June 16, 2024 • 53 mins
In the dark morning hours of September 11th 1991, in the small town of Jasper Alabama, a couple named Earl and Carrie Lawson were awoken by a fake emergency phone call that lured them out of the house. A masked man was waiting in their carport. Earl was bound with duct tape and the assailant forced Carrie their SUV and sped off into the darkness. Carrie had been kidnapped for ransom. It seemed like something you only saw in movies. In the last episode, I told you all about the parade of mistakes the FBI made in this case. Now we’re getting into the repercussions of those mistakes, and even more bad decisions…as Carrie Lawson’s life hung in the balance.
Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Erica Kelley & Andrea Marshbank
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley
Suggested by: Nocturnal Druid, Reagan Williams and Amanda
Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/carrie-lawson-2
This episode is brought to you by:
Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Erica Kelley & Andrea Marshbank
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley
Suggested by: Nocturnal Druid, Reagan Williams and Amanda
Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/carrie-lawson-2
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Southern Fried True crime covers cases thatare not suitable for young listeners, and
there may also be some explicit languageused. Listener discretion is advised for those
who missed the last episode. Here'sa quick recap. On September eleventh,
nineteen ninety one, in the smalltown of Jasper, Alabama, a couple
named Earl and Carrie Lawson were sleepingpeacefully until they were awoken by a phone
(00:25):
call. It was in the darkesthours of the night before dawn breaks,
and those kind of calls are nevergood. Earl's father had recently been ill,
so when the woman on the phoneclaimed to be a nurse from the
local hospital, they believed her.She said his dad, Earl Lawson Senior,
might not even make it through thenight and they needed to rush to
(00:45):
Walker Medical Hospital right away. Thecouple threw on some clothes and rushed out
the door, jumping in their FordExplorer in the car port. Suddenly,
a masked man appeared with a gun. Earl Lawson realized immediately that the phone
call from the nurse had been aruse. The assailant made Carrie bind Earl
with duct tape and then forced herback into the Explorer, and then he
(01:08):
raced off into the night, abductingtwenty five year old Carrie Lawson. Earle
managed to break free from the ducttape, but his keys were still in
the explore, so he kicked inhis back door and called his dad and
nine one one. Then he calledCarrie's parents. He later said it was
one of the hardest things he everhad to do in his life. Their
(01:30):
families were shocked to discover this wasa kidnapping for ransom. It seemed like
something you only saw in movies,but it was very real and they were
terrified for Carrie. In the lastepisode, I told you all about the
parade of mistakes the FBI made inthis case. Now we're getting into the
repercussions of those mistakes and even morebad decisions as Carrie Lawson's life hung in
(01:53):
the balance. Welcome to Episode twonineteen, The Kidnapping of Carrie Lawson,
Part two. In the last episode, we learned about the first failed ransom
drop, the agonizing phone calls withCarrie, the myriad mistakes made by the
(02:14):
FBI, and finally a successful ransomdrop. Only after he got the money.
Carrie's family and law enforcement never heardfrom the kidnapper again on September twenty
eighth. She had been missing forseventeen days, and authorities released audio tapes
of the calls with the kidnapper tothe public. They played on radio stations
(02:36):
and TV news repeatedly in the hopesthat someone would recognize the kidnapper's voice.
More than one hundred people called inwith tips. According to an FBI expert,
the man had not just a NorthAlabama accent, but a Jasper accent,
and he turned out to be right. A caller recognized the voice of
(02:57):
a man named Jerry Bland on theradio station and called the tip line.
He was certain it was Jerry Bland'svoice. Jerry Bland was born right there
in Jasper in December nineteen forty oneto parents Albert and Loreene Bland. Jerry
also attended Walker High School now knownas Jasper High School, the same school
(03:19):
Earl Lawson Junior had graduated from,but Jerry would have graduated around the spring
of nineteen fifty nine, twenty fouryears before Earl, so they had never
crossed paths. Records weren't clear,so we weren't entirely sure. Jerry Bland
got his diploma, but we doknow he enlisted in the army after high
school. He completed basic training atFort Jackson in South Carolina. After his
(03:44):
military service, Jerry began working asa stripmon operator in the late nineteen sixties,
then working for B and D IndustrialMining Services through the seventies and eighties.
In nineteen eighty seven, Jerry helpedfound two mining companies. One was
called BKW Enterprises. It operated outof Bessemer, Alabama. Jerry started the
(04:08):
company with three partners, including hisbrother, but Jerry was bought out two
years later in nineteen eighty nine,which seems to mark the beginning of his
downward spiral. Selling out was aterrible decision. Jerry was married to a
woman named Sheila. They had twodaughters together. At the time of Carrie's
(04:28):
kidnapping, they lived in a NorthJasper home. Around nineteen ninety, after
Jerry sold his company, he andSheila moved from a very nice, expensive
home in the same Heritage Hills subdivisionwhere Carrie and Earle had built their home,
to a cheaper home in Jasper.They were experiencing financial struggles. Jerry
(04:48):
had made some poor business decisions,but he also had an expensive substance abuse
problem. His drug of choice wascocaine, so by the time nineteen ninety
one unrolled around, Jerry really neededmoney badly. After investigating Jerry, finally
the pieces were starting to come together. For the FBI. Multiple people said
(05:12):
Jerry's voice matched the kidnapper's voice andthe recordings, but still a question remained.
Who was the woman who had helpedJerry, who had pretended to be
a nurse when calling Earl and Carrythat night. The FBI was already looking
at Jerry's female associates when a womannamed Karen was identified on a recording that
(05:32):
the police didn't make. I'll getto that in just a bit. The
woman on the recording was Karen LancasterMcPherson, Jerry's close friend and cousin by
marriage. Karen Lancaster was born inthe fall of nineteen sixty one. She
came from a blue collar military family. Members of Karen's family described themselves as
(05:54):
dysfunctional and the working poor during herchildhood. Karen's father was a Special Forces
serviceman. He was deployed to Vietnamtwice, and he was also an alcoholic.
Karen's mother, Ida Cleveland, saidKaren's father would often talk down to
her and her children, Ida explainedto Ale dot Com. He told them
(06:16):
they would never be as good ashe was. Karen was the fourth of
five children. Her family told newspapersthat Karen and most of her siblings had
developed substance abuse issues. As anadult, Karen was a truck driver for
Deaton Trucking. She married young andhad one daughter before her divorce. In
(06:38):
nineteen eighty eight, twenty seven yearold Karen married a thirty six year old
truck driver named Ricky Lynn Macpherson.Ricky had also been married before, but
he had no children. He Karenand her teenage daughter lived in a house
in Coleman, Alabama. Karen wason disability from a worker's compensation claim.
(06:58):
She fell and hit the railing ona truck. In the process, Karen
injured her knees and legs. Dueto her on the job injury, she
became partially disabled and lost forty fivepercent of our earning ability. As a
result, Deton had to pay herbenefits into the mid nineties. By nineteen
ninety one, Karen was a housewife, and, as I alluded to earlier,
(07:23):
she had become close with her cousinby marriage, Jerry Bland. According
to Karen's family, Jerry had bypassedsurgery and needed help. Karen shipped in,
and apparently the two became pretty closefriends. Karen's family would later claim
that Jerry preyed on Karen. Hermother and eldest brother told reporters that Karen
(07:46):
was easily manipulated. They also saidKaren had a bad habit of overlooking men's
flaws, so Jerry, who wassaid to be charismatic and charming, took
advantage of that. There are evenrumors that Jerry threatened to harm Karen and
her family if she didn't help himwith this subduction plot, but frankly,
(08:07):
there's no hard evidence to show that'strue, just the claims of Karen's family
members trying to mitigate complicity in Carrie'skidnapping. Karen's oldest brother, Frank,
told Ale dot com that he believedJerry was trying to approach him about the
ransom scheme. First. Weeks beforeCarrie was taken, Jerry allegedly invited Frank
(08:30):
and his wife to a pool party. Frank thought that was odd. Jerry
hardly ever invited him over he hada business opportunity he wanted to run by
Frank, but apparently they didn't getto it at the party. Frank,
who was a US Marine, soontook an overseas assignment. He was in
Singapore at the time of the kidnapping. Ultimately, it's unclear how Jerry convinced
(08:54):
Karen to cooperate with his plan tokidnap Carrie Lawson, but it is widely
accepted that Jerry was the mastermind behindthe kidnapping, though, as you'll hear
in a minute, Karen is notwithout blame. I'm going to pause now
for a short commercial break. Let'scircle back to the timeline of the investigation.
(09:22):
On Saturday, September twenty eighth,Carrie had been missing for over two
weeks. The kidnapper slash. Jerry'sphone calls had been released and the FBI
had tentatively identified him. Karen wouldsoon be identified too. That same Saturday,
the FBI got a warrant and searchedJerry's home and truck. Right away,
(09:45):
they discovered cash in his truck.It was eighty four one hundred dollars
bills using serial numbers. The FBIverified that this was in fact part of
the ransom money. They also foundseveral guns in the house and all amount
of marijuana, but the agents didnot arrest Jerry. Instead, the FBI
(10:07):
secretly saveiled Jerry's house over the weekend. They saw that Jerry's wife and two
daughters were in the home. Themother and daughters were sleeping on a mattress
in the living room, but atsome point they left and Jerry was all
alone. Then that Sunday, Septembertwenty ninth, a child found a cassette
tape near an apartment complex swimming poolin Jasper. It was turned into the
(10:33):
authorities as abandoned property. According tothe Birmingham Post, Harold Jerry's wife,
Sheila, made the tape. Sheilathought Jerry was cheating on her and she
was trying to catch him in theact. Instead, Sheila had inadvertently recorded
Jerry and Karen macpherson planning to kidnapand kill someone for money, not Carrie
(10:56):
Lawson. Though initially the plan wasto abduct a lie local wealthy coal executive
named Ellis Taylor. The Daily Mountainreported that Karen and Jerry had also been
considering targeting former Alabama First Lady LisaTaylor. Wallace. For whatever reason,
Jerry and Karen pivoted to Carrie Lawsoninstead. Carrie's family assumed Jerry knew of
(11:20):
Earl Lawson Senior's successful auto parts shop. Karen McPherson's family said that Jerry told
her he chose Carrie because he knewEarl Lawson's daddy was rich. I don't
think it's a big mystery. JerryBland was aware of the prominent Jasper families
and seemed to have done his research. But I reckon if he had known
(11:41):
more about Carrie's background and that herfolks were millionaires, he might have asked
for a bigger ransom. Regardless,law enforcement knew Jerry was involved, they
knew Karen was involved. They searchedJerry's home and were watching it closely that
on Monday, September thirtieth, theysearched Karen's home. There, agents found
(12:05):
thousands of dollars in cash with theserial numbers corresponding to the ransom money,
just like they had found in Jerry'struck. Shortly after, Karen verified to
the authorities that she had indeed helpedJerry kidnap Carrie Lawson. She told investigators
that her job was to act asthe nurse who lured Carrie and Earl out
(12:26):
of the house. She had alsodropped Jerry off at the Lawson home afterward.
She was in charge of supervising Carriefor several hours while Jerry organized the
ransom exchange, But much to theFBI's dismay, Karen said she didn't know
where Carrie was now. Karen claimedthat the last time she saw Carrie was
(12:50):
two days after the kidnapping, Septemberthirteenth. Now it was the last day
of September, and while Karen saidcar was alive the last time she saw
her, that had been weeks ago. Anything could have happened since then.
According to Karen, Jerry told herthat Carrie had escaped when he left her
(13:11):
alone for a while, but theauthorities were pretty sure that was a lie.
Still, investigators were feeling optimistic.District Attorney Charles Baker told the Birmingham
Post Harold that on Monday night hethought they had Jerry nailed to the wall.
At this point, Jerry knew hewas in trouble, among many other
(13:31):
things. It doesn't sound like theFBI was subtle about staking out his house.
As a result, Jerry's family hadhelped him find a lawyer, so
Da Baker and Jerry's lawyer were negotiatingterms. The FBI wanted to dangle a
carrot in front of Jerry so thathe would tell them where Carrie was.
(13:52):
For hours on Monday night, Baker, Carrie's husband, Earl, and ten
other lawyers discussed possible charges for Jerry. They didn't want Jerry to respond violently
when the agents entered his home.They also knew it was a real possibility
that Jerry could harm himself, anofficer, or both. The group of
(14:13):
lawyers decided to convene a special grandjury at nine am that Tuesday morning,
October first. By then, Carriewould have been missing for three weeks,
twenty one days, and five hundredand four hours, countless minutes and seconds.
For her devastated family, there wasreally no hope that she was still
(14:35):
alive. So the DA was goingto try to indict Jerry Bland for capital
murder, but they waited too lateto arrest him. On Tuesday, October
first, nineteen ninety one, atabout four thirty am, the FBI agents
watching fifty year old Jerry Bland's househeart a gunshot, but instead of rushing
(14:58):
the house, the officers waited untildaylight to enter Jerry's home. When they
did, they saw that Jerry haddied by a self inflicted gunshot wound.
He had pointed a thirty caliber Winchesterrifle at his heart while sitting on the
bed in an upstairs bedroom. Thebullet exited out of his lower back,
hit the bedroom wall, and thenslammed into the house next door. Luckily,
(15:22):
no one else was harmed. Forthe record, several newspapers reported that
Jerry shot himself in the head,so there were conflicting reports. For some
reason, Jerry wrote a letter beforepulling the trigger. The full contents of
that letter have never been released,but we do know a few facts about
it. It was addressed to Jerry'slawyer, Michael Shores. It was two
(15:46):
pages long and handwritten, and therewas no mention of Carrie Lawson or any
hints about her whereabouts. Instead,Jerry wrote about two men and the town
of Hayley. According to Michael Shores, these men and Hayleyville were somehow involved
in a drug deal that Jerry mayhave been involved in. In the note,
(16:10):
Jerry claimed that the cash in hispickup truck was from that drug deal,
which was a lie since the cashin his truck was a portion of
the ransom money. The FBI hadalready confirmed the serial numbers and were sure
this drug deals story by Jerry wasnever confirmed or resolved in any way.
(16:30):
We have no idea what Jerry wastalking about. Some suspect that Jerry was
trying to cover for an unknown thirdparty who was involved in the kidnapping,
but there is no credible or authoritativesupport for this theory. I have a
theory about this that I'll get intolater. By the end of it all,
(16:51):
approximately ninety eight percent of the ransommoney was recovered. Jerry had spent
about eight thousand dollars on various itemsaround Jasper, including a TV satellite dish,
and as you know, there wassome money in Karen's house, so
where was the rest. Well.Following Jerry's death, the authority searched his
house again. This time they foundapproximately two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in
(17:17):
the attic. Law enforcement has suggestedthat this money wasn't in Jerry's house the
first time they searched it, thoughsome doubt that that is true. The
FBI was already facing so much backlashfor this case that they may have been
motivated to mislead the public to mitigatethe fallout. But I mean, for
(17:37):
real, who was going to sneakinto Jerry's house and hide the money while
the FBI were watching him or rightafter his death? How would that work?
It would actually make the FBI lookeven worse. And let's talk about
the FBI for a moment. Asyou might imagine, Jerry Bland's death was
devastating news to Carry's family. Theone person in the entire world who knew
(18:03):
where Carry was was now gone.His suicide was entirely avoidable, ridiculously avoidable.
They had his voice on the ransomtapes. They found marijuana in his
home, he had over eight thousanddollars of the ransom money in his truck,
and they had found multiple guns inhis house and knew that the kidnapper
(18:25):
had held the lossons at gunpoint.Come on, police and agents did not
need an indictment to enter that house. I just gave you a whole list
of probable causes for an arrest orexigent circumstances, or reasonable suspicion. Take
your pick of what to call itbeyond that if the FBI were worried about
federal charges, they could have sentJasper police or Walker County in on state
(18:51):
charges. And it's not like theFBI didn't know all of this. Carrie's
sister, Margaret later told al dotcom. I can remember one of the
Feds saying, look, he hadmarijuana in the house. Let's just arrest
him on a drug charge, gethim in jail. I remember someone saying
he could kill himself. She hasalso said that even though the FBI was
(19:15):
in charge of the investigation, theyhad been planning to send local Jasper police
officers in to arrest Jerry, Andshe said that the FBI was only watching
the front of the house. Theback was wide open. I haven't found
that anywhere else as a fact.But I also don't believe she was lying
about it. Why in the worldwould she. Someone had to have told
(19:38):
her that. But stories have away of changing over the years, of
becoming more exaggerated, especially when we'retalking about the colossal failures of something as
big as the FBI. By theend of it all, Margaret believed the
situation was poorly handled, which allthings considered, was a pretty nice way
(20:00):
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Bank and Trust member FDIC. Carrie'ssister, Margaret also seems to have been
drawn into some of the conspiracy theories. She said, I still don't know
why they didn't arrest him. Thewhole Jerry Bland suicide is very suspicious and
it's very possible somebody else killed him. It's hard to blame her. She
(23:48):
and her family were left with sofew answers. I personally think it's doubtful
that someone else killed Jerry Bland withpolice watching his house, but I do
understand the suspicions. Carrie's father,David Smith said to the Birmingham Post,
Harold, this is not one ofthe FBI's better cases, and I'm sure
(24:10):
no one knows that better than theydo. The FBI rarely speaks about cases
to the public, but this timepublic perception of their work was so bad
that they did comment. FBI representativesclaimed that since Jerry had not crossed state
lines while kidnapping Carry, this wasnot technically a federal crime. The federal
(24:33):
agents were supposedly waiting to arrest Jerryafter the state had charged him, but
reports from the Birmingham Post Harold suggestthat the FBI wasn't waiting on anything of
the sort. These BPH articles suggestthat federal agents thought Jerry was going to
exit his house and lead them tocarry, but obviously Jerry didn't do that.
(24:56):
It should be noted that the BPHarticles do not directly quote an FBI
representative or agent, even as anunnamed source, but it certainly makes sense
they were just sitting and watching.It's unclear what exactly happened. It probably
always will be. However, thecriticisms of the FBI's decision making throughout Carrie's
(25:21):
case are incredibly far reaching. Innineteen ninety three, Washington Post reporter Ron
Kessler wrote a book entitled the FBIInside the World's Most Powerful law enforcement Agency.
In this book, Kessler claimed thatCarrie Lawson's case was one of the
agency's biggest failures. The FBI agentin charge of Carrie's case, Alan P.
(25:45):
Whittaker, said, in direct responseto Kessler's book, It's obvious we're
not happy with the result of thekidnapping investigation. Do I think it was
one of the agency's biggest failures.No, I don't, but it wasn't
one of our shining sexsesses. ButAgent Whittaker retired in May of nineteen ninety
three, just eight months after JerryBlend's death by suicide in October of ninety
(26:10):
two. Before retiring, Agent Whittakerhad served twenty eight years with the Bureau,
and Kessler wrote in his book thatit's likely FBI Director William Baker pushed
Whittaker into retirement due in part tothe mishandling of Carrie's case. Agent Whittaker
denied those claims. In interviews withthe Birmingham Post Harold He said he retired
(26:33):
for unrelated reasons. Earl Lawson seemedto be the only one who really defended
the FBI. He told al dotcom that for sure, mistakes were made,
but quote, those guys gave twohundred percent every day, every minute
they cried with us. If mistakeswere made, it wasn't because of a
(26:55):
lack of effort. They cared andtried their very hardest. It was personal
to them now. Carrie's husband directedhis ire at Jerry Bland. He said,
I couldn't help but think that anybodywould tell or leave a note about
where she was. The fact thatBland killed himself without doing anything is incomprehensible
(27:18):
to me. Following Bland's death,the search for Carrie Lawson was renewed.
Law enforcement and volunteers focused on locationswhere Jerry was familiar and had worked,
especially places related to the coal miningbusiness, since coal mining had basically always
been Jerry Bland's career. They alsoscoured the areas near various pathons that Jerry
(27:42):
and Carrie had used. In theend, nothing was discovered that led to
the recovery of Carrie's body, butit wasn't for lack of trying. Searchers
used horses, pickup trucks, andATVs to sweep miles and miles of land.
Divers comed through rivers, people walkedthrough overgrown, snake filled rural areas
(28:06):
of Alabama. The University of Alabama, ore OTC, and the National Guard
joined the search in early October.For about six weeks, thousands of people
tried to find Carrie. According tothose present, multiple bodies were discovered in
the search process. The names ofthose poor souls were never released in the
(28:29):
sources we found, But the searchersnever found Carrie. Her whereabouts or her
remains were etched into the top ofeveryone's minds, especially her families. Her
mother, Harriet Smith said to theBirmingham Post, Harold, there's not a
single minute when we are not thinkingabout this situation. She also told the
(28:52):
BPH that when her other daughter,Margaret, got married a year after Carrie
was abducted, she couldn't help butlook for her daughter's face and the bridesmaids
as they walked down the aisle.I knew better, she said, but
these things cross your mind. That'swhy this thing needs closure, because we
can't stop. We can't quit untilwe know. I don't think anyone can
(29:18):
understand the deep sorrow and never endingache felt by parents who cannot lay their
children to rest, except for otherparents who have lived through this horror.
By October twenty second, nineteen ninetyone, the search for Carrie had officially
ended. The FBI was closing theinvestigation, but over the years there were
(29:41):
additional targeted searches. In early Novemberof ninety one, about fifty people conducted
a shoulder to shoulder search in thedeer Lick Creek area of Tuscaloosa County.
They wanted to ensure that Mitchell Neelymindes were clear. Jerry knew these minds
had traveled to them before for businessand had been near there during some of
(30:04):
the phone calls he made while hewas holding Carrie. That is an incredible
lead, which led to heartbreaking frustrationwhen searchers found nothing. Then five years
later, in nineteen ninety six,a construction crew emptied a pool at a
different closed surface mine in Tuscaloosa County. They used an excavator to rip up
(30:27):
the bottom of the pool, butsearchers were again disappointed, as if Carrie's
family did not have enough to endure. In March of nineteen ninety two,
a man named Perry Jerome Black pledguilty in federal court for extorting Carrie's family.
Harry, who lived in northern Alabama, had called and sent letters to
(30:49):
Carrie's husband and her parents. Heclaimed that he had information about where Carrie
was, but he demanded money totell them that information. Harry was sentenced
to seventy months in prison and threeyears of probation, so he got almost
six years. This was only oneof several extortion attempts the Lawson and Smith
(31:14):
families were forced to navigate. Detailsof these other attempts were not provided in
the papers, but Margaret, Carrie'ssister, also confirmed there were several attempts
and that it was agonizing for herparents. Eight months after Carrie was kidnapped,
her husband, Earle, moved awayfrom Jasper. Earle said that it
(31:37):
was difficult to try and live anormal life when every person in town always
wanted to talk about Carrie's abduction.He remarried and had three children. By
his own admission, Earle doesn't talkabout Carrie's case often, but he will
always remember how kind people were tohim and Carrie's family throughout the ordeal.
(32:00):
He recalled to al dot com howmany people who didn't know Carrie, or
the Losses or the Smiths at allstill took the time to help look for
her. Unfortunately, there are otherpeople who still whisper that Earl had something
to do with his young wife's kidnapping. They whispered it at the time,
(32:22):
and even more when he moved awayfrom Jasper and remarried. I can't imagine
living that way. I completely understandwhy he moved. It doesn't mean he
didn't love her Like everyone else,he believed she was dead and he needed
to be able to get up andgo to work every day without being consumed
(32:45):
by this tragedy. He had totry and move on with his life.
That's not a crime. He triesnot to think about it, but told
a reporter that the continued rumors havealways hurt him. Of course it bothered
me, he said. It stillbothers me, and it bothers me that
my kids have to read stuff likethat. I have already mentioned some of
(33:08):
the comments of Carrie's sister, MargaretSmith Cubson. Some were made to a
podcaster that show has since pod faded, not putting out any episodes since twenty
twenty, but the host said someconcerning things on her show, including calling
Carey's husband Earle shady mc shaterson,which I think is very problematic. But
(33:32):
to be fair, Margaret herself refusedto outright say her ex brother in law
was not involved in Carrie's abduction.She said no comment when asked, but
she did allude to suspicious things aboutEarl's law firm. David Smith, Carrie's
father, also hinted around about thisconspiracy, though he never outright accused the
(33:55):
Lawsons or the firm Earl worked for. There has never been any proof that
Earl Lawson had anything to do withhis wife's subduction, and I honestly think
we need to let that particular conspiracytheory die. I mean, really,
what would his motive be. Margaretsaid that Carrie had a life insurance policy,
(34:19):
but that their father, David wasthe beneficiary, and he wound up
putting all of that money into privateinvestigators and other resources trying to find his
daughter. Earl Lawson Junior came froma rich family. He had a great
career at a prosperous law firm.For that matter, why would his firm
be involved in this, as hasalso been hinted at. I understand the
(34:44):
pain of Carrie's family and their needto cling to certain theories, but I
think the whispers about Earl are veryunfair and hurtful, and I want to
make sure that's clear on this show. I'm going to pause now offer a
short commercial break. I should alsobriefly discuss that there's a lot of stuff
(35:10):
on the internet about corruption in WalkerCounty and nefarious goings on. You can
even find Reddit threads about the county, and I told you the urban myth
about Walker County being the place tofind a hit man. Frankly, most
of this stuff comes from the commentssection, and we all know how reliable
(35:30):
those can be. But Carrie's caseis mentioned a lot in these forums.
Even though the FBI was far fromperfect in this case, it's ridiculous to
believe they actually conspired with local authoritiesto cover up the truth about Carrie's abduction.
Everyone wanted to bring Carrie Lawson home. Her sister Margaret even went out
(35:52):
of her way to praise the JasperPolice Department, even though she was rightly
critical of the FBI. Two yearsafter the abduction, in September of ninety
three, Carrie Smith Lawson was officiallydeclared dead. Her grave is in the
Saint Luke's Episcopal Church Cemetery in Cleveland, Tennessee. Her father was buried in
(36:15):
the same location when he passed awayat the age of eighty three in twenty
seventeen. Her mother, Harriet,passed away at the age of seventy two
in two thousand eight. Margaret toldal dot com how not finding Carrie quote
devastated my parents. I honestly believethe trauma exacerbated my mother's Alzheimer's and it
(36:38):
certainly broke all of our hearts.Margaret also said that her father had spent
hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting tofind Carrie. She said it was hurtful
that her father had to worry aboutmoney in his final years after putting almost
everything he had into trying to findhis lost daughter. She made up clear
(37:00):
that he was not destitute, buthe certainly didn't enjoy the kind of retirement
he deserved. For more than adecade, Carrie's family hired more than seven
private investigators to look for her.One in particular, named Woodrow Wilson's self,
who went by Red, became veryclose with the Smith family. He
(37:22):
was a former Birmingham police officer andDistrict Attorney's Office investigator. Red continued searching
for Carrie until the day he diedat the age of ninety one in two
thousand and nine. Using information thatRed found, Carrie's family tried to get
the FBI to reopen the case inthe year two thousand. They were unsuccessful
(37:45):
However, in two thousand and two, a tip led the authorities to look
near a Tuscaloosa County community called Samantha. Crews used tobacco to look for Carrie's
remains, but still she was neverfound. Although Jerry Bland is dead and
gone, perhaps slamming shut the doorof ever finding Carrey's remains, there is
(38:08):
one person that family friends in thecommunity can focus on. Back in November
of nineteen ninety one, thirty yearold Karen Lancaster Macpherson, Jerry's cousin,
and the fake nurse, led guiltyto first degree kidnapping. In doing so,
Karen avoided the possibility of facing thedeath penalty for capital murder. Instead,
(38:32):
she received life in prison with thepossibility of parole, but the presiding
judge, James C. Brotherton,explicitly stated that he did not want Karen
to ever receive parole. He saidthe court permanently objects to it. District
Attorney Charles Baker told reporters that thejudge's statement reflected the community's feelings. Baker
(38:58):
basically said that when j Mary died, everyone redirected their anger at Karen.
Karen's family would later say this wasunfair. Karen was not the mastermind of
the kidnapping plot. Jerry was.Karen's defense attorney stated that nobody questions she
didn't want to harm anybody, butCarrie's family believed and still believes, that
(39:22):
Karen should take responsibility for her actions. Karen spent hours with Carrie without Jerry.
What was stopping her from helping carryescape? If Karen was truly blackmailed
into kidnapping Carrie, as her familyhas suggested, she could have gone to
the authorities after Jerry let her leaveand he took back control of Carrie.
(39:45):
Instead, Karen took whatever her cutof the ransom money was and she kept
quiet. This amount was not disclosed, but based on quick math, it
was likely around forty thousand dollars.I'm just thinking that Jerry had about two
hundred and sixty thousand accounted for inhis home, truck and what we know
(40:06):
he had already spent, but thisis just a guess. Within a year
after Carrie's abduction, her family madea legal agreement with Karen. If she
would provide one hundred percent of theinformation she knew about Carrie, the Smiths
and the Lawsons would not oppose herparole after she served ten years in prison.
(40:28):
Her the agreement, Karen had totake a polygraph test, undergo hypnosis,
and be analyzed by a voice expertto determine if she was lying.
Karen agreed and met with Carrie's father, David, to tell him all she
knew. David Smith expressed to aldot com how difficult the four and a
(40:49):
half hour long meeting was for him. He said, I had to just
sit there and listen to her.I couldn't grab her and choke her or
anything like that. Ultimately, thiswas all for naught. A voice analyst
listened to an audio of the meetingand believed Karen was lying. That same
night, Karen's lawyers called the Smithsand lawsons she wanted to recant everything Karen
(41:13):
had said. Nothing she told Davidwas true. Since Karen's initial incarceration in
nineteen ninety one, she has triedto withdraw her guilty plea and seek a
retrial. She has been denied.Karen has sought parole four times. She
has been denied all four times.One or more members of Carrie's family have
(41:37):
been present at every parole hearing.As of twenty sixteen, Earl Lawson Junior
has not yet attended any of thehearings, but he did write letters to
the court opposing Karen's release. Earlsaid to AL dot com she could have
released her. She could have donea million different things, and she chose
not to. I don't know howa human being does that. Today.
(42:00):
Karen is about sixty three years old. She continues to serve her life sentence
in a Birmingham prison her the AlabamaDepartment of Corrections. She has served almost
thirty three years so far. Herlast bid for parole was denied in twenty
twenty two, and her next parolehearing is March first of twenty twenty seven.
(42:22):
In twenty sixteen, her brother,Frank Lancaster told AL dot com,
I don't disagree that my sister deservedto be punished. Twenty five years of
her life are gone. The manwho killed Carrie himself is dead. My
sister had a minor role in this. I know my sister, and if
she had any inclination that there wasgoing to be harmed unto Carrie, she
(42:44):
wouldn't have done this. He wenton, what more can she give?
They've had their eye for an eye, their pound of flesh. This is
no longer about justice, It's aboutvengeance. I have to admit that's a
powerful argument. I couldn't find anypetitions opposing Karen's release online, or for
(43:07):
that matter, supporting her release.But I'm sure if you wanted to set
a reminder to write a letter tothe Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles,
Carrie or Karen's family would appreciate itif that's how you feel. I feel
conflicted about Karen. She certainly deservedprison time for her actions. If you
(43:28):
are involved in a felony conspiracy,you are charged with murder right along with
the actual killer. So it's notlike her sentence is all that unusual.
Margaret, who is a lawyer herself, points that out. The difference here
is parole. Everyone but Karen's familyopposes her release beyond her own actions,
(43:52):
which are indeed very murky. Lyingto a grieving father's face is cold blooded.
I can see why Carrie's family wantsto just throw away the key.
I would too if this was mysister. But after thirty three years,
I really believe that if Karen didknow where Carrie's body was, she would
have told the truth by now,she's already in prison for life and can't
(44:15):
be tried for capital murder because ofher plea deal. Maybe she was more
complicit in Carrie's murder and just can'tadmit it to herself or anyone else,
and we only have her word andthe note of a dead murderer to pen
her innocence on. I also can'thelp but put it in perspective with the
(44:36):
last case I covered, the murderof Charlotte Childs. That killer admitted to
viciously beating his ex girlfriend to death, and after twenty seven years, he
is a free man. I hatedthat deal, even though I understood and
respected the family's decision. If KarenMcPherson had told the truth and tried to
(44:58):
bring Carrie home so her family couldlay her to rest, she also would
be walking free today. She wouldhave left prison at forty years old with
plenty of life left to live aheadof her. That was Carrie's family's decision,
But Karen lied and recanted. Shehad her chance to do the right
thing, so we can never knowwhat really happened. If Karen does know
(45:22):
anything about what happened to Carrie,she's obviously taken it to her grave.
I'm going to pause now for afinal commercial break. Many, including some
of Carrie's close family, believe thatCarrie's remains are buried in a coal mine
(45:45):
somewhere. Some also believe that therewere more people involved in the kidnapping than
just Jerry and Karen. Why didJerry refer to they when talking about who
was holding Carrie? Why did hewrite about two un known men and his
suicide note? In nineteen ninety two, Carrie's father David told the Birmingham Post
(46:06):
Harold, there's more people involved.There's some stuff I can't talk about now,
but one day it's going to comeout. However, to date,
nothing has ever come out, andany rumors of additional suspects have not been
verified by authorities. In short,based on the evidence available to the public,
(46:27):
it appears that only Jerry and Karenwere at fault. Maybe the Smith
family or their private investigators know somethingwe don't. I just feel like something
would have come out by now.And I know Ogham's razor is a trope,
but it is a useful one.The simplest explanation is that Jerry Bland
(46:50):
needed money. He was born andraised in Jasper and knew the prominent loss
and family had money. He hadalso worked in coal min's his entire adult
life. He knew where stripmans wereall over Walker County and surrounding areas.
I bet a guy like that knewa lot of places to hide a body,
and maybe he never meant for Carrieto die. Frankly, everything about
(47:15):
the ransom that could go wrong didgo wrong. It wasn't an easy one
night deal like he had planned.He spent time with her, having to
take her to paythones and hold heruntil he got the money and she had
seen his face. We don't knoweverything that was in his suicide note,
except that it would seem he didn'twant Karen blamed, and if anything,
(47:38):
I believe shame was a big factorfor the rest of it. It was
easier to blame it on random drugdealers than admit to what he did to
carry I think that's why he didn'ttell where he hid her body. I
think if police released the entire contentsof Bland's suicide note, the pub the
(48:00):
book might be able to see theramblings of an ashamed guilty man. Or
maybe they could decide for themselves ifany of the rumors are true at this
point, why hold it back?If anything, Things like this are why
folks whisper about corruption in Walker County. There's a lack of transparency here that
(48:21):
fuels the ongoing suspicions that Margaret andothers still have. That is my theory
that I mentioned about the possibility ofa third party or more being involved in
Carrie's abduction and getting away with it. I don't believe there is a third
party. I think the third partyhere is the guilt and shame of Jerry
(48:43):
Bland and so now, regardless ofany conspiracy theories, the actual search for
Carrie continues. If you have anyinformation that could lead to Carry's whereabouts,
contact the Birmingham FBI office or headto to do FBI dot gov. As
of twenty sixteen, Carrie's family continuedto offer a one hundred thousand dollars reward
(49:08):
for any information leading to Carrie.I'm not sure if the reward is still
active in twenty twenty four, butreward or not, if you know something,
say something, do the right thing. People in this case refused to
do the right thing and a familysuffered greatly for it. Carrie's Alma mater
(49:30):
Cleveland High School has a Carrie SmithLawson Scholarship Fund. The members of her
nineteen eighty four graduating class put thistogether to award a female senior two thousand
dollars. The winner of this scholarshipmust demonstrate the same positive traits that Carrie
embodied sterling character, a determination toexcel, and a caring disposition. It's
(49:57):
been thirty three years. Carrie's parentsgrieved for her for the rest of their
lives. Her sister, Margaret,continues to miss Carrie every day, but
she does stress that life must goon. She must continue to get out
of bed every day and try toput carry out of her mind as she
takes care of her children and goesto work and church and just lives her
(50:19):
life. She has to, shetold al dot Com in twenty sixteen.
What has been taken from me personallyis immeasurable. I have four sisters in
law, and I'm close with them, but missing a sister is so difficult.
That is the only person who sharesyour story. You lose your future
(50:40):
and also your connection to the past. It was difficult for me to even
read that quote. I have asister, She's my only sibling. I
cannot even imagine Margaret's grief. Ihave a lot of admiration for Margaret.
It's hard to get up every dayand go on with your life after such
(51:00):
a tragedy, especially one with noreal closure. But she is strong and
I love how she chooses to rememberher sister as just a regular human being.
She said, her legacy is kindnessand how you make an impact on
people just by being thoughtful. Shewasn't a spectacular student, she wasn't a
(51:22):
beauty queen. She wasn't someone wholeaves their mark by being famous. But
everyone that knew her felt like theywere loved by her, and that was
extraordinary. Southern Fried True Crime ishosted and produced by me Erica Kelly.
(51:43):
Today's episode was researched by me andAndrea Marshbank. As usual, any editorial
comments and opinions are my own.Southern Frid's original music is by Rob Harrison
of Gamma Radio and the original graphicartist by Holy Horner. Today's episode was
edited and mixed by Brandon scheck Schneiderof Southern Gothic and Erica Kelly. Thank
you to listeners. Nocturnal Druid ReaganWilliams and Amanda for suggesting Carrie's case.
(52:06):
I honestly was surprised it isn't morefamous. Carrie's story needed to be told.
If you have any suggestions, pleasego to my website, Southernfred Truecrime
dot com and click on the listener'ssuggestion tab or email SFTC Research at gmail
dot com. This is the bestway for me to get those little known
cases. Y'all always send me.Please remember that I do not accept suggestions
(52:30):
on social media private messages, butplease come join our Facebook group, Southern
Fred Truecrime Fans Discussion Group, wherewe swap recipes, worship Dolly Parton,
and share memes. We do,of course discuss true crime, not just
Southern Fried, but all kinds,but it is still very much a Southern
lifestyle group. Our group is asaving fond corner of Facebook, and by
God, we mean it when wesay no shout as is allowed. It's
(52:50):
not just a motto, it's howwe run the group. If you enjoyed
today's show, don't forget to subscribeand please tell a friend or rate and
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Audible and YouTube until next time.Thanks so much for listening. You'll take care
Southern Fried True crime covers cases thatare not suitable for young listeners, and
there may also be some explicit languageused. Listener discretion is advised for those
who missed the last episode. Here'sa quick recap. On September eleventh,
nineteen ninety one, in the smalltown of Jasper, Alabama, a couple
named Earl and Carrie Lawson were sleepingpeacefully until they were awoken by a phone
(00:25):
call. It was in the darkesthours of the night before dawn breaks,
and those kind of calls are nevergood. Earl's father had recently been ill,
so when the woman on the phoneclaimed to be a nurse from the
local hospital, they believed her.She said his dad, Earl Lawson Senior,
might not even make it through thenight and they needed to rush to
(00:45):
Walker Medical Hospital right away. Thecouple threw on some clothes and rushed out
the door, jumping in their FordExplorer in the car port. Suddenly,
a masked man appeared with a gun. Earl Lawson realized immediately that the phone
call from the nurse had been aruse. The assailant made Carrie bind Earl
with duct tape and then forced herback into the Explorer, and then he
(01:08):
raced off into the night, abductingtwenty five year old Carrie Lawson. Earle
managed to break free from the ducttape, but his keys were still in
the explore, so he kicked inhis back door and called his dad and
nine one one. Then he calledCarrie's parents. He later said it was
one of the hardest things he everhad to do in his life. Their
(01:30):
families were shocked to discover this wasa kidnapping for ransom. It seemed like
something you only saw in movies,but it was very real and they were
terrified for Carrie. In the lastepisode, I told you all about the
parade of mistakes the FBI made inthis case. Now we're getting into the
repercussions of those mistakes and even morebad decisions as Carrie Lawson's life hung in
(01:53):
the balance. Welcome to Episode twonineteen, The Kidnapping of Carrie Lawson,
Part two. In the last episode, we learned about the first failed ransom
drop, the agonizing phone calls withCarrie, the myriad mistakes made by the
(02:14):
FBI, and finally a successful ransomdrop. Only after he got the money.
Carrie's family and law enforcement never heardfrom the kidnapper again on September twenty
eighth. She had been missing forseventeen days, and authorities released audio tapes
of the calls with the kidnapper tothe public. They played on radio stations
(02:36):
and TV news repeatedly in the hopesthat someone would recognize the kidnapper's voice.
More than one hundred people called inwith tips. According to an FBI expert,
the man had not just a NorthAlabama accent, but a Jasper accent,
and he turned out to be right. A caller recognized the voice of
(02:57):
a man named Jerry Bland on theradio station and called the tip line.
He was certain it was Jerry Bland'svoice. Jerry Bland was born right there
in Jasper in December nineteen forty oneto parents Albert and Loreene Bland. Jerry
also attended Walker High School now knownas Jasper High School, the same school
(03:19):
Earl Lawson Junior had graduated from,but Jerry would have graduated around the spring
of nineteen fifty nine, twenty fouryears before Earl, so they had never
crossed paths. Records weren't clear,so we weren't entirely sure. Jerry Bland
got his diploma, but we doknow he enlisted in the army after high
school. He completed basic training atFort Jackson in South Carolina. After his
(03:44):
military service, Jerry began working asa stripmon operator in the late nineteen sixties,
then working for B and D IndustrialMining Services through the seventies and eighties.
In nineteen eighty seven, Jerry helpedfound two mining companies. One was
called BKW Enterprises. It operated outof Bessemer, Alabama. Jerry started the
(04:08):
company with three partners, including hisbrother, but Jerry was bought out two
years later in nineteen eighty nine,which seems to mark the beginning of his
downward spiral. Selling out was aterrible decision. Jerry was married to a
woman named Sheila. They had twodaughters together. At the time of Carrie's
(04:28):
kidnapping, they lived in a NorthJasper home. Around nineteen ninety, after
Jerry sold his company, he andSheila moved from a very nice, expensive
home in the same Heritage Hills subdivisionwhere Carrie and Earle had built their home,
to a cheaper home in Jasper.They were experiencing financial struggles. Jerry
(04:48):
had made some poor business decisions,but he also had an expensive substance abuse
problem. His drug of choice wascocaine, so by the time nineteen ninety
one unrolled around, Jerry really neededmoney badly. After investigating Jerry, finally
the pieces were starting to come together. For the FBI. Multiple people said
(05:12):
Jerry's voice matched the kidnapper's voice andthe recordings, but still a question remained.
Who was the woman who had helpedJerry, who had pretended to be
a nurse when calling Earl and Carrythat night. The FBI was already looking
at Jerry's female associates when a womannamed Karen was identified on a recording that
(05:32):
the police didn't make. I'll getto that in just a bit. The
woman on the recording was Karen LancasterMcPherson, Jerry's close friend and cousin by
marriage. Karen Lancaster was born inthe fall of nineteen sixty one. She
came from a blue collar military family. Members of Karen's family described themselves as
(05:54):
dysfunctional and the working poor during herchildhood. Karen's father was a Special Forces
serviceman. He was deployed to Vietnamtwice, and he was also an alcoholic.
Karen's mother, Ida Cleveland, saidKaren's father would often talk down to
her and her children, Ida explainedto Ale dot Com. He told them
(06:16):
they would never be as good ashe was. Karen was the fourth of
five children. Her family told newspapersthat Karen and most of her siblings had
developed substance abuse issues. As anadult, Karen was a truck driver for
Deaton Trucking. She married young andhad one daughter before her divorce. In
(06:38):
nineteen eighty eight, twenty seven yearold Karen married a thirty six year old
truck driver named Ricky Lynn Macpherson.Ricky had also been married before, but
he had no children. He Karenand her teenage daughter lived in a house
in Coleman, Alabama. Karen wason disability from a worker's compensation claim.
(06:58):
She fell and hit the railing ona truck. In the process, Karen
injured her knees and legs. Dueto her on the job injury, she
became partially disabled and lost forty fivepercent of our earning ability. As a
result, Deton had to pay herbenefits into the mid nineties. By nineteen
ninety one, Karen was a housewife, and, as I alluded to earlier,
(07:23):
she had become close with her cousinby marriage, Jerry Bland. According
to Karen's family, Jerry had bypassedsurgery and needed help. Karen shipped in,
and apparently the two became pretty closefriends. Karen's family would later claim
that Jerry preyed on Karen. Hermother and eldest brother told reporters that Karen
(07:46):
was easily manipulated. They also saidKaren had a bad habit of overlooking men's
flaws, so Jerry, who wassaid to be charismatic and charming, took
advantage of that. There are evenrumors that Jerry threatened to harm Karen and
her family if she didn't help himwith this subduction plot, but frankly,
(08:07):
there's no hard evidence to show that'strue, just the claims of Karen's family
members trying to mitigate complicity in Carrie'skidnapping. Karen's oldest brother, Frank,
told Ale dot com that he believedJerry was trying to approach him about the
ransom scheme. First. Weeks beforeCarrie was taken, Jerry allegedly invited Frank
(08:30):
and his wife to a pool party. Frank thought that was odd. Jerry
hardly ever invited him over he hada business opportunity he wanted to run by
Frank, but apparently they didn't getto it at the party. Frank,
who was a US Marine, soontook an overseas assignment. He was in
Singapore at the time of the kidnapping. Ultimately, it's unclear how Jerry convinced
(08:54):
Karen to cooperate with his plan tokidnap Carrie Lawson, but it is widely
accepted that Jerry was the mastermind behindthe kidnapping, though, as you'll hear
in a minute, Karen is notwithout blame. I'm going to pause now
for a short commercial break. Let'scircle back to the timeline of the investigation.
(09:22):
On Saturday, September twenty eighth,Carrie had been missing for over two
weeks. The kidnapper slash. Jerry'sphone calls had been released and the FBI
had tentatively identified him. Karen wouldsoon be identified too. That same Saturday,
the FBI got a warrant and searchedJerry's home and truck. Right away,
(09:45):
they discovered cash in his truck.It was eighty four one hundred dollars
bills using serial numbers. The FBIverified that this was in fact part of
the ransom money. They also foundseveral guns in the house and all amount
of marijuana, but the agents didnot arrest Jerry. Instead, the FBI
(10:07):
secretly saveiled Jerry's house over the weekend. They saw that Jerry's wife and two
daughters were in the home. Themother and daughters were sleeping on a mattress
in the living room, but atsome point they left and Jerry was all
alone. Then that Sunday, Septembertwenty ninth, a child found a cassette
tape near an apartment complex swimming poolin Jasper. It was turned into the
(10:33):
authorities as abandoned property. According tothe Birmingham Post, Harold Jerry's wife,
Sheila, made the tape. Sheilathought Jerry was cheating on her and she
was trying to catch him in theact. Instead, Sheila had inadvertently recorded
Jerry and Karen macpherson planning to kidnapand kill someone for money, not Carrie
(10:56):
Lawson. Though initially the plan wasto abduct a lie local wealthy coal executive
named Ellis Taylor. The Daily Mountainreported that Karen and Jerry had also been
considering targeting former Alabama First Lady LisaTaylor. Wallace. For whatever reason,
Jerry and Karen pivoted to Carrie Lawsoninstead. Carrie's family assumed Jerry knew of
(11:20):
Earl Lawson Senior's successful auto parts shop. Karen McPherson's family said that Jerry told
her he chose Carrie because he knewEarl Lawson's daddy was rich. I don't
think it's a big mystery. JerryBland was aware of the prominent Jasper families
and seemed to have done his research. But I reckon if he had known
(11:41):
more about Carrie's background and that herfolks were millionaires, he might have asked
for a bigger ransom. Regardless,law enforcement knew Jerry was involved, they
knew Karen was involved. They searchedJerry's home and were watching it closely that
on Monday, September thirtieth, theysearched Karen's home. There, agents found
(12:05):
thousands of dollars in cash with theserial numbers corresponding to the ransom money,
just like they had found in Jerry'struck. Shortly after, Karen verified to
the authorities that she had indeed helpedJerry kidnap Carrie Lawson. She told investigators
that her job was to act asthe nurse who lured Carrie and Earl out
(12:26):
of the house. She had alsodropped Jerry off at the Lawson home afterward.
She was in charge of supervising Carriefor several hours while Jerry organized the
ransom exchange, But much to theFBI's dismay, Karen said she didn't know
where Carrie was now. Karen claimedthat the last time she saw Carrie was
(12:50):
two days after the kidnapping, Septemberthirteenth. Now it was the last day
of September, and while Karen saidcar was alive the last time she saw
her, that had been weeks ago. Anything could have happened since then.
According to Karen, Jerry told herthat Carrie had escaped when he left her
(13:11):
alone for a while, but theauthorities were pretty sure that was a lie.
Still, investigators were feeling optimistic.District Attorney Charles Baker told the Birmingham
Post Harold that on Monday night hethought they had Jerry nailed to the wall.
At this point, Jerry knew hewas in trouble, among many other
(13:31):
things. It doesn't sound like theFBI was subtle about staking out his house.
As a result, Jerry's family hadhelped him find a lawyer, so
Da Baker and Jerry's lawyer were negotiatingterms. The FBI wanted to dangle a
carrot in front of Jerry so thathe would tell them where Carrie was.
(13:52):
For hours on Monday night, Baker, Carrie's husband, Earl, and ten
other lawyers discussed possible charges for Jerry. They didn't want Jerry to respond violently
when the agents entered his home.They also knew it was a real possibility
that Jerry could harm himself, anofficer, or both. The group of
(14:13):
lawyers decided to convene a special grandjury at nine am that Tuesday morning,
October first. By then, Carriewould have been missing for three weeks,
twenty one days, and five hundredand four hours, countless minutes and seconds.
For her devastated family, there wasreally no hope that she was still
(14:35):
alive. So the DA was goingto try to indict Jerry Bland for capital
murder, but they waited too lateto arrest him. On Tuesday, October
first, nineteen ninety one, atabout four thirty am, the FBI agents
watching fifty year old Jerry Bland's househeart a gunshot, but instead of rushing
(14:58):
the house, the officers waited untildaylight to enter Jerry's home. When they
did, they saw that Jerry haddied by a self inflicted gunshot wound.
He had pointed a thirty caliber Winchesterrifle at his heart while sitting on the
bed in an upstairs bedroom. Thebullet exited out of his lower back,
hit the bedroom wall, and thenslammed into the house next door. Luckily,
(15:22):
no one else was harmed. Forthe record, several newspapers reported that
Jerry shot himself in the head,so there were conflicting reports. For some
reason, Jerry wrote a letter beforepulling the trigger. The full contents of
that letter have never been released,but we do know a few facts about
it. It was addressed to Jerry'slawyer, Michael Shores. It was two
(15:46):
pages long and handwritten, and therewas no mention of Carrie Lawson or any
hints about her whereabouts. Instead,Jerry wrote about two men and the town
of Hayley. According to Michael Shores, these men and Hayleyville were somehow involved
in a drug deal that Jerry mayhave been involved in. In the note,
(16:10):
Jerry claimed that the cash in hispickup truck was from that drug deal,
which was a lie since the cashin his truck was a portion of
the ransom money. The FBI hadalready confirmed the serial numbers and were sure
this drug deals story by Jerry wasnever confirmed or resolved in any way.
(16:30):
We have no idea what Jerry wastalking about. Some suspect that Jerry was
trying to cover for an unknown thirdparty who was involved in the kidnapping,
but there is no credible or authoritativesupport for this theory. I have a
theory about this that I'll get intolater. By the end of it all,
(16:51):
approximately ninety eight percent of the ransommoney was recovered. Jerry had spent
about eight thousand dollars on various itemsaround Jasper, including a TV satellite dish,
and as you know, there wassome money in Karen's house, so
where was the rest. Well.Following Jerry's death, the authority searched his
house again. This time they foundapproximately two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in
(17:17):
the attic. Law enforcement has suggestedthat this money wasn't in Jerry's house the
first time they searched it, thoughsome doubt that that is true. The
FBI was already facing so much backlashfor this case that they may have been
motivated to mislead the public to mitigatethe fallout. But I mean, for
(17:37):
real, who was going to sneakinto Jerry's house and hide the money while
the FBI were watching him or rightafter his death? How would that work?
It would actually make the FBI lookeven worse. And let's talk about
the FBI for a moment. Asyou might imagine, Jerry Bland's death was
devastating news to Carry's family. Theone person in the entire world who knew
(18:03):
where Carry was was now gone.His suicide was entirely avoidable, ridiculously avoidable.
They had his voice on the ransomtapes. They found marijuana in his
home, he had over eight thousanddollars of the ransom money in his truck,
and they had found multiple guns inhis house and knew that the kidnapper
(18:25):
had held the lossons at gunpoint.Come on, police and agents did not
need an indictment to enter that house. I just gave you a whole list
of probable causes for an arrest orexigent circumstances, or reasonable suspicion. Take
your pick of what to call itbeyond that if the FBI were worried about
federal charges, they could have sentJasper police or Walker County in on state
(18:51):
charges. And it's not like theFBI didn't know all of this. Carrie's
sister, Margaret later told al dotcom. I can remember one of the
Feds saying, look, he hadmarijuana in the house. Let's just arrest
him on a drug charge, gethim in jail. I remember someone saying
he could kill himself. She hasalso said that even though the FBI was
(19:15):
in charge of the investigation, theyhad been planning to send local Jasper police
officers in to arrest Jerry, Andshe said that the FBI was only watching
the front of the house. Theback was wide open. I haven't found
that anywhere else as a fact.But I also don't believe she was lying
about it. Why in the worldwould she. Someone had to have told
(19:38):
her that. But stories have away of changing over the years, of
becoming more exaggerated, especially when we'retalking about the colossal failures of something as
big as the FBI. By theend of it all, Margaret believed the
situation was poorly handled, which allthings considered, was a pretty nice way
(20:00):
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Bank and Trust member FDIC. Carrie'ssister, Margaret also seems to have been
drawn into some of the conspiracy theories. She said, I still don't know
why they didn't arrest him. Thewhole Jerry Bland suicide is very suspicious and
it's very possible somebody else killed him. It's hard to blame her. She
(23:48):
and her family were left with sofew answers. I personally think it's doubtful
that someone else killed Jerry Bland withpolice watching his house, but I do
understand the suspicions. Carrie's father,David Smith said to the Birmingham Post,
Harold, this is not one ofthe FBI's better cases, and I'm sure
(24:10):
no one knows that better than theydo. The FBI rarely speaks about cases
to the public, but this timepublic perception of their work was so bad
that they did comment. FBI representativesclaimed that since Jerry had not crossed state
lines while kidnapping Carry, this wasnot technically a federal crime. The federal
(24:33):
agents were supposedly waiting to arrest Jerryafter the state had charged him, but
reports from the Birmingham Post Harold suggestthat the FBI wasn't waiting on anything of
the sort. These BPH articles suggestthat federal agents thought Jerry was going to
exit his house and lead them tocarry, but obviously Jerry didn't do that.
(24:56):
It should be noted that the BPHarticles do not directly quote an FBI
representative or agent, even as anunnamed source, but it certainly makes sense
they were just sitting and watching.It's unclear what exactly happened. It probably
always will be. However, thecriticisms of the FBI's decision making throughout Carrie's
(25:21):
case are incredibly far reaching. Innineteen ninety three, Washington Post reporter Ron
Kessler wrote a book entitled the FBIInside the World's Most Powerful law enforcement Agency.
In this book, Kessler claimed thatCarrie Lawson's case was one of the
agency's biggest failures. The FBI agentin charge of Carrie's case, Alan P.
(25:45):
Whittaker, said, in direct responseto Kessler's book, It's obvious we're
not happy with the result of thekidnapping investigation. Do I think it was
one of the agency's biggest failures.No, I don't, but it wasn't
one of our shining sexsesses. ButAgent Whittaker retired in May of nineteen ninety
three, just eight months after JerryBlend's death by suicide in October of ninety
(26:10):
two. Before retiring, Agent Whittakerhad served twenty eight years with the Bureau,
and Kessler wrote in his book thatit's likely FBI Director William Baker pushed
Whittaker into retirement due in part tothe mishandling of Carrie's case. Agent Whittaker
denied those claims. In interviews withthe Birmingham Post Harold He said he retired
(26:33):
for unrelated reasons. Earl Lawson seemedto be the only one who really defended
the FBI. He told al dotcom that for sure, mistakes were made,
but quote, those guys gave twohundred percent every day, every minute
they cried with us. If mistakeswere made, it wasn't because of a
(26:55):
lack of effort. They cared andtried their very hardest. It was personal
to them now. Carrie's husband directedhis ire at Jerry Bland. He said,
I couldn't help but think that anybodywould tell or leave a note about
where she was. The fact thatBland killed himself without doing anything is incomprehensible
(27:18):
to me. Following Bland's death,the search for Carrie Lawson was renewed.
Law enforcement and volunteers focused on locationswhere Jerry was familiar and had worked,
especially places related to the coal miningbusiness, since coal mining had basically always
been Jerry Bland's career. They alsoscoured the areas near various pathons that Jerry
(27:42):
and Carrie had used. In theend, nothing was discovered that led to
the recovery of Carrie's body, butit wasn't for lack of trying. Searchers
used horses, pickup trucks, andATVs to sweep miles and miles of land.
Divers comed through rivers, people walkedthrough overgrown, snake filled rural areas
(28:06):
of Alabama. The University of Alabama, ore OTC, and the National Guard
joined the search in early October.For about six weeks, thousands of people
tried to find Carrie. According tothose present, multiple bodies were discovered in
the search process. The names ofthose poor souls were never released in the
(28:29):
sources we found, But the searchersnever found Carrie. Her whereabouts or her
remains were etched into the top ofeveryone's minds, especially her families. Her
mother, Harriet Smith said to theBirmingham Post, Harold, there's not a
single minute when we are not thinkingabout this situation. She also told the
(28:52):
BPH that when her other daughter,Margaret, got married a year after Carrie
was abducted, she couldn't help butlook for her daughter's face and the bridesmaids
as they walked down the aisle.I knew better, she said, but
these things cross your mind. That'swhy this thing needs closure, because we
can't stop. We can't quit untilwe know. I don't think anyone can
(29:18):
understand the deep sorrow and never endingache felt by parents who cannot lay their
children to rest, except for otherparents who have lived through this horror.
By October twenty second, nineteen ninetyone, the search for Carrie had officially
ended. The FBI was closing theinvestigation, but over the years there were
(29:41):
additional targeted searches. In early Novemberof ninety one, about fifty people conducted
a shoulder to shoulder search in thedeer Lick Creek area of Tuscaloosa County.
They wanted to ensure that Mitchell Neelymindes were clear. Jerry knew these minds
had traveled to them before for businessand had been near there during some of
(30:04):
the phone calls he made while hewas holding Carrie. That is an incredible
lead, which led to heartbreaking frustrationwhen searchers found nothing. Then five years
later, in nineteen ninety six,a construction crew emptied a pool at a
different closed surface mine in Tuscaloosa County. They used an excavator to rip up
(30:27):
the bottom of the pool, butsearchers were again disappointed, as if Carrie's
family did not have enough to endure. In March of nineteen ninety two,
a man named Perry Jerome Black pledguilty in federal court for extorting Carrie's family.
Harry, who lived in northern Alabama, had called and sent letters to
(30:49):
Carrie's husband and her parents. Heclaimed that he had information about where Carrie
was, but he demanded money totell them that information. Harry was sentenced
to seventy months in prison and threeyears of probation, so he got almost
six years. This was only oneof several extortion attempts the Lawson and Smith
(31:14):
families were forced to navigate. Detailsof these other attempts were not provided in
the papers, but Margaret, Carrie'ssister, also confirmed there were several attempts
and that it was agonizing for herparents. Eight months after Carrie was kidnapped,
her husband, Earle, moved awayfrom Jasper. Earle said that it
(31:37):
was difficult to try and live anormal life when every person in town always
wanted to talk about Carrie's abduction.He remarried and had three children. By
his own admission, Earle doesn't talkabout Carrie's case often, but he will
always remember how kind people were tohim and Carrie's family throughout the ordeal.
(32:00):
He recalled to al dot com howmany people who didn't know Carrie, or
the Losses or the Smiths at allstill took the time to help look for
her. Unfortunately, there are otherpeople who still whisper that Earl had something
to do with his young wife's kidnapping. They whispered it at the time,
(32:22):
and even more when he moved awayfrom Jasper and remarried. I can't imagine
living that way. I completely understandwhy he moved. It doesn't mean he
didn't love her Like everyone else,he believed she was dead and he needed
to be able to get up andgo to work every day without being consumed
(32:45):
by this tragedy. He had totry and move on with his life.
That's not a crime. He triesnot to think about it, but told
a reporter that the continued rumors havealways hurt him. Of course it bothered
me, he said. It stillbothers me, and it bothers me that
my kids have to read stuff likethat. I have already mentioned some of
(33:08):
the comments of Carrie's sister, MargaretSmith Cubson. Some were made to a
podcaster that show has since pod faded, not putting out any episodes since twenty
twenty, but the host said someconcerning things on her show, including calling
Carey's husband Earle shady mc shaterson,which I think is very problematic. But
(33:32):
to be fair, Margaret herself refusedto outright say her ex brother in law
was not involved in Carrie's abduction.She said no comment when asked, but
she did allude to suspicious things aboutEarl's law firm. David Smith, Carrie's
father, also hinted around about thisconspiracy, though he never outright accused the
(33:55):
Lawsons or the firm Earl worked for. There has never been any proof that
Earl Lawson had anything to do withhis wife's subduction, and I honestly think
we need to let that particular conspiracytheory die. I mean, really,
what would his motive be. Margaretsaid that Carrie had a life insurance policy,
(34:19):
but that their father, David wasthe beneficiary, and he wound up
putting all of that money into privateinvestigators and other resources trying to find his
daughter. Earl Lawson Junior came froma rich family. He had a great
career at a prosperous law firm.For that matter, why would his firm
be involved in this, as hasalso been hinted at. I understand the
(34:44):
pain of Carrie's family and their needto cling to certain theories, but I
think the whispers about Earl are veryunfair and hurtful, and I want to
make sure that's clear on this show. I'm going to pause now offer a
short commercial break. I should alsobriefly discuss that there's a lot of stuff
(35:10):
on the internet about corruption in WalkerCounty and nefarious goings on. You can
even find Reddit threads about the county, and I told you the urban myth
about Walker County being the place tofind a hit man. Frankly, most
of this stuff comes from the commentssection, and we all know how reliable
(35:30):
those can be. But Carrie's caseis mentioned a lot in these forums.
Even though the FBI was far fromperfect in this case, it's ridiculous to
believe they actually conspired with local authoritiesto cover up the truth about Carrie's abduction.
Everyone wanted to bring Carrie Lawson home. Her sister Margaret even went out
(35:52):
of her way to praise the JasperPolice Department, even though she was rightly
critical of the FBI. Two yearsafter the abduction, in September of ninety
three, Carrie Smith Lawson was officiallydeclared dead. Her grave is in the
Saint Luke's Episcopal Church Cemetery in Cleveland, Tennessee. Her father was buried in
(36:15):
the same location when he passed awayat the age of eighty three in twenty
seventeen. Her mother, Harriet,passed away at the age of seventy two
in two thousand eight. Margaret toldal dot com how not finding Carrie quote
devastated my parents. I honestly believethe trauma exacerbated my mother's Alzheimer's and it
(36:38):
certainly broke all of our hearts.Margaret also said that her father had spent
hundreds of thousands of dollars attempting tofind Carrie. She said it was hurtful
that her father had to worry aboutmoney in his final years after putting almost
everything he had into trying to findhis lost daughter. She made up clear
(37:00):
that he was not destitute, buthe certainly didn't enjoy the kind of retirement
he deserved. For more than adecade, Carrie's family hired more than seven
private investigators to look for her.One in particular, named Woodrow Wilson's self,
who went by Red, became veryclose with the Smith family. He
(37:22):
was a former Birmingham police officer andDistrict Attorney's Office investigator. Red continued searching
for Carrie until the day he diedat the age of ninety one in two
thousand and nine. Using information thatRed found, Carrie's family tried to get
the FBI to reopen the case inthe year two thousand. They were unsuccessful
(37:45):
However, in two thousand and two, a tip led the authorities to look
near a Tuscaloosa County community called Samantha. Crews used tobacco to look for Carrie's
remains, but still she was neverfound. Although Jerry Bland is dead and
gone, perhaps slamming shut the doorof ever finding Carrey's remains, there is
(38:08):
one person that family friends in thecommunity can focus on. Back in November
of nineteen ninety one, thirty yearold Karen Lancaster Macpherson, Jerry's cousin,
and the fake nurse, led guiltyto first degree kidnapping. In doing so,
Karen avoided the possibility of facing thedeath penalty for capital murder. Instead,
(38:32):
she received life in prison with thepossibility of parole, but the presiding
judge, James C. Brotherton,explicitly stated that he did not want Karen
to ever receive parole. He saidthe court permanently objects to it. District
Attorney Charles Baker told reporters that thejudge's statement reflected the community's feelings. Baker
(38:58):
basically said that when j Mary died, everyone redirected their anger at Karen.
Karen's family would later say this wasunfair. Karen was not the mastermind of
the kidnapping plot. Jerry was.Karen's defense attorney stated that nobody questions she
didn't want to harm anybody, butCarrie's family believed and still believes, that
(39:22):
Karen should take responsibility for her actions. Karen spent hours with Carrie without Jerry.
What was stopping her from helping carryescape? If Karen was truly blackmailed
into kidnapping Carrie, as her familyhas suggested, she could have gone to
the authorities after Jerry let her leaveand he took back control of Carrie.
(39:45):
Instead, Karen took whatever her cutof the ransom money was and she kept
quiet. This amount was not disclosed, but based on quick math, it
was likely around forty thousand dollars.I'm just thinking that Jerry had about two
hundred and sixty thousand accounted for inhis home, truck and what we know
(40:06):
he had already spent, but thisis just a guess. Within a year
after Carrie's abduction, her family madea legal agreement with Karen. If she
would provide one hundred percent of theinformation she knew about Carrie, the Smiths
and the Lawsons would not oppose herparole after she served ten years in prison.
