211: Evil or Innocent Twins: Betty, Peggy & The Murder of Dr Jack Wilson

WEBVTT

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Southern If our true crime covers cases
that are not suitable for young listeners,

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and there may also be some explicit
language used, listener discretion is advised.

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The bond between sisters can be a
strong one, but the bond between twin

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sisters, it's hard for me to
imagine. From the very moment twin sisters

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exit their mother's womb, those little
girls are together. So many life changing

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milestones are experienced in near lockstep,
your first steps, your first Easter dress,

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your first day of school, And
for each milestone that is not experienced

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at the same time, well,
it becomes a point of comparison. One

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twin's life is always in stark relief
next to the other. You can't help

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but compare and contrast yourself to them. Having a twin sister, identical or

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fraternal, must feel like seeing a
different version of yourself, like witnessing an

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alternate universe before your very eyes,
one where you made different choices, and

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that could be very difficult some days. Just staring in the mirror as hard

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enough. Imagine if that mirror was
an entire person who, in a way

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reflected your own choices, both good
and bad, back at you. In

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today's case, we have twin sisters
who, though they were very close,

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were incredibly different people. They were
two unique individuals. They each had their

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own hopes, dreams, and goals. But in May of nineteen ninety two,

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they became unified in one mission,
and that mission was either to mastermind

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the murder of one twin's husband,
doctor Jack Wilson, or to prove that

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they were innocent. Welcome to Episode
two eleven, Evil or Innocent Twins Betty

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Peggy and the Murder of Jack Wilson. Jack Ray Wilson was born in May

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of nineteen thirty seven to parents Worda
and William in Chicago, Illinois. Jack's

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father's side of the family was originally
from England. His grandfather was nationalized in

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eighteen seventy three when he was six
years old. By the age of thirty

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three, Jack's father had landed in
Chicago. He soon met the woman who

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would become Jack's mother, Worda Warda
and her family were primarily from Arkansas,

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though she herself had been born in
Louisiana. William and Worda were wed in

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Chicago in March of nine, eighteen
thirty three. Four years later, they

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welcomed Jack his little sister was born
in nineteen forty three. By that time,

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Jack and his family were living in
Oklahoma City. His father was working

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in a restaurant called Jake's Cowshed.
Jack's father, William, then served in

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World War II, mercifully making it
home to his family when so many other

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young men didn't. William passed away
in February of nineteen sixty three, when

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he was sixty six years old and
Jack was only twenty six. That is

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still a very young age to lose
your dad, and it had to be

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hard. Despite or perhaps because of, whatever hardships and grief he had known,

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Jack had grown up to be a
clever, charming, and kind young

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man, and he put all of
that to good youth in his choice of

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a career as a doctor. The
year before, in nineteen sixty two,

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Jack had earned his Doctor of Medicine
degree from the University of Tennessee College of

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Medicine. He had been in the
top ten percent of his class. I'm

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so glad mister Wilson lived long enough
to see his son become a doctor.

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Around this same time, Jack married
his first wife. Her name was Julia.

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In August nineteen sixty two. They
tied the Knot in Memphis and had

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several children together. Though they eventually
divorced, friends said the divorce was amicable

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with shared custody of the kids.
Jack adored his children and spent as much

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time with them as he could.
Growing in his career, Jack, who

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was probably more well known as Doctor
Wilson, specialized his medical practice and became

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an optimallogist, which is different from
an optometrist. An optometrist is your primary

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eye care doctor, while an ophthalmologist
is a specialist who treats more complex medical

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issues related to the eyes. Early
on and for the rest of his career,

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doctor Wilson was revered as a kind
and generous man who would often waive

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expensive bills for patients who could not
afford them. By the late nineteen seventies,

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forty something meter Jack met a pretty
nurse named Betty at work. She

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was in her early thirties with brown
hair and brown eyes. Betty later wrote

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an Old Huntsfull magazine that Jack flirted
so much he called her brown eyes in

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front of patients. Jack and Betty
head it off right away. It was

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love at first sight. According to
Betty. They only went on two dates

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before deciding to live together. Betty
had also already gone through a divorce and

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had children of her own. She
worked several different kinds of jobs to pay

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the bills before being encouraged to attend
nursing school. Once she did, she

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found her calling, at least until
she became a doctor's wife and quit her

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job. I'm going to pause now
for a short commercial break. Betty Gay

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Woods and her fraternal sister, Peggy
Joy Woods, were born in July of

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nineteen forty five to parents Lloyd and
Nell and Gadsden, Alabama. Betty and

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Peggy were the youngest of four daughters
in the Woods family. By the time

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Betty and Peggy were five years old
in nineteen fifty, their father was a

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city patrolman on the Gadsden Police Force. Betty said their mother worked in a

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factory and described them as a typical
lower middle class family. In nineteen sixty

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four, Betty and Peggy graduated from
Gadsden High School. At the time of

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their commencement, the eighteen year olds
were both smart, well liked, and

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accomplished young women, though it's clear
their interests were different. Betty had been

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on the student council, She had
participated in the Drama Club, Future Business

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Leaders of America, the Red Cross, the Powderpuff football team, and more.

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Peggy participated in many of the same
clubs as Betty, including FBLA,

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but Peggy had also been heavily involved
in the school choirs, and Peggy had

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been recognized as the school's homecoming Queen
two years in a row. She had

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also won two beauty pageants. According
to Steve Means, a more classmate of

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the Woods Sisters who spoke with snapt
Peggy was perceived as the debutante. She

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excelled. She was the homecoming queen. Betty was more average, but they

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always appeared to get along just fine. As the years went on, Peggy

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graduated from Auburn University in Montgomery,
Alabama, and she became an elementary school

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teacher for the Shelby County School District, which is still south of Birmingham.

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By nineteen eighty five, Peggy had
also married and divorced, then remarried to

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a man named Wayne Lowe. Wayne
was the minister of music for the first

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Baptist Church in Vincent, Alabama,
and Peggy taught Bible classes at that same

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church and was lead singer in the
choir. Wayne adopted her two kids from

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her first marriage, and they had
two more together in all, three daughters

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and a son. Meanwhile, well, Betty had married her childhood sweetheart,

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had a couple of children and quickly
divorced, explaining they both knew they were

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just too young. She later describes
her first apartment on her own and partying

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a lot, mainly because later books
about her life would go into her past.

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It all changed when Betty became a
nurse and met doctor Jack Wilson.

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As I said, they moved in
together after a couple of dates and married

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just nine months after Jack's first divorce. In nineteen seventy eight, everything changed

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again very gravely when Jack had to
have a serious surgery. He had long

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suffered with Crohn's disease. It's a
type of inflammatory bowel disease that causes swelling

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in your digestive tract. It's a
very painful disease, sometimes requiring surgery.

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It did for Jack. Jack had
a colostomy. It's a procedure that alters

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the path of food waste as it
moves through your body. Essentially, they

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put a hole in your large intestine
and re route your fecal matter to exite

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your body through a plastic bag,
which is known as a colostomy bag.

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A short time after Jack had this
surgery, on July sixth, nineteen seventy

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eight, forty one year old Jack
and thirty three year old Betty married.

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Their nuptials took place in Huntsville,
Alabama. At first, their relationship appeared

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idyllic. A former friend of Betty's, Robbie Smith, told snapped, I

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thought she had a wonderful life and
the man she was married to was a

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wonderful man. She always seemed to
be really happy. Plus, as the

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years went by, they were rich. Jack earned a high income as a

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doctor, Betty was able to quit
her job. They drove Mercedes and BMW

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vehicles. They lived in an extremely
nice, four bedroom, three and a

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half bathroom home on a near acre
of land, and this home was located

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in a fancy neighborhood called Boulder Circle. Boulder Circle was where many of the

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local Huntsville doctors and other highly paid
people lived. Newspapers often listed Jack and

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Betty as being from Boulder Circle rather
than Huntsville, as if suggesting living in

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Boulder Circle meant something entirely different than
living elsewhere. In Huntsville, and I

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guess it kind of was. Jack
showered his wife with lavish gifts, but

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was more of a simple eccentric man
himself. Jack's son, Steve, and

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some family friends talked to People magazine
about how funny and quirky he was wearing

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Christmas ties in the summer, and
he loved to eat peanut butter out of

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the jar, which his son claimed
irritated Betty. Despite what Steve said,

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outwardly, they seemed to have a
wonderful life together. But of course money

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doesn't mean your life is perfect,
and Betty and Jack weren't without their problems.

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Betty struggled with alcoholism. She later
said she drank a lot because she

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felt inferior and nervous in their wealthy
social circles Bloody Mary brunches and Martini lunches,

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as she put it, and she
was also careful to explain that when

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drinking, she said many things which
were out of character for her. Quote,

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when I was drunk, I would
say horrible and nasty things, often

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attacking the people who loved me the
most. In nineteen eighty six, eight

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years into their marriage, Betty quit
drinking and joined Alcoholics anonymous. She said

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it was the best thing that ever
happened to her. She became well known

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in AA as a role model and
was very kind to others. That's not

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just from her viewpoint, others said
it as well. But around the same

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time, rumors began whispering around Huntsville
that Betty was having extramarital affairs, and

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Betty fully admitted the rumors were true. Later, Betty would insist that she

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and Jack were basically in an open
marriage. She claimed that Jack had urged

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her to pursue other men romantically,
as his one true love was his job.

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But it's not one hundred percent clear
if this was true or if Betty

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was altering history after the fact.
She wrote quote, like all marriages,

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ours had its problems, but strangely, Ann, none of them had to

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do with sex. Jack and I
were both grown people who believed that what

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we did in our bedroom was our
own business as long as both of us

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agreed. Yes, I had affairs, but I never cheated, and neither

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did Jack. That sounds strange,
like an oxymoron. You had affairs,

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but you didn't cheat. I think
what she means is what in modern culture

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we now call emotional cheating. Affairs
were just sex, but she never emotionally

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cheated on her husband. A few
sources indicated that Jack approved of Betty's affairs,

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but none of these sources that I
could find are from Jack himself or

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those close to Jack. However,
whether or not he explicitly consented, it's

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likely Jack was aware that Betty was
seeing other men. Betty would later write

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an essay for Old Huntsville magazine,
and she seemed to be creatively tailoring her

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story. I was careful about quotes. I drew from it because it's hard

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to know what is the truth,
and of course Jack isn't around to explain

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his side. In nineteen eighty six, one of Betty's friends, Brenda,

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experienced a tragedy. Brenda's husband,
who was also a close friend of Jack's

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and a doctor, had died by
suicide. Not long after it happened,

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Betty approached Brenda. She asked Brenda
if she had killed her husband. The

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question shocked and hurt Brenda. She
later testified that she replied, no,

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Betty, you know he had suicidal
tendencies, and besides, I was in

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love with him. But Betty kept
asking Brenda if she killed her husband.

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According to Brenda, Betty repeatedly said, you know, you can tell me.

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Finally, Brenda broke down and began
to cry. It was then that

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Betty said, I want to kill
Jack. Can you help me? In

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response, Brenda suggested that Betty divorced
Jack, but according to Brenda, Betty

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refused. She knew that a divorce
meant she would lose her wealth and lavish

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lifestyle. Betty told Brenda that she
envied how Brenda had inherited her husband's estate,

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and Betty said she would rather be
a widow than a divorcee. Later

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in court, Brenda would admit that
Betty was drunk during this conversation and Brenda

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hadn't taken the conversation seriously, which
is probably why she didn't contact the police.

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But following this conversation, Brenda did
distance herself from Betty. I'm going

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By the year nineteen ninety two,
onlookers could tell that the Wilson's once

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perfect marriage had turned sour. They
slept in separate bedrooms, which is more

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common than most people think, but
it was still a black mark against Betty

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because of the rumors about her affairs. But even worse, Betty spoke poorly

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about Jack to others and often Once
she asked Jack's bookkeeper to give him a

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message, and then she made quote
a rude hand gesture at the bookkeeper.

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I can imagine what that was.
A different woman who worked at Jack's office

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also heard Betty say she would rather
be a well respected widow than a divorcee,

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just like Betty had previously told Brenda. Also, Betty would refer to

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Jack's colostomy bag as his ship bag. Steve Wilson, Jack's son, told

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People magazine that she also called his
father shitbag. He said Betty was sick

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of her husband and didn't want to
go anywhere with him, and she was

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not subtle about her extramarital affairs.
The Wilson's housekeeper testified that Betty sometimes brought

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these men to her home and it's
not like Betty couldn't afford a hotel room.

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Toward the end of May of nineteen
ninety two, Jack and Betty were

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preparing to take a vacation to Santa
Fe, New Mexico. They planned to

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leave on Monday, May twenty fourth, but on Friday May twenty first,

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the unthinkable happened. At about nine
thirty pm, Betty arrived home from an

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AA meeting, and she discovered her
fifty five year old husband, doctor Jack

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Wilson, lying in a large pool
of blood at the top of their stairwell.

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He appeared lifeless. Betty dropped everything
she was holding and ran to a

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neighbor's house and called nine one one. She explained that it looked like Jack

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had been attacked. There was a
police officer who had just finished responding to

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a different call about six blocks away. He arrived at Betty and Jack's home

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within minutes and secured the crime scene. When more investigators arrived, they confirmed

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what was now obvious, Jack Wilson
was dead. As the officers looked over

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the crime scene, they noted that
Jack was positioned on his back. He

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had been severely beaten and stabbed multiple
times in his torso he had been bludgeoned

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to death. Both of his arms
were broken as he had tried to defend

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00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:17.519
himself. There was blood all around
him and splattered on a wall, and

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a bloody aluminum bat lay about five
feet away from his body. According to

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forensic pathologist doctor Joseph Embry, Jack
died from a mix of the gruesome head

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00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:33.440
injuries and the stab wounds. There
was no sign of forced entry, but

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that doesn't mean the same thing here
as it might in a different case.

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Jack was widely known for being very
trusting. Neighbors reported that he often left

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his doors unlocked, which isn't as
outlandish as it sounds. Boulder Circle was

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00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:55.960
an incredibly safe neighborhood. It wasn't
uncommon for residents there to leave their doors

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00:22:56.039 --> 00:23:00.640
unlocked. But for the record,
there wasn't any kind of major CSI type

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00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:06.680
investigation of the Wilson house like we're
used to hearing about and seeing on TV.

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That will become more clear later.
Police interviewed Betty. She said that

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00:23:12.720 --> 00:23:18.440
evening she had been out shopping.
She had purchased a new pair of sneakers

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from a department store at the Parkway
City Mall. These sneakers had a distinct

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floral pattern. Afterward, she had
gone to her AA meeting. Betty was

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candid with police about the state of
her marriage. She said it was not

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00:23:33.799 --> 00:23:41.039
always a happy one. She implied
that Jack's struggle with Crone's disease, his

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00:23:41.160 --> 00:23:45.000
surgery and colostomy bag had made it
challenging for them to have a fulfilling sex

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life. Still, the detectives did
not suspect Betty, at least not for

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00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:59.000
a few days, until they received
a notification about an anonymous tip. According

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to The Aniston's, a Shelby County
man named James had been bragging about killing

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a man and Huntsville. Upon hearing
this, the Huntsville Police Department contacted Shelby

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County law enforcement. They found James, and he confessed. James Denison White

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was born in nineteen forty one,
and according to his own testimony, he

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only had an eighth grade education.
When James was approaching thirty years old in

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the late nineteen sixties, he had
served in the army during the Vietnam War,

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00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:37.880
but he was dishonorably discharged after he
attacked his own troops. Later,

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his attorney would call that incident a
mental collapse. Afterward, James would go

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00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:48.759
on to abuse drugs and alcohol for
more than twenty years. He would be

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00:24:48.799 --> 00:24:52.799
in and out of mental hospitals as
many as seven times, and he had

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00:24:52.839 --> 00:25:00.400
been incarcerated for auto theft and drug
related charges. On one occasion, he

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had escaped from a work release program. By the time he was fifty one

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in the year nineteen ninety two,
he had been married and divorced four times,

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and he had four children. At
some point, he had suffered some

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injuries during a workplace incident, so
by this time he was inconsistently employed.

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When he did work, it was
primarily as a handyman or construction worker.

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That's actually how James first became involved
in all of this. He was doing

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some carpentry work for his daughter's school
in Vincent, Alabama, and that's how

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James crossed paths with Betty's twin sister, the first grade teacher, missus Peggy

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Lowe. James was building shelves at
Peggy's school, and he and Peggy developed

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a friendship. The nature of James
and Peggy's friendship is highly debated. According

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to James, he and Peggy developed
romantic feeling for each other, they spoke

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on the phone a great deal.
During those calls, Peggy confided in James

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that she was unhappy in her marriage. On one occasion, she proclaimed her

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love for James. As James tells
it, he and Peggy kissed multiple times

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and had sex once, But according
to interviews and court testimony, Peggy has

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00:26:22.759 --> 00:26:30.640
always steadfastly denied this alleged romantic relationship. However, she could not deny some

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00:26:30.720 --> 00:26:37.799
of the phone calls, as there
were phone company records. But Peggy claimed

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it was mostly about his carpentry work
and she was just friendly with him listening

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00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:47.920
to his troubles. She had no
idea that James was infatuated with her,

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and she certainly did not return his
affection. Sure, Peggy and her husband

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had hired James to build cabinets for
their home, but that was because they

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knew James needed the cash, not
because Peggy was interested in a relationship with

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him. This is the beginning of
an ongoing theme for today's case. James

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00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:14.839
White says this happened, while Peggy
Lowe and Betty Wilson say, no,

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00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:21.079
this happened, and never the twain
shall meet. To start, we'll go

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through James side of the story,
then we'll cover Peggy and Betty's. According

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00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:32.000
to James, Peggy told him in
secret that she had a quote friend who

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00:27:32.039 --> 00:27:37.920
was in a bad relationship. Peggy
explained that this friend had a sick and

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00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:42.920
abusive husband, and Peggy wanted James
to quote resolve the problem by putting him

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00:27:42.920 --> 00:27:49.160
away. They're sure were a lot
of euphemisms thrown around a hallmark of Southern

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00:27:49.240 --> 00:27:55.440
ladies, for sure, But James
read between the lines. He said he

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knew that Peggy wanted someone killed.
Though for a while he thought Peggy's friend

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was merely another euphemism referring to herself, James figured she wanted Wayne Low dead.

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It wasn't until March of nineteen ninety
two that he realized Peggy's friend was

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her twin sister Betty, and that
the husband was none other than doctor Jack

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Wilson. I'm going to pause now
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Code SFTC. In James's recorded confession
with the police, he said about Peggy

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00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:18.279
quote, I was trying to win
her love and affection. She was putting

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00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:22.319
me in a crack to prove myself
to her. It started as a joke,

335
00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:26.359
but she kept calling and pushing me
to get something done to help her

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00:31:26.400 --> 00:31:33.039
sister. Eventually, James told Peggy
that he had connections and could arrange for

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00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:40.079
Jack's murder. But James was lying
about his so called connections as he would

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00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:44.920
be the one to do the deed. From late March to early April of

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00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:51.519
nineteen ninety two, James and Peggy
orchestrated the details of Jack's death. After

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00:31:51.559 --> 00:31:56.359
some negotiation, Peggy offered James five
thousand dollars for the job. That's nearly

341
00:31:56.440 --> 00:32:02.279
eleven thousand in today's money. It's
still a low amount for a hitman for

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00:32:02.319 --> 00:32:09.119
a doctor worth millions, But of
course, James is always described as drug

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00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:15.079
addicted, alcoholic, destitute, unhoused, and always desperate for quick cash.

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00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.640
In April, Peggy called James.
She informed him that Betty had given her

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00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:28.119
half of the money as a down
payment. Peggy gave this twenty five hundred

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00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:32.440
to James. James, who was
in deep financial straits, used the money

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00:32:32.480 --> 00:32:37.200
to pay some past due bills.
Next, he deposited five hundred in his

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00:32:37.279 --> 00:32:42.480
bank account, which had been overdrawn
by four hundred up until that moment.

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00:32:43.960 --> 00:32:47.319
Then he spent the rest of the
money on his four children. By the

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00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:53.440
end of April, James had spent
every last penny of that twenty five hundred.

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00:32:53.559 --> 00:32:59.279
Approximately two weeks later, on Friday, May fifteenth, nineteen ninety two,

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00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:05.119
James and Peggy met in person.
Peggy had stayed home from school that

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00:33:05.240 --> 00:33:10.279
day, and according to James,
they had sex. Afterward. Peggy pressured

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00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:15.279
James to kill Jack. She said
that if he didn't finish the job,

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00:33:15.640 --> 00:33:20.880
someone would have to repay Betty's twenty
five hundred dollars. But James told Peggy

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00:33:21.079 --> 00:33:25.559
he couldn't kill Jack without more money. Traveling from Vincent to Huntsville was more

357
00:33:25.559 --> 00:33:30.960
than he could afford, and of
course he had spent all of that down

358
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:36.200
payment of twenty five hundred. Now
Peggy and Betty had to figure out a

359
00:33:36.240 --> 00:33:40.960
way to get James more money,
So Peggy instructed James to go to Lake

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00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:46.279
Guntersville State Park, which is about
an hour from Huntsville. Betty had an

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00:33:46.279 --> 00:33:51.880
AA meeting and a building there,
so her black BMW would be parked near

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00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:55.240
the entrance of the park. James
was to open the back door of the

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00:33:55.240 --> 00:34:00.799
BMW, which would be left unlocked, and on the back seat would be

364
00:34:00.839 --> 00:34:06.880
a book. The book would have
enough money hidden in its pages to finance

365
00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:13.320
his trip to Huntsville. Then James
could kill Jack. On Saturday, May

366
00:34:13.360 --> 00:34:19.039
sixteenth, James tried to do just
that, but a security guard for the

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00:34:19.079 --> 00:34:22.920
state park would not let him enter. I guess the guard could tell that

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00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:29.280
the unkempt James was up to no
good. James explained to the security guard

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00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:32.840
that he needed to get a book
from Betty's car. He told the guard

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00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:37.480
that he had traveled a long way
to get there. Still, the guard

371
00:34:37.559 --> 00:34:40.880
refused to let him enter. The
guard said that James could call Betty on

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00:34:40.920 --> 00:34:47.239
a payphone at a service station located
several miles from the park's entrance. James

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00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:52.960
went to the payphone, but he
didn't call Betty. She was in that

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00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:58.519
AA meeting and he didn't have the
number. It's nineteen ninety two, we

375
00:34:58.519 --> 00:35:04.159
weren't in that everyone as a cell
phone age quite yet. Instead, James

376
00:35:04.199 --> 00:35:07.079
called Peggy, and Peggy told James
to call the front desk to try to

377
00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:14.039
reach Betty. James did and was
able to leave Betty a message. Then

378
00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:19.599
he returned to the Lake Guntersville State
Park and waited by the entrance. Betty

379
00:35:19.639 --> 00:35:24.199
retrieved the book entitled The Sleeping Beauty
and the Firebird from her back seat and

380
00:35:24.280 --> 00:35:29.519
she gave it to a security guard. Then the guard brought the book to

381
00:35:29.599 --> 00:35:34.400
James. James now had the book
and the one hundred dollars bill inside of

382
00:35:34.440 --> 00:35:39.679
it, so he went to Huntsville. He drove past Jack and Betty's home

383
00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:45.639
and Boulder Circle. Then James returned
to his own home in Vincent. No

384
00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:51.320
more than two days later, Betty
called James. She asked him, as

385
00:35:51.440 --> 00:35:57.320
reported by court documents, what the
fuck was going on. Betty was angry

386
00:35:57.400 --> 00:36:00.440
that James had not yet killed Jack. At this time. It was around

387
00:36:00.519 --> 00:36:05.719
Monday, May eighteenth, and Betty
wanted Jack out of her way by the

388
00:36:05.760 --> 00:36:09.679
next Monday. That's when they were
supposed to go on vacation in New Mexico,

389
00:36:10.320 --> 00:36:15.119
and Betty did not want to go. James told Betty that he couldn't

390
00:36:15.199 --> 00:36:21.159
kill Jack because he couldn't get cartridges
for his gun. So on Wednesday,

391
00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:25.280
May twentieth, Peggy called James.
She said she had quote the tool and

392
00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:30.159
the equipment to do the job.
It was at this point that James,

393
00:36:30.199 --> 00:36:36.519
Betty, and Peggy met together at
the Logan Martin Dam. Betty and Peggy

394
00:36:36.679 --> 00:36:42.000
arrived in Betty's black BMW. Peggy
got out of the car with a sweater

395
00:36:42.079 --> 00:36:45.239
in her hand. Hidden in the
sweater was a thirty eight caliber Revolver.

396
00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:52.119
Peggy opened the door to James's truck
and put the gun in his back seat.

397
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.760
Then James returned to his home in
Vincent. He wrapped the gun in

398
00:36:55.840 --> 00:37:01.000
a brown towel and stashed it under
some boards in an abandoned house next door

399
00:37:01.000 --> 00:37:07.159
to his mobile home. At this
point, the sisters told James they would

400
00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:10.199
call him. Then early on the
morning of Thursday, May twenty first,

401
00:37:10.440 --> 00:37:15.280
Betty called James it was time to
kill Jack, who was at his office.

402
00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:21.159
James was supposed to bring the gun, shoot Jack and be done with

403
00:37:21.239 --> 00:37:24.760
it, but when James went to
Jack's office, he decided he couldn't kill

404
00:37:24.840 --> 00:37:30.360
him there there were too many people
around, so James went to a payphone

405
00:37:30.440 --> 00:37:37.079
and called Peggy's number, but Betty
picked up. She was staying at Peggy's

406
00:37:37.119 --> 00:37:43.840
house. James explained the situation and
he said he needed more money so he

407
00:37:43.880 --> 00:37:47.239
could spend the night in Huntsville,
presumably to kill Jack. The next day,

408
00:37:49.360 --> 00:37:52.679
Betty told James to meet her at
the Parkway City Mall at noon.

409
00:37:52.440 --> 00:37:57.599
They would rendezvous at the mall's Chick
fil A, and Betty would give James

410
00:37:57.599 --> 00:38:01.519
more money. James did it,
he was told. He ordered a sandwich

411
00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:07.039
from a young woman named Christina and
then went and sat on a bench outside

412
00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:12.599
to eat it. Betty arrived,
ordered food and then went outside to James's

413
00:38:12.599 --> 00:38:16.000
bench. She handed him a bag
with another one hundred dollars bill inside of

414
00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:22.360
it. Then James went to a
kmart to purchase a few travel items.

415
00:38:23.400 --> 00:38:29.840
He bought a travel kit and underwear. Then he checked into the Ramata Inn.

416
00:38:30.800 --> 00:38:34.559
James decided to drive by Betty and
Jack's house once more to check the

417
00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:39.039
layout of the property. To do
this, James pretended to be a jogger

418
00:38:39.119 --> 00:38:44.599
and ran by the house, but
he was wearing jeans. He stuck out

419
00:38:44.599 --> 00:38:50.039
like a sore thumb, so people
noticed him. After this, James returned

420
00:38:50.039 --> 00:38:54.559
to the Ramada Inn and called Peggy. The next morning, Betty called James,

421
00:38:55.320 --> 00:39:00.599
I have to wonder if she asked
the same question, what the fuck

422
00:39:00.760 --> 00:39:05.679
was going on, because it really
seemed like James was dragging his feet.

423
00:39:06.119 --> 00:39:08.840
James told Betty that he needed her
to drive him to the house so that

424
00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:15.440
no one would see him. So
Betty and James met again at the Parkway

425
00:39:15.480 --> 00:39:20.000
City Mall. It was about three
pm on Friday, and James got into

426
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.320
Betty's BMW. As he did,
he noticed Betty wore flowery tennis shoes.

427
00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:30.320
Then he crouched down onto the floor
of her BMW and Betty drove him to

428
00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:37.239
her house. Betty pulled into her
garage, handed James forty dollars and told

429
00:39:37.320 --> 00:39:40.800
him where Jack's bedroom was on the
second floor. Jack wasn't at home,

430
00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:45.440
so the plan was for James to
lie in wait. He would ambush Jack

431
00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:50.639
when he got home, take some
valuables to make it look like a burglary,

432
00:39:50.800 --> 00:39:54.639
and then leave and call Betty to
come and get him. James had

433
00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:59.599
not brought the gun that Peggy and
Betty gave him. He said he thought

434
00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:04.679
it would a racket. Also,
he said he was gun shy after his

435
00:40:04.800 --> 00:40:09.639
stint in Vietnam. Instead, James
remembered having a rope. After this,

436
00:40:10.199 --> 00:40:15.519
he waited on the second floor of
the Wilson's home for several hours. Either

437
00:40:15.599 --> 00:40:20.639
before he got to the Wilson's home
or while he was there, James drank

438
00:40:20.679 --> 00:40:24.760
a case of beer and took fifteen
caffeine pills. This was in addition to

439
00:40:24.840 --> 00:40:31.039
his normally prescribed medication, one of
which was lithium. When Jack and James

440
00:40:31.039 --> 00:40:37.159
crossed paths, both men were surprised. James hadn't heard Jack arrive home,

441
00:40:37.519 --> 00:40:43.079
which isn't shocking if you consider his
state of mind. Jack had probably been

442
00:40:43.119 --> 00:40:45.880
at home for at least a few
minutes. He had gotten a bat from

443
00:40:45.880 --> 00:40:50.679
the garage and used it to pound
a sign in his front yard for a

444
00:40:50.679 --> 00:40:55.920
political campaign. Jack was still holding
the bat as he walked up the stairs.

445
00:40:58.039 --> 00:41:01.239
At the top of the stairs outside
his own bedroom, Jack ran into

446
00:41:01.320 --> 00:41:07.719
James. When retelling the event,
James said, I didn't hear him come

447
00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:10.079
in, and we were face to
face and he grabbed me, and I

448
00:41:10.199 --> 00:41:15.519
freaked out. I kept reaching until
I found something, and I hit him

449
00:41:15.840 --> 00:41:21.760
until he turned me loose, and
then I ran. James later testified that

450
00:41:21.840 --> 00:41:25.199
he blanked out for much of the
murder itself. He couldn't be sure if

451
00:41:25.239 --> 00:41:30.199
he had or had not stabbed Jack
with a knife. He wasn't even sure

452
00:41:30.360 --> 00:41:35.719
if he had brought a knife.
The next thing James recalled was being in

453
00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:40.800
the woods behind Betty and Jack's home. Then he changed his clothes, buried

454
00:41:40.800 --> 00:41:45.239
the bag of bloody clothes in the
woods, and returned to the house.

455
00:41:45.800 --> 00:41:50.199
He called Betty, who came and
got him and drove him back to his

456
00:41:50.239 --> 00:41:54.599
truck, which was still at the
Parkway City Mall. After all of this,

457
00:41:55.239 --> 00:42:00.840
James was supposed to receive the remaining
twenty five hundred dollars on The money

458
00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:06.840
was supposed to be in Peggy's garage, but when James got to Peggy's garage,

459
00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:12.280
the money was not there. And
this is where James's story ended.

460
00:42:14.480 --> 00:42:23.159
I'm going to pause now for a
short commercial break. James was arrested after

461
00:42:23.199 --> 00:42:28.559
his confession. He was booked into
the Huntsville City Jail on Wednesday, May

462
00:42:28.599 --> 00:42:32.119
twenty seventh, nineteen ninety two,
five days after doctor Wilson was murdered.

463
00:42:34.400 --> 00:42:38.400
At the time of James's arrest,
the police were keeping his confession under wraps.

464
00:42:39.159 --> 00:42:44.400
Meanwhile, Betty and Peggy were staying
with her older sister and her husband.

465
00:42:45.280 --> 00:42:49.400
When Betty and Peggy learned that James
was arrested. Their brother in law

466
00:42:49.480 --> 00:42:54.920
testified later that the sisters did not
show a reaction. On Tuesday May twenty

467
00:42:54.960 --> 00:43:00.440
sixth, there was a memorial service
for the beloved doctor Jack Ray Wilson.

468
00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:06.760
His body was cremated and the ashes
were distributed to his friends and family.

469
00:43:07.400 --> 00:43:12.719
That same evening, Hunts Full detectives
went and picked up his widow, Betty

470
00:43:12.760 --> 00:43:16.400
Wilson for a formal talk at the
station. Her twin sister, Peggy,

471
00:43:16.519 --> 00:43:22.239
was also brought in and questioned in
a separate room. They were allowed to

472
00:43:22.320 --> 00:43:27.559
leave that night and spent the night
together again, which I gotta say is

473
00:43:27.639 --> 00:43:32.599
again some crackerjack police work, allowing
two supposed co conspirators to spend the night

474
00:43:32.679 --> 00:43:38.440
together to get their story straight.
On Thursday May twenty eighth, the forty

475
00:43:38.440 --> 00:43:44.519
six year old twins Betty Wilson and
Peggy Lowe were arrested, and according to

476
00:43:44.559 --> 00:43:49.119
Madison County District Attorney Moe Brooks,
the women tried to avoid the police for

477
00:43:49.119 --> 00:43:54.199
at least twenty minutes before allowing themselves
to be taken into custody. Betty later

478
00:43:54.239 --> 00:43:59.960
wrote in her essay for Old Hunts
Full magazine it was because they had spent

479
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:02.559
the night at their sisters again,
and then she spent some time with a

480
00:44:02.639 --> 00:44:07.760
friend running errands. Then she and
Peggy were washing their clothes at his house.

481
00:44:08.840 --> 00:44:14.000
This was because Peggy's home and fresh
clothes were one hundred and ten miles

482
00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:19.079
away in Vincent, Alabama, and
Betty's clothes were at the crime scene.

483
00:44:19.440 --> 00:44:23.159
Betty is pictured wearing a man's pajama
shirt, which she said only added to

484
00:44:23.199 --> 00:44:30.519
her cheating fem fatale persona and the
press rich bitch who had affairs arrested for

485
00:44:30.639 --> 00:44:34.320
murder, she called the photos,
which seemed to be in every paper.

486
00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:38.239
Peggy is pictured as well, but
she managed to get her dress back on

487
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:45.000
and her arrest photo wasn't splashed everywhere
as much as Betty's. The women were

488
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:52.159
then held in the Madison County Jail. They immediately and vehemently denied everything.

489
00:44:52.679 --> 00:44:58.599
If convicted, Betty, Peggy,
and James White all faced either death by

490
00:44:58.679 --> 00:45:05.320
electric chair or life in prison without
parole. This was considered a capital offense

491
00:45:05.400 --> 00:45:09.159
for both Betty and Peggy because it
was a contract for higher murder, and

492
00:45:09.239 --> 00:45:14.599
it was doubly a capital offense for
James, he had both participated in the

493
00:45:14.639 --> 00:45:20.880
conspiracy and killed Jack. On Thursday, June fourth, Peggy was granted a

494
00:45:20.920 --> 00:45:25.079
bond of one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars. Her church and community raised the

495
00:45:25.119 --> 00:45:29.960
money, and she walked out of
jail that same day. It was pretty

496
00:45:29.960 --> 00:45:35.559
straightforward. Betty's bond hearing, which
came after Peggy's, was not so simple.

497
00:45:36.960 --> 00:45:40.000
She was denied bond because as a
wealthy woman, she had the means

498
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:45.840
to flee, but the attorney's teeth
were already bared looking for blood. In

499
00:45:45.920 --> 00:45:52.960
this first hearing, DA Mobrooks pointed
to James White's confession as a clear indicator

500
00:45:52.039 --> 00:45:57.400
of Betty's guilt. He said,
what other reason would you have for a

501
00:45:57.440 --> 00:46:01.679
stranger to come to Huntsville from Shelby
County and murdered doctor Wilson? Have complete

502
00:46:01.719 --> 00:46:08.599
access to his home and still nothing
except for the explanation he's given. Betty's

503
00:46:08.639 --> 00:46:14.039
lawyers claimed she was innocent. They
thought she should be allowed to post her

504
00:46:14.039 --> 00:46:19.599
bill and leave. To prove this, they pointed to inconsistencies in James's story,

505
00:46:20.920 --> 00:46:25.000
and there were quite a few inconsistencies. By the time everything was said

506
00:46:25.039 --> 00:46:30.360
and done, it was determined that
James actually had fifty eight inconsistencies in his

507
00:46:30.480 --> 00:46:37.480
initial taped confession, some of which
were outright lies. There isn't any one

508
00:46:37.559 --> 00:46:44.239
document that details each one of these
inconsistencies and lies, but some are simple

509
00:46:44.400 --> 00:46:47.679
and some are even published early in
the papers, like how James had lied

510
00:46:49.079 --> 00:46:53.000
about how he received his first payment
of twenty five hundred dollars from Peggy.

511
00:46:53.679 --> 00:46:59.079
Initially he said that it was on
the side of the road, then he

512
00:46:59.119 --> 00:47:02.920
claimed it was delivered in a different
manner. I omitted that detail earlier,

513
00:47:04.159 --> 00:47:07.360
just for clarity. When James testified
in court with the version of events I

514
00:47:07.440 --> 00:47:13.039
provided to you, he swore that
it was the truth, but his credibility

515
00:47:13.360 --> 00:47:20.039
was damaged. The arrests of James, Betty, and Peggy obviously had not

516
00:47:20.199 --> 00:47:24.599
led to clear answers, so the
police continued their investigation into Jack's death.

517
00:47:25.480 --> 00:47:32.320
The first and foremost important part was
motive. Jack Wilson had been worth six

518
00:47:32.360 --> 00:47:39.119
point three million dollars that's thirteen point
seven million reasons today. When Jack died,

519
00:47:39.559 --> 00:47:43.920
most of his estate was set to
be inherited by his wife, Betty.

520
00:47:45.239 --> 00:47:49.159
In two months before Jack was killed, he had taken out an additional

521
00:47:49.199 --> 00:47:53.119
one million dollar life insurance policy.
This was in addition to the six other

522
00:47:53.239 --> 00:47:59.639
insurance policies that would have paid Betty
approximately one hundred and thirty five thousand.

523
00:48:00.159 --> 00:48:06.719
Add to all of this the general
perception that Betty didn't especially like or love

524
00:48:06.800 --> 00:48:12.039
her husband and well, the case
against Betty seemed like a slam dunk to

525
00:48:12.119 --> 00:48:16.679
most. Plus In the days following
Jack's death, before Betty was arrested,

526
00:48:17.159 --> 00:48:22.679
she had withdrawn sixty thousand dollars from
her and Jack's joint bank accounts. Most

527
00:48:22.679 --> 00:48:29.079
of that money was deposited into her
personal checking account. Shortly after, Jack's

528
00:48:29.119 --> 00:48:36.119
children sued defrees his assets, and
the courts complied, including his joint accounts

529
00:48:36.119 --> 00:48:43.199
with Betty. The authorities wondered if
missus Peggy Lowe was also motivated by money.

530
00:48:43.320 --> 00:48:46.679
She was a public school teacher,
her husband was the musical director of

531
00:48:46.719 --> 00:48:52.440
a church. They definitely were not
wealthy people. If Betty shared some of

532
00:48:52.480 --> 00:48:57.679
her inheritance from Jack's estate with Peggy, it could have been life changing,

533
00:48:59.559 --> 00:49:04.360
and there there are some shows and
stories that suggest Peggy often spent time with

534
00:49:04.440 --> 00:49:09.079
her wealthy sister and dreamed of that
life too. As a whole, law

535
00:49:09.119 --> 00:49:15.119
enforcement officers tended to believe James's version
of what happened, and that's because the

536
00:49:15.119 --> 00:49:20.440
police had found the gun registered to
Betty Wilson. It was hidden under the

537
00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:24.039
floorboards of the abandoned house next to
James's mobile home, just where he said

538
00:49:24.039 --> 00:49:30.639
it would be, and James had
correctly identified that Betty was wearing floral sneakers

539
00:49:30.719 --> 00:49:36.559
on the day Jack was killed.
Betty had already used the sneakers and the

540
00:49:36.599 --> 00:49:39.159
receipt for them as part of her
alibi on the day Jack was murdered.

541
00:49:40.280 --> 00:49:45.199
James said he saw the sneakers when
he hid in the floorboard of her car

542
00:49:45.599 --> 00:49:51.360
as she drove him to the house
to kill her husband. Sneakers that Betty

543
00:49:51.400 --> 00:49:57.880
had purchased only hours before the murder
happened. Remember, witnesses from the AA

544
00:49:58.039 --> 00:50:05.320
meeting Betty had attended also noticed the
floral sneakers, mainly because Betty was known

545
00:50:05.360 --> 00:50:09.920
to dress up and she was dressed
very casual on this evening. In the

546
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:15.480
year leading up to the court proceedings, Huntsville, Alabama was on fire with

547
00:50:15.599 --> 00:50:20.559
this case. The press went wild. Rumor had it the DA's office and

548
00:50:20.639 --> 00:50:25.039
police were leaking lots of information to
the media. Everyone and their mama had

549
00:50:25.079 --> 00:50:30.719
an opinion on it. Had a
drunk, drug addled hitman killed the beloved

550
00:50:30.760 --> 00:50:36.159
doctor Jack Wilson at the behest of
his cheating wife. Or was James just

551
00:50:36.199 --> 00:50:40.079
a fool who was in love with
Peggy Low, a respected lady who appeared

552
00:50:40.119 --> 00:50:45.880
to be happily married and was very
religious. And if James had fabricated all

553
00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:50.960
of this, why on earth had
he decided to kill Peggy's sister's husband.

554
00:50:51.760 --> 00:50:55.039
Was it a robbery gone wrong?
If so, why hadn't he taken anything

555
00:50:55.119 --> 00:51:01.079
of value from the house. The
police know that Jack's wallet was next to

556
00:51:01.119 --> 00:51:06.039
his shoes on the floor. The
cash was gone, but the credit cards

557
00:51:06.039 --> 00:51:09.920
were still there. Two guns and
VCRs were left in plain sight in the

558
00:51:09.920 --> 00:51:15.719
Wilson home, and a ski mask
was found on Jack's bed. There was

559
00:51:15.800 --> 00:51:21.679
one gun case that was empty and
left open, though along with some ammunition.

560
00:51:22.239 --> 00:51:27.320
Could it be the case for the
gun James claimed the sisters brought to

561
00:51:27.440 --> 00:51:31.199
him. Or had James himself stolen
the gun during the robbery gone wrong theory?

562
00:51:32.440 --> 00:51:37.079
At this point, no one knew
Betty or Peggy's side of the story

563
00:51:37.679 --> 00:51:45.199
other than they maintained their innocence,
But the confusions surrounding this case added more

564
00:51:45.239 --> 00:51:50.800
fuel to the fire. It was
salacious with the perfect ingredients of sex and

565
00:51:50.880 --> 00:51:55.440
money. Producers and writers came out
of the woodwork preparing to create TV shows,

566
00:51:55.480 --> 00:52:00.800
films, and books about this spectacular
case. Eddy's attorney said she turned

567
00:52:00.840 --> 00:52:06.639
down up to twenty offers to sell
her story, but it's likely she didn't

568
00:52:06.719 --> 00:52:10.440
do that for moral reasons. A
local bank had sued Betty. They accused

569
00:52:10.440 --> 00:52:15.519
her of killing doctor Jack Wilson to
inherit his estate and if she received any

570
00:52:15.599 --> 00:52:22.079
royalties from a movie or book deal
involving Jack's murder, this lawsuit meant that

571
00:52:22.159 --> 00:52:28.400
she would have to pay south Trust
Bank twenty million dollars. But Jack's family

572
00:52:28.760 --> 00:52:35.079
did not face these same concerns,
and The Anniston Star reported that Jack's sons

573
00:52:35.440 --> 00:52:39.280
from a previous marriage had agreed to
a six figure deal for working with an

574
00:52:39.360 --> 00:52:45.679
unnamed Beverly Hills production company. They
were going to make a made for TV

575
00:52:45.800 --> 00:52:52.960
movie entitled Black Widows The Alabama Twins
Murder. There isn't a TV movie by

576
00:52:52.000 --> 00:52:58.440
that name, but there is one
called Separated by Murder, starring Sharon Gless

577
00:52:58.599 --> 00:53:02.639
as both twins. The names were
changed to Lily May and Holly Fay.

578
00:53:04.639 --> 00:53:07.559
It's on the free app Crackle.
If you're a TV movie junkie like me.

579
00:53:08.519 --> 00:53:14.159
But if you're Southern, be forewarned
about the fake accents. They're sugary

580
00:53:14.280 --> 00:53:19.440
enough to give you a toothache.
Anyway, While all of this is happening,

581
00:53:19.800 --> 00:53:23.280
Peggy Low was living her life normally. She had been removed from the

582
00:53:23.320 --> 00:53:29.400
classroom by the Shelby County School Board, but they still allowed her to do

583
00:53:29.519 --> 00:53:36.559
administrative tasks as a special Assignments teacher
in the central Office. She went to

584
00:53:36.679 --> 00:53:40.159
church, She ate breakfast with her
kids. She cooked her family dinner at

585
00:53:40.280 --> 00:53:47.440
night. Meanwhile, Betty remained in
jail. Betty's attorneys alleged that the authorities

586
00:53:47.519 --> 00:53:52.559
kept her in solitary confinement and that
they denied her access to her watch and

587
00:53:52.599 --> 00:53:59.360
writing materials. James was also in
jail, but he, unlike Betty,

588
00:53:59.719 --> 00:54:05.320
did not use his attorneys to lodge
public complaints. And if you hadn't had

589
00:54:05.360 --> 00:54:09.719
your fill of drama yet, there
was more. This was an election year

590
00:54:10.079 --> 00:54:16.280
for Huntsville's Madison County District Attorney.
The sitting DA was Moe Brooks and his

591
00:54:16.320 --> 00:54:22.159
competitor was Tim Morgan. Tim just
happened to be a very close friend of

592
00:54:22.239 --> 00:54:29.960
doctor Jack Wilson, and Moe had
made untoward comments that Betty had been campaigning

593
00:54:30.039 --> 00:54:36.159
for Tim on the day that Jack
was killed. I'm not certain what the

594
00:54:36.280 --> 00:54:39.880
exact comment Mo made was, though
I think I get the meaning, and

595
00:54:39.920 --> 00:54:45.639
by August twenty fourth, nineteen ninety
two, Mo had to issue a public

596
00:54:45.639 --> 00:54:51.679
apology. That November, Moe Brooks
lost his DA seat to Tim Morgan in

597
00:54:51.760 --> 00:54:58.719
a bitter election, and then Tim
could not prosecute any cases relating to Jack's

598
00:54:58.760 --> 00:55:05.119
murder. His close relationship to doctor
Wilson was a conflict of interest. As

599
00:55:05.119 --> 00:55:09.679
a result, the courts called upon
the nearby Limestone County DA Jimmy Fry for

600
00:55:09.719 --> 00:55:15.320
Betty Wilson's trial. She was to
be the first of the three trials.

601
00:55:15.239 --> 00:55:20.920
Jimmy Fry told the Hunts full Times
quote, someone asked me, how are

602
00:55:20.960 --> 00:55:23.960
you going to prepare for this case? And I started to tell them I'd

603
00:55:23.960 --> 00:55:30.920
take up bungee jumping. I'm going
to pause now for a short commercial break.

604
00:55:37.920 --> 00:55:43.119
Betty Wilson's trial began in February of
nineteen ninety three. They held it

605
00:55:43.199 --> 00:55:50.320
in Tuscaloosa County rather than Huntsville's Madison
County. Due to extensive pre trial publicity.

606
00:55:50.760 --> 00:55:57.159
The prosecution subpoened nearly seventy witnesses,
and Betty's four defense attorneys had prepared

607
00:55:57.400 --> 00:56:01.920
one hundred witnesses of their own.
The state's case was easy to follow.

608
00:56:02.840 --> 00:56:07.360
Betty didn't like her husband Jack,
but she did like his money, so

609
00:56:07.440 --> 00:56:14.360
she planned and facilitated his murder to
inherit the bulk of his fortune. The

610
00:56:14.400 --> 00:56:20.199
prosecution painted Betty as a vain,
unfaithful wife who believed she deserved her husband's

611
00:56:20.280 --> 00:56:25.719
fortune. Limestone County's DA Jimmy Fry
said in court, though it appeared she

612
00:56:25.800 --> 00:56:30.679
had everything, she wanted more and
not just more, she wanted at all,

613
00:56:30.880 --> 00:56:36.440
and she wanted it now. The
state brought many of Betty's own friends

614
00:56:36.480 --> 00:56:42.039
to testify. These friends claimed that
Betty was known for saying hateful things too

615
00:56:42.599 --> 00:56:46.440
and about Jack. These are the
comments she would later write about an old

616
00:56:46.519 --> 00:56:53.400
Huntsville magazine that she attributed to her
drinking problem. Some of Betty's lovers testified,

617
00:56:53.800 --> 00:56:59.719
confirming that she had relationships with men
outside of her marriage, which Betty

618
00:56:59.760 --> 00:57:06.400
never denied. She claimed Jack knew
and approved, and James White also took

619
00:57:06.440 --> 00:57:09.960
the stand, he regaled the jury
with the rendition of events I told you

620
00:57:10.039 --> 00:57:16.320
earlier, and then the state brought
out numerous witnesses that corroborated James's story.

621
00:57:17.440 --> 00:57:23.119
Bank workers verified that James had indeed
received an influx of cash in April of

622
00:57:23.199 --> 00:57:29.440
nineteen ninety two. They confirmed that
he had paid off some bills and deposited

623
00:57:29.480 --> 00:57:34.599
five hundred dollars. The teller even
remembered that she had seen James with a

624
00:57:34.639 --> 00:57:37.679
wad of about one thousand dollars in
cash that he didn't deposit with her,

625
00:57:38.119 --> 00:57:43.559
indicating that James might have spent that
sum on his children later, just as

626
00:57:43.599 --> 00:57:50.440
he had said. Two security guards
from the late Gunnersville State Park testified that

627
00:57:50.599 --> 00:57:53.519
yes, James had come to the
state park on that day. One guard

628
00:57:53.599 --> 00:57:58.199
said he was the one to turn
James away, and the other guard had

629
00:57:58.239 --> 00:58:04.119
been given the book from Betty and
then delivered it to James. The front

630
00:58:04.159 --> 00:58:07.880
desk clerk also confirmed that a man
had called and left a message for Betty,

631
00:58:08.119 --> 00:58:14.760
who was at her AA meeting.
Additionally, telephone records from the paythone

632
00:58:14.800 --> 00:58:21.440
at the nearby service station showed that
someone had called Peggy's home the corroborations just

633
00:58:21.559 --> 00:58:24.840
kept coming and coming. The book
that James said Betty had given him,

634
00:58:25.159 --> 00:58:29.880
which was found in his home,
was checked out in Betty's name at the

635
00:58:29.960 --> 00:58:35.840
library. There was, as I
mentioned, Betty's gun that was hidden near

636
00:58:35.920 --> 00:58:40.360
James's home. His bloody shoes were
also found there. On the same day

637
00:58:40.480 --> 00:58:45.960
and at the same time that James
alleged he Betty and Peggy met at the

638
00:58:45.960 --> 00:58:50.679
Logan martin Dam to hand off the
gun. Peggy and Betty said they had

639
00:58:50.760 --> 00:58:53.840
left their friend's house to get ice
cream and rent videos together, but they

640
00:58:53.840 --> 00:58:59.400
didn't have any proof of this trip. The manager of the Chick fil A

641
00:58:59.400 --> 00:59:04.119
at Parkway City Mall where James and
Betty had met, confirmed that a woman

642
00:59:04.199 --> 00:59:07.400
named Christina did work on that particular
day, and that's the same name of

643
00:59:07.440 --> 00:59:14.360
the woman that James told authorities gave
him his sandwich. A km art employee

644
00:59:14.599 --> 00:59:19.559
testified that after midnight on May twenty
first, a man came in and bought

645
00:59:19.599 --> 00:59:23.239
a travel kit, underwear, and
a few more items. That man paid

646
00:59:23.239 --> 00:59:28.719
for these purchases with one hundred dollar
bill, just like the one James alleged

647
00:59:28.760 --> 00:59:34.119
Betty had given him. Following their
Chick fil A handoff. A Ramata Inn

648
00:59:34.159 --> 00:59:37.800
manager confirmed that James had spent the
night there and made several telephone calls from

649
00:59:37.840 --> 00:59:45.639
his rooms. Phone records confirmed these
calls were to Peggy's house. A neighbor

650
00:59:45.760 --> 00:59:50.719
of Betty and Jack's testified that he
had seen a man wearing jeans jogging by

651
00:59:50.760 --> 00:59:55.119
their Boulder Circle home. The unknown
jeans wearing man stopped in front of the

652
00:59:55.119 --> 01:00:01.960
Wilson's home in One of Peggy's neighbors
testified that two days after Jack's murder,

653
01:00:02.400 --> 01:00:07.519
she had seen James in Peggy's garage, which lined up with what he said

654
01:00:07.760 --> 01:00:12.719
that he had been there to retrieve
the other half of the five thousand dollars,

655
01:00:13.159 --> 01:00:17.920
but it wasn't there. A mall
department store manager also testified on the

656
01:00:19.000 --> 01:00:22.280
day Jack was murdered, May twenty
second, at two eleven PM, Betty

657
01:00:22.320 --> 01:00:28.320
had bought a pair of floral pattern
tennis shoes, the same shoes Jack saw

658
01:00:28.599 --> 01:00:34.159
as he crouched down on her BMW
and A neighbor of Betty's testified that she

659
01:00:34.280 --> 01:00:37.400
saw James limping in the direction of
the Wilson home at five PM on the

660
01:00:37.480 --> 01:00:43.760
day Jack was killed. She remembered
him especially well because she was driving her

661
01:00:43.840 --> 01:00:46.920
daughter and her daughter's friends to their
softball game, and the young girls in

662
01:00:46.960 --> 01:00:52.960
the car were joking about how strange
this man looked. If you're thinking,

663
01:00:52.360 --> 01:00:58.000
okay, okay, we get it, seems like James White's story holds up,

664
01:00:58.639 --> 01:01:02.960
I understand do. But some people
don't think James White's story holds up.

665
01:01:04.280 --> 01:01:09.719
And here's why. Because Betty's defense
team and later on Peggy's defense team

666
01:01:09.760 --> 01:01:15.679
too, asserted that while some of
the details of James's story could be true,

667
01:01:15.199 --> 01:01:22.239
none of this was a conspiracy to
kill Jack Wilson. They argued that

668
01:01:22.400 --> 01:01:28.280
James had done this all on his
own. These numerous meetups and circumstances that

669
01:01:28.440 --> 01:01:32.960
perfectly aligned with James's story were all
an effort for Peggy and Betty to get

670
01:01:34.079 --> 01:01:38.440
James more handyman work. They felt
sorry for him and were just trying to

671
01:01:38.480 --> 01:01:44.880
help him out. They were talking
about cabinets or bookshelves or something, not

672
01:01:45.079 --> 01:01:50.559
murder, and James had misinterpreted what
was supposed to be an actual job as

673
01:01:50.599 --> 01:01:57.559
a hit job. It's just all
innocent coincidences, y'all. As bad as

674
01:01:57.599 --> 01:02:01.360
it looks, this argument does hold
some weight in a court of law because

675
01:02:01.400 --> 01:02:06.239
it's not illegal for Betty to give
James a book through a weird exchange of

676
01:02:06.280 --> 01:02:10.159
hands at her AA meeting. It's
not illegal for James to call Peggy.

677
01:02:10.760 --> 01:02:15.639
It's not illegal for him to buy
things at Kmart and stay at the Ramada

678
01:02:15.679 --> 01:02:21.400
Inn. None of these checkpoints in
James's stories that aligned with the people who

679
01:02:21.440 --> 01:02:28.360
would have interacted with him were illegal
at all. The question was this was

680
01:02:28.480 --> 01:02:34.320
James White's version of events entirely true
or was he telling just enough of the

681
01:02:34.400 --> 01:02:39.280
truth to get Peggy and Betty in
trouble while changing the key details. Was

682
01:02:39.320 --> 01:02:44.840
this man with an eighth grade education, no steady work, with a self

683
01:02:44.880 --> 01:02:51.239
admitted substance abuse problem truly that clever. The defense just needed there to be

684
01:02:51.360 --> 01:02:54.159
reasonable out to get Betty off the
hook, and at the end of the

685
01:02:54.239 --> 01:03:00.000
day, there was no physical evidence
that Betty and Peggy had conspired to cat

686
01:03:00.119 --> 01:03:07.480
kill Jack. Betty being mean to
Jack just wasn't enough. Hell, maybe

687
01:03:07.559 --> 01:03:12.320
James had stolen Betty's gun and her
library book, after all, he had

688
01:03:12.360 --> 01:03:15.960
been in the Wilson home. I'm
not sure how this would explain how James

689
01:03:15.960 --> 01:03:22.079
could describe Betty's floral shoes, though, But our floral shoes enough to send

690
01:03:22.119 --> 01:03:29.599
someone to prison. Betty's defense counsel
also argued that James had changed his confession

691
01:03:29.800 --> 01:03:36.280
after the fact. They suggested that
he had fixed those inconsistencies we discussed before.

692
01:03:37.000 --> 01:03:43.199
His dates had been slightly shifted,
his times altered. Additionally, Betty's

693
01:03:43.199 --> 01:03:49.000
defense team portrayed James White as an
unreliable source. They attributed his behavior to

694
01:03:49.079 --> 01:03:55.320
mental health issues, dismal military history, and recorded criminal activity. Betty's defense

695
01:03:55.360 --> 01:04:01.239
team also brought a surprise witness.
His name was David Williamson, and David

696
01:04:01.320 --> 01:04:08.719
was a salesman selling sports photos.
Her David's testimony, he was at the

697
01:04:08.800 --> 01:04:14.199
Ramata Inn on the afternoon of May
twenty second, nineteen ninety two. David

698
01:04:14.199 --> 01:04:18.679
claimed he witnessed James there at about
four pm, and James had been rambling

699
01:04:18.760 --> 01:04:25.039
about making quote that bitch pay for
what she's done to me. According to

700
01:04:25.159 --> 01:04:30.599
David, James said, I'll show
her what lonely is all about. Apparently

701
01:04:30.679 --> 01:04:36.199
James was shaking and this behavior frightened
David. This was important because it put

702
01:04:36.199 --> 01:04:42.599
a kink in James's timeline. At
four pm on Friday afternoon, James said

703
01:04:42.599 --> 01:04:48.519
he was waiting in the Wilsons home. In rebuttal, the prosecution suggested that

704
01:04:48.639 --> 01:04:56.119
David Williamson was providing false testimony for
payment. They were suspicious as to why

705
01:04:56.199 --> 01:05:00.320
David had not come forward earlier,
but David said that he only came forward

706
01:05:00.400 --> 01:05:06.320
out of chance. Apparently Betty's attorney
had just happened to contact him trying to

707
01:05:06.320 --> 01:05:14.119
buy sports photographs, and that's when
David explained the interaction with James. Other

708
01:05:14.199 --> 01:05:19.519
witnesses brought by the defense poked holes
in James's timeline. To this, the

709
01:05:19.559 --> 01:05:26.320
prosecution pretty much shrugged James had been
drunk and high. He wasn't wearing a

710
01:05:26.400 --> 01:05:30.440
watch. The state explained to the
jury that it would be impossible to nail

711
01:05:30.480 --> 01:05:38.320
down the times with exact precision.
Betty Wilson did not take the stand in

712
01:05:38.360 --> 01:05:44.320
her own defense, but Peggy took
the stand at her sister's trial. Peggy

713
01:05:44.400 --> 01:05:48.360
insisted that she and Betty only wanted
to hire James for handyman work, not

714
01:05:48.800 --> 01:05:57.000
murder. She was unflappably sincere and
poised. After six days of testimony,

715
01:05:57.400 --> 01:06:01.079
the jury began deliberating on Tuesday,
March second, nineteen ninety three. On

716
01:06:01.159 --> 01:06:06.559
Wednesday, after deliberating for about ten
hours, the jury found forty seven year

717
01:06:06.559 --> 01:06:14.679
old Betty gay Woods Wilson guilty.
One jury member told the AP News that

718
01:06:14.719 --> 01:06:18.519
while James's testimony was shaky at times, the evidence could not be denied.

719
01:06:19.280 --> 01:06:24.559
The juror said, there was so
much of it time after time, we

720
01:06:24.679 --> 01:06:30.920
really couldn't come to any other verdict. Betty was sentenced to life in prison

721
01:06:30.079 --> 01:06:35.000
without the possibility of parole. D
A. Jimmy Fry had not sought the

722
01:06:35.000 --> 01:06:41.599
death penalty. He believed that quote, only the most heinous and obscene cases

723
01:06:41.800 --> 01:06:45.320
should have the death penalty imposed compared
with other cases, this was not the

724
01:06:45.360 --> 01:06:51.599
most atrocious case I was aware of. Jack Wilson's kids might have disagreed.

725
01:06:54.159 --> 01:06:59.000
In total, the trial costs taxpayers
more than twenty thousand dollars, reported by

726
01:06:59.000 --> 01:07:04.440
the Birmingham Post Harold, Betty herself
spent four hundred thousand dollars on her defense.

727
01:07:05.199 --> 01:07:10.920
That's about eight hundred and fifty thousand
today. After all, she had

728
01:07:10.960 --> 01:07:15.840
four defense attorneys on her team,
an infamous dream team, and she still

729
01:07:15.880 --> 01:07:28.920
lost. I'm going to pause now
for a final commercial break. Next came

730
01:07:28.960 --> 01:07:33.360
Peggy Lowe's trial Limestone County, DA. Jimmy Fry did not prosecute her case

731
01:07:33.719 --> 01:07:42.400
due to his intense workload. Instead, Assistant Alabama Attorney General Don Veleska prosecuted

732
01:07:43.079 --> 01:07:47.840
he, unlike Jimmy, was seeking
the death penalty. Peggy's trial was also

733
01:07:47.960 --> 01:07:54.639
moved for publicity reasons, and it
began on September thirteenth in Montgomery County,

734
01:07:54.760 --> 01:08:00.119
Alabama. Peggy's trial was just as
high profile as Betty's. Her defense attorney

735
01:08:00.239 --> 01:08:05.159
argued that TV cameras should not be
allowed in the courtroom. He thought it

736
01:08:05.159 --> 01:08:11.199
would pressure the jury, and a
special ticketing process was created for seating.

737
01:08:11.960 --> 01:08:16.279
That way, they could control the
people trying to pack themselves into the courtroom.

738
01:08:16.680 --> 01:08:21.479
Peggy's trial was nearly identical to Betty's. Only a few new items were

739
01:08:21.479 --> 01:08:27.840
brought to light. One was that
the defense provided a new document. It

740
01:08:27.960 --> 01:08:32.880
was a letter from Jack dated January
third, nineteen ninety two. He had

741
01:08:32.880 --> 01:08:38.359
been setting up a marital trust for
Betty to receive. The interest from the

742
01:08:38.439 --> 01:08:44.520
trust was worth six hundred thousand dollars. The defense claimed that this showed Betty

743
01:08:44.600 --> 01:08:47.960
was fine financially. She hadn't conspired
with her sister to kill Jack for his

744
01:08:48.079 --> 01:08:55.359
money. She had no reason to. But the prosecution argued that this document

745
01:08:55.800 --> 01:09:00.640
was actually the catalyst for Jack's murder. Receive the interest of a six hundred

746
01:09:00.680 --> 01:09:05.760
thousand dollars investment is a far cry
from the six point three million plus insurance

747
01:09:05.800 --> 01:09:13.520
payouts that Betty would receive upon Jack's
death. They claimed that upon hearing about

748
01:09:13.600 --> 01:09:18.880
Jack's half hearted attempt to support her, Betty lost it. The next difference

749
01:09:19.199 --> 01:09:25.000
was Debbie Brannan, a witness for
the defense. She operated a convenience store

750
01:09:25.000 --> 01:09:30.119
near Huntsville. Debbie testified that James
and another man came in looking for work.

