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ATHENS, Ga. - An Alabama couple has been charged
with murder in connection with the discovery of two burned bodies in
the trunk of a rental car abandoned in rural Morgan County.
Jeff McCord, 31, and Jessica McCord, 30, were
arrested at an Alabaster, Ala., home in the deaths of 31-year-old Alan
G. Bates and his wife, Terra, 30, of Fredrick, Md., according to
Jefferson County, Ala., District Attorney Roger Brown.
Jessica McCord is the ex-wife of Alan Bates, and
the two had been engaged in a lengthy and bitter custody dispute over
their two daughters, ages 10 and 12.
The Bateses flew from Maryland to Birmingham on
Feb. 15 to give depositions in the custody case. Their bodies, burned
beyond recognition, were discovered Feb. 16 off a remote road near the
small Georgia town of Rutledge, about 30 miles south of Athens, in the
trunk of a rental car that had been set ablaze.
Alan Bates was a production manager for Phoenix
Productions in Maryland and had worked in theater in Birmingham, where
he met his second wife.
Terra Bates, the granddaughter of former South
Carolina state Rep. Ed Simpson, was studying to be a museum curator,
her aunt Betty Simpson said. "We're all just crushed by this," she
said.
An autopsy conducted by the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation Crime Lab in Decatur found that both Alan and Terra
Bates had been shot repeatedly and died before the car was set on
fire, Morgan County sheriff's officials said.
Morgan County District Attorney Fred Bright said
Thursday the slaying was believed to have been committed in the
Hoover, Ala., area where the McCords lived.
Morgan County authorities would have jurisdiction
for only the less serious charge of arson, Mr. Bright said. The couple
would be tried for murder in Alabama.
Mr. Brown said investigators believed Mr. McCord
knew the landowner in Rutledge, an Alabama man.
"There was speculation that McCord may know the
area from hunting, but it's just wild speculation," the district
attorney said. "As far as I know, it was just a random location."
Mr. Brown would not discuss the state's theory on
how the slayings were carried out and how the bodies were driven to
Georgia. Hoover, Ala., police deferred all questions to the district
attorney's office.
The McCords had been suspects in the slaying since
Sunday, when their home was searched by Hoover police.
Mr. McCord, a Pelham, Ala., police officer, was
dismissed from his job Wednesday after failing to report for a
disciplinary hearing, the Birmingham News reported.
Woman suspect in double murder once was fired after attack
February 21, 2002
HOOVER, ALABAMA - A woman who is a primary suspect
in the murder of her ex-husband and his wife, whose bodies were found
in the trunk of a burned car, was fired from a police job in 2000
after attacking him.
The Birmingham News reported Thursday that Jessica
McCord was fired by Birmingham Police Chief Mike Coppage for being
absent without leave and a physical attack on Alan Bates.
"You went to the home of your ex-husband and you
admitted you hurt him to keep him from hurting you," Coppage wrote in
the termination letter.
McCord and her husband, Jeff Kelley McCord, have
been identified by Hoover police as the primary suspects in the deaths
of Bates, 30, and his wife, Terra, 31, of Frederick, Md. They were
shot to death and dumped in the trunk of a rental car, which was found
smoldering Saturday on the outskirts of Rutledge, Ga.
They had gone to Birmingham for a custody hearing
Friday involving Bates' efforts to see his two daughters from his
marriage to Jessica McCord.
Jeff McCord was fired as a police officer in Pelham
after he failed to show up for a disciplinary hearing Wednesday
morning.
The McCords declined comment after meeting later
Wednesday with one of the state's most prominent criminal defense
lawyers, David Cromwell Johnson, at his Birmingham office.
Johnson said he has not been hired by the McCords.
He said they had been staying with relatives in Florida and that
police knew where they had been.
"They're just trying to get away for a while, and I
think they should," Johnson said.
Authorities have said the two daughters may have
been with McCord family members Friday afternoon when Bates was
supposed to pick them up. Court records show Jessica McCord repeatedly
violated orders for Bates to be with his daughters and talk to them on
the phone. She spent 10 days in jail in December for refusing to
comply with a custody order.
The Birmingham News reported that the McCords, who
met while both were working at the Birmingham Police Department two
years ago, got their marriage license in neighboring Shelby County in
June 2000. The News said the McCords pulled up their mailbox shortly
after moving into their home in Hoover about a year ago and mail is
not delivered there.
Alan Bates and Jessica McCord were divorced in
1995, with McCord granted physical custody of the girls and Bates
given standard visitation rights. In November, Bates sought custody of
the girls, saying he had been denied contact with his daughters for
more than a year, including court-ordered weekly phone calls.
A March hearing date had been set on the issue of
custody.
Jessica McCord: The Mother of Bitter Evil Ex Wives
By Kim Cantrell - Truecrimezine.com
July 7, 2012
They couldn’t have been more opposites when they
met in high school during 1989. Alan Bates was active in school
activities and was considered popular by his peers. Jessica, on the
other hand, was viewed as “Goth” and, even in a group of kids known
for their antisocial natures, not completely accepted.
It made for great gossip when Jessica and Alan
began dating, and the rumor mills were running at full speed when
Jessica got pregnant and the couple was married in a rushed ceremony.
The Bates wouldn’t be the first teenage couple to
marry under such circumstances, nor would they be the last, but it
didn’t make life any easier for them but they seemed to make the most
of it. Yet, there were times when Jessica had an overinflated sense of
self-worth and Alan could never seem to do anything right.
Working to support his family and still trying to
earn his college degree, Alan grew tired of Jessica’s very increasing
demands and unreasonable expectations. All he wanted was peace and a
little patience from his wife.
The only thing holding the couple together was
their two daughters. Alan knew it, Jessica knew it. Alan loved his
girls more than he hated his marriage, so he tried to tough it out.
Jessica, alternatively, continued her foot stomping, princess act but
added a helping of extramarital affairs to the mix.
It was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s
back. By 1994, it was time for Alan to toss in the towel.
And The Battle Begins
Domestic princesses are notorious for wanting their
cake and to eat it too. Jessica was none too happy when Alan filed for
divorce, but realizing her soon-to-be ex-husband wasn’t going to
insist on custody of the girls and willing to pay child support, she
softened up and things between the couple became amicable.
But any good post-divorce relations they had
achieved disappeared when Alan met art historian Terra Klugh. Terra
was the complete opposite of the woman in Alan’s life of the past few
years. She was even tempered, exhibited class and finesse, and, best
of all, she seemed to truly care about this girls.
Jessica Bates hated her and was unhappy with the
idea of her children having a stepmother. Alan would pay for finding
love again.
Alan and Terra wed in June 2000. You can almost
Jessica saying, “Oh hell no!” Not to be outdone, in the same month,
Jessica married Jeff McCord, a sheriff’s deputy she met through her
job as a Birmingham Police dispatcher.
The real battle began with Jessica making excuses
to shorten Alan’s visitation and placing prohibitions on what he could
do or be around during his time with the girls. Although at first Alan
tried to somewhat oblige her demands for the sake of the children,
finally took the issues to family Court. There Jessica got a quick
lesson in post-divorce control; that is, you have none.
The Court Orders meant nothing to Jessica and soon
she was refusing Alan parenting time with his girls, usually by not
being home at his scheduled time. Other times she moved and wouldn’t
give Alan the address or she hid them at her mother’s house.
Again, Alan took the matter up before a Judge.
Jessica was lectured and threatened not to interfere with Alan’s
custody time.
Again and again and again Jessica ignored the
Judge’s warnings. Again and again and again, Alan sought the help of
the family court system. He shelled out lots of money time and again
for Jessica to get nothing more than a slap on the wrist.
When Alan and Terra moved to Maryland the following
year, Jessica stopped attending the hearings altogether.
Her contemptuous actions could no longer be
ignored. In December 2001, Jessica was arrested on a Contempt of Court
charge and ordered to serve ten days in jail.
When he and Jessica divorced, Alan had believed,
despite their tumultuous marriage, Jessica was a good mother to the
girls. He knew between work and school, he couldn’t be the kind parent
they needed and felt Jessica was better suited. But in the years since
the divorce, watching her use the children as pawns in a bitter game
rooted in jealousy and seeing the effects on his children and his
relationship with them, Alan decided it was time to right the wrong.
He decided to file for custody.
When All Else Fails, Try Murder.
Jessica McCord wasn’t stupid, she senses what was
coming. She realized she’d pushed the Court as far as she could and
her mommy-card was expired. She could not allow her girls to be raised
by her and, quite frankly, she need that child support – she and Jeff
had a mountain of debt and she was unemployed.
While serving her ten days for contempt, Jessica
read a murder mystery and a plan began forming in a her mind; a plan
that would ensure she never lose custody.
Alan was coming to Birmingham to participate in
depositions pertaining to the custody case and he had made
arrangements through his attorney to visit with the girls during this
time.
On February 15, 2002, Alan and Terra flew into
Birmingham International Airport and rented a car. The couple was
anxious to reach the McCords because, once they picked up the girls,
the family was going to visit Alan’s parents in Atlanta, Georgia.
When they reached Jessica and Jeff’s home, the
found a note on the front door that read, “Come to the back. We’re
having trouble with the front door.”
At the rear door, Jessica greeted them, invited
them into the family room, and offered them a seat on the leather
couch. Under the guise of getting the girls, Jessica exited the room.
As they waited, exchanging small talk among
themselves and undoubtedly were weary by Jessica’s seemingly cordial
demeanor, when suddenly Jeff entered the room and fired four shots
into each of their bodies. It happened so quickly that there was no
time to try and defend themselves.
Like a black widow spider, Jessica had lured Alan
and Terra into her “web” then without any thought to how it would
emotionally hurt her daughters or the couples families, she murdered
them – well, she had her Sheriff’s Deputy husband do it.
Fortunately, the Bates girls weren’t at their
mother’s home to witness the murder of the father and stepmother.
Jessica had never intended to let them visit with their father and had
arranged for them to stay with their grandmother (Jessica’s mom). The
house was empty except for she and Jeff, and they immediately went to
work with the last phase of the plan.
First, they loaded Alan and Terra’s bodies into the
truck of the rental car. Next, they drove to a remote area just
outside of Atlanta. Leaving the car in a field, they set it on fire
believing it would destroy any evidence.
Returning to the Birmingham, Alabama, home, Jeff
and Jessica began cleaning the crime scene. They stripped the
blood-soaked leather from the couch frame, they replaced floor tiles,
and wiped away blood splatters.
They thought they had committed the perfect crime.
They were idiots.
Discovery
When Alan and Jessica didn’t arrive in Atlanta at
the expected time, his parents weren’t too concerned; after all,
Atlanta traffic can be a nightmare. But when their calls to the
couples’ cell phones went unanswered as well as attempts to reach them
at their Maryland home, the elder Bateses began to fear the worst.
Philip Bates began phoning the police agencies and hospitals inquiring
about his son and daughter-in-law. But it was to no avail.
During the early morning hours of February 16,
2002, a farmer called to report what he believed was a forest fire.
When firemen and police arrived, they found a burning car instead of a
forest fire. The theory the car had probably been stolen in Atlanta
and taken for a joy ride became much more serious when they discovered
the charred remains of two human bodies in the trunk.
The car fire had reached such high temperatures
that the license plate had been melted off the car. However, it was
intact enough for police to trace it and learn that it belonged to a
Mavis Car Rental in Birmingham, Alabama. After that, it wasn’t much of
a stretch to for Jessica to become the prime suspect in the murder of
the couple of the trunk now identifed as Alan and Terra Bates.
Police immediately interviewed Jeff at work. He
didn’t seem to concerned about the Bateses death or that he was being
questioned about it. He told officers that Alan and his wife had never
showed up to pick up the girls. He continued by saying he and Jessica
had carried on with their belated Valentine’s Day plans after taking
the girls to Jessica’s mother. He even produced two ticket stubs to a
showing of Lord of the Rings.
When police spoke with Jessica at her mother’s
home, she gave the same exact story; adding that she had called Alan’s
cell phone once and left a message inquiring about where he was.
Jessica said Alan never returned the call.
Investigator’s weren’t buying the couples’ story
and obtained a search warrant for the McCord home. When they arrived
at the McCord house on February 17, 2002, no one was home so they
forced their way in. What they found was shocking.
It appeared someone had attempted to quickly
“remodel” the family room. Police officers observed the new floor
tiles. New wallpaper covered the walls, but it had clearly been done
in a rush as it wasn’t even near being properly aligned. And when they
removed it, there was an obvious bullet hole in the drywall. Then they
discovered a small amount of blood on the glass coffee table.
Investigators knew they had discovered the crime
scene. Using evidence found in the McCord home, police secured
warrants for Jeff and Jessica McCord. But where were they?
Eventually investigators tracked the couple to a
friend’s home. It was later learned that the McCords had left the
state but soon returned to Alabama and met with an attorney.
The couple went quietly when police arrested them
on two counts of first degree murder.
Justice Is Served
Although the case was mostly circumstantial,
centered around Jessica and Alan’s bitter custody war, prosecutors
believed the case was airtight. They were unwilling to talk about any
plea deals with Jessica, but Jeff was another story.
Jeff McCord may not have been smart enough to tell
his wife no when it came to murder, but he was smart enough to know he
was going to prison and didn’t want to be labeled a snitch there. He
refused to testify against his wife.
At her trial, Jessica took the stand and tried to
convince the jury she was a victim as well. She told of how Alan was
trying to take the girls way from her. She cried as she told how Alan
was not the nice guy he portrayed himself to be in public and she’d
frequently be subjected to his “dark side.”
The jury wasn’t buying what she was selling and on
February 15, 2003, a year to the day that Alan and Terra were
murdered, a jury found Jessica guilty of first degree murder times
two.
During the sentencing phase testimony, Jessica
never said she sorry instead choosing to still proclaim innocence. Her
testimony focuses mainly on her children, which many believe
ultimately saved her life as the jury opted for a sentence for life
without parole.
Jeff McCord, the gunman in the murders of Alan and
Terra Bates, was also found guilty and received life in prison but
will be eligible for parole after serving only 25 years.