(40:28):
Her the agreement, Karen had totake a polygraph test, undergo hypnosis,
and be analyzed by a voice expertto determine if she was lying.
Karen agreed and met with Carrie's father, David, to tell him all she
knew. David Smith expressed to aldot com how difficult the four and a
(40:49):
half hour long meeting was for him. He said, I had to just
sit there and listen to her.I couldn't grab her and choke her or
anything like that. Ultimately, thiswas all for naught. A voice analyst
listened to an audio of the meetingand believed Karen was lying. That same
night, Karen's lawyers called the Smithsand lawsons she wanted to recant everything Karen
(41:13):
had said. Nothing she told Davidwas true. Since Karen's initial incarceration in
nineteen ninety one, she has triedto withdraw her guilty plea and seek a
retrial. She has been denied.Karen has sought parole four times. She
has been denied all four times.One or more members of Carrie's family have
(41:37):
been present at every parole hearing.As of twenty sixteen, Earl Lawson Junior
has not yet attended any of thehearings, but he did write letters to
the court opposing Karen's release. Earlsaid to AL dot com she could have
released her. She could have donea million different things, and she chose
not to. I don't know howa human being does that. Today.
(42:00):
Karen is about sixty three years old. She continues to serve her life sentence
in a Birmingham prison her the AlabamaDepartment of Corrections. She has served almost
thirty three years so far. Herlast bid for parole was denied in twenty
twenty two, and her next parolehearing is March first of twenty twenty seven.
(42:22):
In twenty sixteen, her brother,Frank Lancaster told AL dot com,
I don't disagree that my sister deservedto be punished. Twenty five years of
her life are gone. The manwho killed Carrie himself is dead. My
sister had a minor role in this. I know my sister, and if
she had any inclination that there wasgoing to be harmed unto Carrie, she
(42:44):
wouldn't have done this. He wenton, what more can she give?
They've had their eye for an eye, their pound of flesh. This is
no longer about justice, It's aboutvengeance. I have to admit that's a
powerful argument. I couldn't find anypetitions opposing Karen's release online, or for
(43:07):
that matter, supporting her release.But I'm sure if you wanted to set
a reminder to write a letter tothe Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles,
Carrie or Karen's family would appreciate itif that's how you feel. I feel
conflicted about Karen. She certainly deservedprison time for her actions. If you
(43:28):
are involved in a felony conspiracy,you are charged with murder right along with
the actual killer. So it's notlike her sentence is all that unusual.
Margaret, who is a lawyer herself, points that out. The difference here
is parole. Everyone but Karen's familyopposes her release beyond her own actions,
(43:52):
which are indeed very murky. Lyingto a grieving father's face is cold blooded.
I can see why Carrie's family wantsto just throw away the key.
I would too if this was mysister. But after thirty three years,
I really believe that if Karen didknow where Carrie's body was, she would
have told the truth by now,she's already in prison for life and can't
(44:15):
be tried for capital murder because ofher plea deal. Maybe she was more
complicit in Carrie's murder and just can'tadmit it to herself or anyone else,
and we only have her word andthe note of a dead murderer to pen
her innocence on. I also can'thelp but put it in perspective with the
(44:36):
last case I covered, the murderof Charlotte Childs. That killer admitted to
viciously beating his ex girlfriend to death, and after twenty seven years, he
is a free man. I hatedthat deal, even though I understood and
respected the family's decision. If KarenMcPherson had told the truth and tried to
(44:58):
bring Carrie home so her family couldlay her to rest, she also would
be walking free today. She wouldhave left prison at forty years old with
plenty of life left to live aheadof her. That was Carrie's family's decision,
But Karen lied and recanted. Shehad her chance to do the right
thing, so we can never knowwhat really happened. If Karen does know
(45:22):
anything about what happened to Carrie,she's obviously taken it to her grave.
I'm going to pause now for afinal commercial break. Many, including some
of Carrie's close family, believe thatCarrie's remains are buried in a coal mine
(45:45):
somewhere. Some also believe that therewere more people involved in the kidnapping than
just Jerry and Karen. Why didJerry refer to they when talking about who
was holding Carrie? Why did hewrite about two un known men and his
suicide note? In nineteen ninety two, Carrie's father David told the Birmingham Post
(46:06):
Harold, there's more people involved.There's some stuff I can't talk about now,
but one day it's going to comeout. However, to date,
nothing has ever come out, andany rumors of additional suspects have not been
verified by authorities. In short,based on the evidence available to the public,
(46:27):
it appears that only Jerry and Karenwere at fault. Maybe the Smith
family or their private investigators know somethingwe don't. I just feel like something
would have come out by now.And I know Ogham's razor is a trope,
but it is a useful one.The simplest explanation is that Jerry Bland
(46:50):
needed money. He was born andraised in Jasper and knew the prominent loss
and family had money. He hadalso worked in coal min's his entire adult
life. He knew where stripmans wereall over Walker County and surrounding areas.
I bet a guy like that knewa lot of places to hide a body,
and maybe he never meant for Carrieto die. Frankly, everything about
(47:15):
the ransom that could go wrong didgo wrong. It wasn't an easy one
night deal like he had planned.He spent time with her, having to
take her to paythones and hold heruntil he got the money and she had
seen his face. We don't knoweverything that was in his suicide note,
except that it would seem he didn'twant Karen blamed, and if anything,
(47:38):
I believe shame was a big factorfor the rest of it. It was
easier to blame it on random drugdealers than admit to what he did to
carry I think that's why he didn'ttell where he hid her body. I
think if police released the entire contentsof Bland's suicide note, the pub the
(48:00):
book might be able to see theramblings of an ashamed guilty man. Or
maybe they could decide for themselves ifany of the rumors are true at this
point, why hold it back?If anything, Things like this are why
folks whisper about corruption in Walker County. There's a lack of transparency here that
(48:21):
fuels the ongoing suspicions that Margaret andothers still have. That is my theory
that I mentioned about the possibility ofa third party or more being involved in
Carrie's abduction and getting away with it. I don't believe there is a third
party. I think the third partyhere is the guilt and shame of Jerry
(48:43):
Bland and so now, regardless ofany conspiracy theories, the actual search for
Carrie continues. If you have anyinformation that could lead to Carry's whereabouts,
contact the Birmingham FBI office or headto to do FBI dot gov. As
of twenty sixteen, Carrie's family continuedto offer a one hundred thousand dollars reward
(49:08):
for any information leading to Carrie.I'm not sure if the reward is still
active in twenty twenty four, butreward or not, if you know something,
say something, do the right thing. People in this case refused to
do the right thing and a familysuffered greatly for it. Carrie's Alma mater
(49:30):
Cleveland High School has a Carrie SmithLawson Scholarship Fund. The members of her
nineteen eighty four graduating class put thistogether to award a female senior two thousand
dollars. The winner of this scholarshipmust demonstrate the same positive traits that Carrie
embodied sterling character, a determination toexcel, and a caring disposition. It's
(49:57):
been thirty three years. Carrie's parentsgrieved for her for the rest of their
lives. Her sister, Margaret,continues to miss Carrie every day, but
she does stress that life must goon. She must continue to get out
of bed every day and try toput carry out of her mind as she
takes care of her children and goesto work and church and just lives her
(50:19):
life. She has to, shetold al dot Com in twenty sixteen.
What has been taken from me personallyis immeasurable. I have four sisters in
law, and I'm close with them, but missing a sister is so difficult.
That is the only person who sharesyour story. You lose your future
(50:40):
and also your connection to the past. It was difficult for me to even
read that quote. I have asister, She's my only sibling. I
cannot even imagine Margaret's grief. Ihave a lot of admiration for Margaret.
It's hard to get up every dayand go on with your life after such
(51:00):
a tragedy, especially one with noreal closure. But she is strong and
I love how she chooses to rememberher sister as just a regular human being.
She said, her legacy is kindnessand how you make an impact on
people just by being thoughtful. Shewasn't a spectacular student, she wasn't a
(51:22):
beauty queen. She wasn't someone wholeaves their mark by being famous. But
everyone that knew her felt like theywere loved by her, and that was
extraordinary. Southern Fried True Crime ishosted and produced by me Erica Kelly.
(51:43):
Today's episode was researched by me andAndrea Marshbank. As usual, any editorial
comments and opinions are my own.Southern Frid's original music is by Rob Harrison
of Gamma Radio and the original graphicartist by Holy Horner. Today's episode was
edited and mixed by Brandon scheck Schneiderof Southern Gothic and Erica Kelly. Thank
you to listeners. Nocturnal Druid ReaganWilliams and Amanda for suggesting Carrie's case.
(52:06):
I honestly was surprised it isn't morefamous. Carrie's story needed to be told.
If you have any suggestions, pleasego to my website, Southernfred Truecrime
dot com and click on the listener'ssuggestion tab or email SFTC Research at gmail
dot com. This is the bestway for me to get those little known
cases. Y'all always send me.Please remember that I do not accept suggestions
(52:30):
on social media private messages, butplease come join our Facebook group, Southern
Fred Truecrime Fans Discussion Group, wherewe swap recipes, worship Dolly Parton,
and share memes. We do,of course discuss true crime, not just
Southern Fried, but all kinds,but it is still very much a Southern
lifestyle group. Our group is asaving fond corner of Facebook, and by
God, we mean it when wesay no shout as is allowed. It's
(52:50):
not just a motto, it's howwe run the group. If you enjoyed
today's show, don't forget to subscribeand please tell a friend or rate and
review. I'm on all large platformslike iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Amazon,
Audible and YouTube until next time.Thanks so much for listening. You'll take care
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