; within weeks she had moved in with him and was pregnant again.

McCuller, still legally her husband, filed a bigamy complaint. Furious, she began asking her partners to get rid of him. She asked Webb to take dynamite to McCuller's car or house, and he refused. She asked an ex-boyfriend, David Prescott, who also refused.

He believed her stories about being a beauty queen and fell for her quickly. They dated for four weeks before she asked him to move in. On 10 May 1997 she insisted they drive to Gatlinburg, Tennessee, where they married on the bank of a brook in the mountains. He did not know she already had two husbands. By then her first husband had filed for custody of her son, claiming she left the children with neighbours for long periods, and she did not fight it.

On 6 November 1997 McCuller filed for divorce and sought custody of Chad, asking for a DNA test. He had also received a large settlement after a logging truck hit his car, leaving him unable to work.

Gray took her brother aside and told him not to be stupid.

McCuller drove off on the flat and they lost him, then found him at an omelette shop and followed him north on Alabama Highway 195. He pulled into the parking lot of the Harmony Missionary Baptist Church. They threw the rifle into a river from a bridge near Good Springs and the gun case into Baker's Creek.

A bank vice-president, David O'Mara, found the body later that morning.

Bill McIntyre Jr. had died of AIDS in early January 1999.

In October 2006 the state supreme court, in a 9-0 decision, reversed that ruling, holding that the evidence was properly admitted as substantive evidence of the offence, and the case was remanded for resentencing. In 2013 the United States Supreme Court declined to hear her case.

In July 2010 he had been moved to the minimum-security State Cattle Ranch at Greensboro because he was nearing a possible release date and had a clean disciplinary record.

The case

Murder of Randy McCuller

Victims

Randy McCuller. third husband; had filed a bigamy complaint and a divorce against her and was the main witness against her

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 2 May 2019.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Ronnie Webb. boyfriend she lived with and had a child by; refused her request to blow up McCuller
David Prescott. ex-boyfriend she asked to kill McCuller; refused and testified
Jimmy Tidwell. second husband in 1994; divorced her after about five months
Betty McCuller. Randy McCuller's mother
Frida McIntyre. Bill McIntyre Jr.'s mother
Audrey Gray. sister, host of the Thanksgiving dinner
David O'Mara. vice president of the First National Bank of Jasper who found the body
Bobby Feltman. friend, who told police the husbands beat her
Wanda. mother, who denied everything and kept her room ready
Chad McIntyre. and Randy McCuller's son

The timeline

  1. 1987 marries her first husband, Jeff Nelsonabout 1:53:17
  2. 1993 The six-year marriage to Jeff Nelson ends in divorceabout 1:53:17
  3. 1994 marries Jimmy Tidwellabout 1:53:20
  4. 1994 Tidwell divorces her after about five monthsabout 0:42:03
  5. June 24th, 1995 and Randy McCuller marry in a small church ceremony near his parents' home (McCuller wedding church)about 0:43:28
  6. July 11th, 1995 The marriage certificate is filed, after her divorce is finalisedabout 0:51:03
  7. the summer of 1995 After about two months of marriage they separateabout 0:53:50
  8. a little over three months after the wedding, 1995 While still married to McCuller and pregnant with his child, goes through a courthouse marriage with Bill McIntyre Jr. (courthouse)about 0:54:36
  9. August 2nd, 1996 Bill McIntyre Jr. is diagnosed with AIDSabout 1:06:01
  10. August 2nd, 1996 leaves McIntyre the day he is diagnosedabout 1:07:16
  11. September 1996 begins a relationship with Ronnie Webbabout 1:10:02
  12. September 1996 She moves in with Webb and becomes pregnant againabout 1:10:22
  13. McCuller files a bigamy complaint against about 1:11:19
  14. the spring of 1997 asks Ronnie Webb to take dynamite to McCuller's car or house; he refusesabout 1:15:24
  15. May 10th, 1997 and marry on the bank of a brook in Gatlinburg, Tennessee (Gatlinburg wedding spot)about 1:24:14
  16. 1997 Her first husband files for custody of her son, claiming she is an unfit mother; she does not fight itabout 1:26:35
  17. November 6th, 1997 McCuller files for divorce and seeks custody of Chad McIntyre plus a DNA testabout 1:27:52
  18. November 28th, 1997, Thanksgiving At Thanksgiving dinner at Audrey Gray's home says they are going head hunting and have a gun in the car (Audrey Gray's home)about 1:30:05
  19. the early hours of November 30th, 1997 After finding The Cooler closed they go to the BC Lounge, where says McCuller leaves between midnight and 12.30 (BC Lounge)about 1:35:03
  20. November 30th, 1997 slashes a tyre on McCuller's car (BC Lounge)about 1:35:54
  21. November 30th, 1997 They lose McCuller, find him at an omelette shop and follow him north on Highway 195 (Omelet shop)about 1:36:41
  22. November 30th, 1997 McCuller pulls into the Harmony Missionary Baptist Church parking lot (Harmony Missionary Baptist Church)about 1:37:03
  23. November 30th, 1997 argues with McCuller, puts a loaded rifle in hands and says "do it, do it, get it over with" (Harmony Missionary Baptist Church)about 1:38:00
  24. November 30th, 1997 shoots McCuller in the head from the car window (Harmony Missionary Baptist Church)about 1:38:14
  25. November 30th, 1997 They throw the rifle into a river from a bridge near Good Springs and the gun case into Baker's Creek (Bridge near Good Springs)about 1:39:46
  26. the morning of November 30th, 1997 David O'Mara finds the body in the church parking lot and calls police (Harmony Missionary Baptist Church)about 1:33:04

Last meals

  • Randy McCuller. food at an omelette shop in Jasper ate there shortly before he was followed and shot, November 30th, 1997about 1:36:41

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode