FILE 299 / 9 July 2022 / 65 MIN / express

Wear My Murder Necklace

Daleville, AlabamaListen

The town

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

Uh Daleville, Alabama ... this is in Dale County, Daleville in Dale County, down southeastern Alabama about 0:04:20

History, in brief

Town note

Several regiments of Confederate soldiers came from Daleville.

about 0:04:53

1862

In 1862, near Cleveland, Tennessee, several of these men were killed in a train derailment before they ever reached the war.

about 0:04:53

2001

Daleville was hit by an F-1 tornado in 2001, which destroyed restaurants, industrial buildings and aircraft.

about 0:05:21
All 3 history facts

Town note

Several regiments of Confederate soldiers came from Daleville.

about 0:04:53

1862

In 1862, near Cleveland, Tennessee, several of these men were killed in a train derailment before they ever reached the war.

about 0:04:53

2001

Daleville was hit by an F-1 tornado in 2001, which destroyed restaurants, industrial buildings and aircraft.

about 0:05:21

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value100, 1,800 bucks
Median household income$42,000
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2022

Population

"5,095"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:04:24

Median household income

"$42,000"

Comparison: "lower than the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2022 about 0:04:34

Median home price

"100, 1,800 bucks"

No direction stated.

As told in 2022 about 0:04:34

The reviews

3.8 / 5 · average of 4

5 stars

“Loves the small town feel and how everything is close by; the people are friendly, larger towns are near, and you can take a day trip to the Florida coast; the history of the area is vast.”
about 0:05:47

4 stars

“A small city with great opportunity, located next to Fort Rucker, which brings jobs and business; the schools are great and teachers do not burn out too fast; a place that values family ethics where everyone knows each other and welcomes change.”
about 0:06:17

3 stars

“The South has really good food, but the lifestyle is very slow and less motivated.”
about 0:07:40

3 stars

“We get a lot of gunshot wounds in at the hospital.”
about 0:07:48

In Alabama

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  4. Never Trust Your CousinClanton, Alabama · 5 April 2025193 km / 120 miShow on map
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The story

Daleville is a small town of about 5,000 people in Dale County, in the far south-east of Alabama, close to Fort Rucker and within a day's drive of the Florida coast. Eddie had come to Alabama from Alaska with his father, stepmother and older sister Martha. The family had spent the previous months raising money for the operation, and Eddie was told the news after returning from a benefit.

He was jealous of the relationship and told Eddie he would kill him if he rode his motorcycle past the house again.

Eddie spent the evening polishing his shoes for Martha's funeral and walked to the bridge at about one in the morning. Eddie was thrown into the river.

After daylight he went back with Sammy Joe and a shotgun to check the body was not floating. He melted the pistol in a tyre rim with an acetylene torch while his thirteen-year-old son Jack kept watch, and he told his eighteen-year-old stepson Cecil Wayne Robbins that he had got rid of Eddie.

A week after the killing Eddie's driving licence arrived in the post at his parents' house. On 26 April 1986 two people fishing found his badly decomposed body in the river. A federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was issued. A search the next day found a sawed-off shotgun in the room. An autopsy found three .22 bullet wounds, to the roof of the mouth, in front of the left ear and in the forehead.

Sammy Joe testified to the ambush, the clean-up and the shotgun.

The state sought death on the grounds that the killing happened during a robbery, because Eddie's father said he had ten dollars in his wallet, and was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. On 5 November 2010, after visiting his mother, he declined a special final meal and ate vending machine cheese crackers, a ham and cheese sandwich and a Dr Pepper.

The case

Murder of Charles Edward 'Eddie' Shannon

Victims

Charles Edward 'Eddie' Shannon (16). boyfriend; had recently lost his mother and his older sister, Martha

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 9 July 2022.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Cecil Wayne Robbins. 18-year-old stepson, told had got rid of Eddie; testified he was burning a bloody shirt because had stabbed him
Jack. 13-year-old son, lookout while the pistol was melted down
Martha Shannon. Eddie's 20-year-old sister, who died on April 6th, 1986 awaiting a heart and lung transplant
James Boyington. man who rented the Pensacola motel room and let use it; consented to the search
Eddie's father. gave Eddie ten dollars the evening he disappeared; searched for him and identified the body
Eddie's stepmother. searched for Eddie, described his grief and the family's loss

The timeline

  1. 1985 Residents of the Shannons' last town raise more than $23,500 for a heart and lung transplant for Martha Shannon.about 0:13:44
  2. November 1985 Eddie's mother dies, five months before the killing.about 0:12:50
  3. April 5th or 6th, 1986 threatens Eddie, saying he will kill him if he rides his dirt bike past his house again. ( residence)about 0:19:56
  4. the night of April 12th, 1986, around midnight calls Eddie from a pay phone and asks him to meet her at the bridge, with her father's knowledge.about 0:24:07
  5. about one a.m., April 13th, 1986 Eddie walks to the bridge and leans into the truck to talk to ; and Sammy Joe come out of the shadows. (Bridge over the river)about 0:24:54
  6. shortly after one a.m., April 13th, 1986 After a struggle shoots Eddie through the roof of the mouth with a .22 pistol, then drags him towards the edge of the bridge. (Bridge over the river)about 0:27:01
  7. minutes later, April 13th, 1986 Two more shots are heard and throws Eddie into the river, then drives home with and Sammy Joe. (Bridge over the river)about 0:32:21
  8. before daybreak, April 13th, 1986 returns to the bridge with water, a brush and a rag and washes the blood spots away. (Bridge over the river)about 0:32:40
  9. after daylight, April 13th, 1986 and Sammy Joe return with a shotgun to check the body is not floating, ready to shoot it so it sinks. (Bridge over the river)about 0:33:40

Last meals

Places and phrases

N ↑Public placeTown 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