751
01:09:30.760 --> 01:09:34.399
James said he was doing some work
for doctor Jack Wilson and that he

752
01:09:34.439 --> 01:09:41.319
could reseal her parking lot. This
provided more substance to the idea that James

753
01:09:41.399 --> 01:09:45.560
was only supposed to be doing a
handyman work for the Wilsons. The prosecution

754
01:09:45.880 --> 01:09:51.600
was flabbercasted that this woman did not
testify at Betty's trial. She also had

755
01:09:51.640 --> 01:09:58.680
never spoken to the police investigating the
case. Another big difference between Betty and

756
01:09:58.720 --> 01:10:03.680
Peggy's trial were the character witnesses.
In Betty's trial, many witnesses spoke to

757
01:10:03.720 --> 01:10:09.880
how cruel Betty was to Jack.
People who were former friends of Betty spoke

758
01:10:10.039 --> 01:10:15.840
very poorly of her on the stand, but in Peggy's trial, witness after

759
01:10:15.920 --> 01:10:23.119
witness proclaimed how warm hearted, kind
and respected Peggy Low was, how she

760
01:10:23.159 --> 01:10:29.199
took people in without expecting anything in
return. Peggy was depicted as a devout

761
01:10:29.239 --> 01:10:33.399
and faithful woman with a strong character. She had a parade of friends who

762
01:10:33.479 --> 01:10:39.720
testified and said so, and when
she took the stand to testify in her

763
01:10:39.720 --> 01:10:45.439
own defense, that pristine persona poured
out a Peggy as easily as sweet tea.

764
01:10:45.880 --> 01:10:50.600
Doris Flora, a former reporter for
the Tuscaloosa News, said she came

765
01:10:50.680 --> 01:10:55.800
through as missus clean. She was
beautiful, she was sweet, and it

766
01:10:55.880 --> 01:11:00.439
all came through in the trial.
According to Dia Don Valessezka, Hagee's defense

767
01:11:00.479 --> 01:11:05.159
attorneys did their best to confuse the
jurors. They presented a slew of new

768
01:11:05.199 --> 01:11:12.000
theories regarding Jack's death. They suggested
that it wasn't a baseball bat that had

769
01:11:12.000 --> 01:11:15.880
been used to bludgeon him. They
brought in an expert witness to suggest it

770
01:11:15.920 --> 01:11:21.239
was a different weapon, like a
fireplace poker. When I saw this expert

771
01:11:21.239 --> 01:11:26.880
witness on the Forensic Files episode,
he claimed the poker was missing from the

772
01:11:26.920 --> 01:11:30.880
Wilson home, and I had a
painful flashback to the Michael Peterson case.

773
01:11:32.319 --> 01:11:38.560
The defense also suggested that Jack's body
had been moved, and though he was

774
01:11:38.680 --> 01:11:42.600
found in a pool of blood,
there wasn't blood spatter high up on the

775
01:11:42.640 --> 01:11:47.680
walls like you would expect. I
admit I do find that interesting. Unlike

776
01:11:47.720 --> 01:11:54.119
the Peterson trial, blood spatter evidence
was not central to the case. It

777
01:11:54.159 --> 01:11:58.600
does seem unusual that there was only
one splash of blood about a foot from

778
01:11:58.600 --> 01:12:03.680
the floor. Considering all of Jack's
horrific blunt force injuries, you would think

779
01:12:03.680 --> 01:12:09.000
the walls would be a blood bath. But if you went down quickly,

780
01:12:09.560 --> 01:12:13.600
maybe the blood would not have splashed
as high on the walls. I don't

781
01:12:13.600 --> 01:12:18.479
know. The defense proposed that multiple
people had been involved in the murder itself.

782
01:12:19.239 --> 01:12:23.640
Two men might have been able to
carry Jack Wilson's body to the second

783
01:12:23.680 --> 01:12:29.399
floor. They were trying to further
the theory that James and another man had

784
01:12:29.439 --> 01:12:32.520
gone there to rob the place because
James knew they were rich, but the

785
01:12:32.600 --> 01:12:41.079
robbery went wrong and the men for
some reason moved the body upstairs. The

786
01:12:41.119 --> 01:12:45.720
blood spatter stuff is interesting. The
two men theory, I don't know.

787
01:12:45.560 --> 01:12:50.359
Why would James byrne two innocent women
instead of giving up a guilty man.

788
01:12:51.439 --> 01:12:56.800
Well, he later claimed he was
harassed by police to give that version of

789
01:12:56.840 --> 01:13:02.319
events. Peggy's attorneys allso accused James
of being coached by the police during his

790
01:13:02.399 --> 01:13:09.119
taped confession, to which a detective
later humorously pointed out, if I was

791
01:13:09.159 --> 01:13:14.760
to do that, I would have
told him the exact dates. But as

792
01:13:14.800 --> 01:13:18.279
to the two man theory, even
without a real full crime scene investigation,

793
01:13:18.840 --> 01:13:25.359
the police would have found blood somewhere
else. The idea that these criminals used

794
01:13:25.359 --> 01:13:30.239
to tark to move him is just
silly. Another forensic piece that didn't seem

795
01:13:30.279 --> 01:13:34.279
to hit was the lack of evidence
in Betty's car. If she really drove

796
01:13:34.399 --> 01:13:40.960
James White as he said she did, no fingerprints or other evidence of White

797
01:13:41.000 --> 01:13:45.199
ever being in her car was found. I imagine by the time the police

798
01:13:45.239 --> 01:13:49.279
searched her car, she had time
to get it cleaned. It is still

799
01:13:49.279 --> 01:13:56.079
interesting, though, but it just
didn't matter in either trial. Ultimately,

800
01:13:56.640 --> 01:14:01.680
Peggy's defense team's strategy worked because on
Wednesday, September twenty second, nineteen ninety

801
01:14:01.680 --> 01:14:06.439
three, forty eight year old Peggy
Joy Woods Low was found not guilty.

802
01:14:08.680 --> 01:14:14.079
The jury had deliberated for two and
a half hours. Afterward, Peggy said,

803
01:14:14.560 --> 01:14:16.520
I asked the Lord to send me
a good lawyer, and he did.

804
01:14:17.720 --> 01:14:24.159
Her attorney, David Cromwell Johnson,
was a bulldog known to be tenacious

805
01:14:24.279 --> 01:14:28.920
and flamboyant. He called David White
everything he could think of, including a

806
01:14:29.000 --> 01:14:32.239
child molester. On the Forensic Files
episode on the case, a liar,

807
01:14:32.359 --> 01:14:39.520
a drug addict doing dope, on
and on, a prosecutor griped that trying

808
01:14:39.560 --> 01:14:45.039
to convict Peggy Low was like fighting
God. As for the forensic problems,

809
01:14:45.079 --> 01:14:49.600
the defense brought up like that it
might have been a fireplace poker instead of

810
01:14:49.640 --> 01:14:55.520
the bat, and the blood spatter
looked wrong. Well eighty a don Veleska

811
01:14:55.640 --> 01:15:00.119
said succinctly and southernly quote, it
didn't make a damn how doctor Wilson got

812
01:15:00.199 --> 01:15:04.319
killed. The question was who did
it, and James White admitted to doing

813
01:15:04.359 --> 01:15:08.239
it, whether he stomped him,
beat him with a bat, beat him

814
01:15:08.279 --> 01:15:12.000
with a stick. But that's the
type of bull that experts try and sell

815
01:15:12.039 --> 01:15:17.199
to jury's I definitely see his point. I often talk about the battle of

816
01:15:17.239 --> 01:15:24.840
experts on this show. There's no
argument how doctor Wilson died. Veleska was

817
01:15:24.880 --> 01:15:29.680
trying to prove a conspiracy and strongly
felt he had done so. You can

818
01:15:29.760 --> 01:15:34.560
see his anger in interviews. The
problem was he was up against the Sunday

819
01:15:34.600 --> 01:15:41.199
School twin instead of the recovering alcoholic
who admitted to multiple affairs and stood to

820
01:15:41.239 --> 01:15:47.359
inherit six million from her husband's death. But evidently the fancy defense expert wasn't

821
01:15:47.399 --> 01:15:55.760
the problem. Jurors felt White lacked
credibility, especially up against Peggy Lowe's sterling

822
01:15:55.840 --> 01:16:00.239
poise. After the trial, Peggy
returned to her face Emily and went back

823
01:16:00.279 --> 01:16:05.079
to teaching first grade. She told
a reporter that she was looking forward to

824
01:16:05.159 --> 01:16:10.399
attending a high school football game to
watch her daughter, who was a cheerleader.

825
01:16:11.680 --> 01:16:16.600
But despite Peggy's teflon reputation, her
marriage did not survive. Now known

826
01:16:16.680 --> 01:16:24.439
as Peggy Peck, she remarried to
a University of Alabama professor. In early

827
01:16:24.479 --> 01:16:29.479
October of nineteen ninety three, forty
two year old James Dennison White accepted a

828
01:16:29.479 --> 01:16:33.239
plea deal. He was sentenced to
life in prison with the possibility of parole.

829
01:16:34.279 --> 01:16:39.840
After accepting the deal, James led
investigators to the knife used to kill

830
01:16:39.920 --> 01:16:45.880
Jack Wilson. It was located under
some rocks in Betty and Jack's yard.

831
01:16:46.000 --> 01:16:50.359
There was also his bloody clothes,
gloves, and a rope in a plastic

832
01:16:50.399 --> 01:16:56.119
bag. I reckon a plea deal
that saved his ass from the death penalty

833
01:16:56.479 --> 01:17:01.720
helped his memory. James was supposed
to be considered eligible for parole in under

834
01:17:01.760 --> 01:17:06.960
ten years, but that didn't happen. According to the Alabama Department of Corrections,

835
01:17:08.319 --> 01:17:15.319
James's next parole consideration date is March
first, twenty twenty six. Currently,

836
01:17:15.840 --> 01:17:19.880
James White is incarcerated at the Red
Eagle Work Center. He is considered

837
01:17:20.079 --> 01:17:27.399
to not pose a significant risk to
himself or others. Meanwhile, Betty Wilson

838
01:17:27.520 --> 01:17:31.199
appealed her case in nineteen ninety four, and for a time it was thought

839
01:17:31.399 --> 01:17:38.680
that she might win. Betty's strongest
appill point was that supposedly James had retracted

840
01:17:38.680 --> 01:17:43.239
his confession, but when the appeal
made its way through the courts, the

841
01:17:43.319 --> 01:17:49.279
judges were wary of overturning her case. James's supposed retraction had been delivered directly

842
01:17:49.319 --> 01:17:56.640
to one of Betty's attorneys. No
one else was present, and James refused

843
01:17:56.640 --> 01:18:02.640
to comment on the retraction using his
Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination. Ultimately,

844
01:18:03.079 --> 01:18:08.439
the appeal was denied in a five
to two decision in nineteen ninety seven,

845
01:18:09.760 --> 01:18:13.560
but if you are interested, his
full statement is printed in the old

846
01:18:13.640 --> 01:18:17.279
huntsviol magazine. I've referenced he spends
a yarn, just like Betty did.

847
01:18:19.039 --> 01:18:24.520
In two thousand and six, Betty
married for a third time while in prison.

848
01:18:25.359 --> 01:18:29.640
She was weed to a former Green
Beret named Bill Campbell. Her sister,

849
01:18:30.039 --> 01:18:34.079
Betty woods Peck, stood as maid
of honor. Today, Betty is

850
01:18:34.119 --> 01:18:40.720
seventy eight years old and still incarcerated
at the Tutweiler Prison. She will continue

851
01:18:40.760 --> 01:18:46.760
to not be considered for parole.
Incidentally, the infamous Alabama axe murderess Viola

852
01:18:46.840 --> 01:18:51.800
Hyatt was once housed in the same
prison, but she only served ten years

853
01:18:51.840 --> 01:18:57.439
for the gruesome murder of two men. That's one of my favorite episodes.

854
01:18:57.479 --> 01:19:01.840
If you haven't heard it, it's
number one thirty one. Unlike Viola Hyatt,

855
01:19:02.159 --> 01:19:08.399
the motive is ridiculously obvious in this
case. I think what makes it

856
01:19:08.439 --> 01:19:14.119
so sensational is that two juries saw
basically the same evidence and came back with

857
01:19:14.239 --> 01:19:17.840
different results, and it probably had
more to do with motive and character than

858
01:19:17.880 --> 01:19:24.279
anything else. But as I've said
before, I like circumstantial evidence. It

859
01:19:24.359 --> 01:19:30.520
tells a story that people who struggle
with expert witnesses like better. And almost

860
01:19:30.560 --> 01:19:34.640
all evidence in a trial is circumstantial
anyway. You just hear that word on

861
01:19:34.720 --> 01:19:40.000
TV so much it makes it sound
like it's some kind of lesser evidence,

862
01:19:40.399 --> 01:19:45.920
but it's not. There are so
many circumstantial things that tied both Betty and

863
01:19:45.039 --> 01:19:49.960
Peggy to James. But you've also
got to remember the two pieces of physical

864
01:19:50.000 --> 01:19:55.720
evidence, the gun and the library
book, were only tied to Betty.

865
01:19:57.079 --> 01:20:00.600
There are many many folks who say, if Eddy is behind bars, then

866
01:20:00.640 --> 01:20:05.279
Peggy should be there too, otherwise
both of them should have gotten off.

867
01:20:06.479 --> 01:20:11.279
But while Peggy can be tied to
James through phone records, there is no

868
01:20:11.359 --> 01:20:15.119
physical evidence tied to her, and
there is no motive other than her sister

869
01:20:15.600 --> 01:20:20.119
might have promised her some money.
That's not enough. When you've got a

870
01:20:20.119 --> 01:20:26.640
first grade teacher, hiller of her
church with a squeaky clean reputation, her

871
01:20:26.680 --> 01:20:30.279
calls with James could be explained away
by hiring him for a handyman jobs.

872
01:20:31.479 --> 01:20:36.279
It would definitely be hinky coincidences for
me as a juror, but I can

873
01:20:36.399 --> 01:20:42.159
see why they chose not to convict. If they were being really fair and

874
01:20:42.239 --> 01:20:45.319
put her sister's trial out of their
minds, I can see it. I

875
01:20:45.359 --> 01:20:50.840
think they truly did only consider the
evidence against Peggy and not her sister or

876
01:20:50.960 --> 01:20:56.479
all the sensational press coverage. But
Betty, on the other hand, was

877
01:20:56.560 --> 01:21:01.159
crucified at trial. I think one
reason this case is still so controversial is

878
01:21:01.159 --> 01:21:05.439
that one of Betty's former lovers was
a black man. He used to work

879
01:21:05.479 --> 01:21:11.479
for the city of Huntsville but had
moved to California. He was subpoena to

880
01:21:11.520 --> 01:21:16.000
come and confirm the sexual relationship.
There really wasn't a parade of men who

881
01:21:16.039 --> 01:21:20.640
took the stand to demonstrate Betty's affairs, but the prosecution made sure and put

882
01:21:20.640 --> 01:21:26.920
the black man on Betty. Wilson
and plenty of other journalists feel that the

883
01:21:27.000 --> 01:21:30.239
racism card, as she called it, was played at her trial. The

884
01:21:30.279 --> 01:21:34.319
prevailing thought was it's one thing to
be a rich, cheating wife, it's

885
01:21:34.359 --> 01:21:40.239
another thing to do it with a
black man. As disturbing as I do

886
01:21:40.279 --> 01:21:44.640
find that part of Betty's trial,
I do not believe it was prejudicial enough

887
01:21:44.880 --> 01:21:48.760
to be the reason she was convicted. No, I think it's unfortunate that

888
01:21:48.800 --> 01:21:54.359
the prosecutors felt the need to put
on this offensive show when they had a

889
01:21:54.479 --> 01:22:00.600
veritable mountain of evidence against Betty Wilson. She literally had said she would rather

890
01:22:00.640 --> 01:22:04.319
be a widow than a divorcee,
and she got her wish. She just

891
01:22:04.399 --> 01:22:09.680
never dreamed she would be caught,
and the state never dreamed that they couldn't

892
01:22:09.720 --> 01:22:15.520
convict the Sunday school teacher twin on
the same evidence. We will really never

893
01:22:15.640 --> 01:22:19.159
know how involved Peggy was in the
plot to kill Jack Wilson, but I

894
01:22:19.159 --> 01:22:25.640
don't think anyone really believes that she
was not involved at all. She didn't

895
01:22:25.680 --> 01:22:29.800
merely introduce her sister to the killer. She herself played a part in all

896
01:22:29.840 --> 01:22:33.680
the phone calls and planning. She
had just led a respectful life. She

897
01:22:33.800 --> 01:22:38.439
had no motive to kill her brother
in law, and she certainly was never

898
01:22:38.479 --> 01:22:44.239
heard wishing him to be dead.
That's why Peggy Lowpeck leads a normal life

899
01:22:44.359 --> 01:22:48.640
of children and grandchildren and gardens and
Sunday school to this day, and Betty

900
01:22:48.680 --> 01:22:55.680
Wilson Campbell will never see the outside
of prison. But we must come back

901
01:22:55.680 --> 01:23:02.399
to Jack Wilson He is often lost
in the salacious, sensationalized saga of the

902
01:23:02.479 --> 01:23:09.520
Twin Sisters, when he is the
victim and should not be forgotten. This

903
01:23:09.640 --> 01:23:14.920
man was a beloved doctor, friend, brother, father. I could go

904
01:23:15.000 --> 01:23:19.880
on and on. He was selfless, generous, kind, compassionate, and

905
01:23:19.920 --> 01:23:26.520
to those who loved him, irreplaceable. He was only fifty five years old

906
01:23:26.520 --> 01:23:30.600
when he died, just beginning to
have grandchildren. But instead, this poor

907
01:23:30.640 --> 01:23:35.079
man died in a vicious attack in
his own home, a place where you

908
01:23:35.119 --> 01:23:41.640
should feel safe. Instead of a
long life filled with kids, grandkids,

909
01:23:41.960 --> 01:23:46.119
nieces and nephews, birthday parties and
Christmases, he was left to die alone,

910
01:23:46.600 --> 01:23:51.680
battered in a pool of his own
blood. It is a terrible tragedy

911
01:23:53.039 --> 01:23:58.239
for this family. It's been thirty
two years now since he was murdered,

912
01:23:58.960 --> 01:24:02.279
and though I'm sure he is still
missed, I hope his family has found

913
01:24:02.399 --> 01:24:12.000
peace. Southern Fried True Crime is
hosted and produced by me Erica Kelly.

914
01:24:12.199 --> 01:24:16.239
Today's episode was researched and written by
Andrea Marshbak and Erica Kelly. As usual,

915
01:24:16.479 --> 01:24:21.079
any editorial comments and opinions are my
own. Southern Fros's original music is

916
01:24:21.079 --> 01:24:25.479
by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio,
and the original graphic art is by Coley

917
01:24:25.680 --> 01:24:30.479
Horner. Betty and Peggy's case has
been suggested by so many people over the

918
01:24:30.560 --> 01:24:33.920
years it's impossible to name them all. But thanks so much to those who

919
01:24:33.920 --> 01:24:40.239
wrote in asking for this fascinating story. If you have any case suggestions,

920
01:24:40.439 --> 01:24:44.920
please go to my website, Southernfred
Truecrime dot com and click on the listener

921
01:24:45.000 --> 01:24:50.520
suggestion tab or email SFTC Research at
gmail dot com. This is the best

922
01:24:50.520 --> 01:24:55.760
way for me to get those little
known cases you'll always send me. Please

923
01:24:55.800 --> 01:25:00.399
remember that I do not accept suggestions
on social media private messages, but please

924
01:25:00.439 --> 01:25:03.640
do come join our Facebook group,
Southern Fried True Crime Fans Discussion Group,

925
01:25:03.800 --> 01:25:08.680
where we swap recipes, worship Dolly
Parton, and share memes. We do,

926
01:25:08.840 --> 01:25:12.720
of course discuss true crime, not
just Southern friud, but all kinds,

927
01:25:13.000 --> 01:25:15.840
but it is still very much a
Southern lifestyle group. Our group is

928
01:25:15.880 --> 01:25:18.279
a safe and fun corner of Facebook, and by God, we mean it

929
01:25:18.319 --> 01:25:21.279
when we say no shit as is
allowed. It's not just a motto,

930
01:25:21.359 --> 01:25:26.000
it's how we run the group.
If you enjoy today's show, don't forget

931
01:25:26.000 --> 01:25:29.399
to subscribe, and please tell a
friend, or rate and review. I'm

932
01:25:29.439 --> 01:25:32.640
also on all large platforms like iTunes, iHeart, Spotify, Amazon, Audible,

933
01:25:32.720 --> 01:25:38.680
and YouTube. Until next time,
thanks so much for listening. Y'all.

934
01:25:38.680 --> 01:25:39.159
Take care,