Most accurate 2021 crime rates for Phenix City, AL. This was cause for celebration on the part of Hoyt Shepherd and the great job the precinct workers had done to make it happen. 8,376,755. These murders resulted in a delay riot that quickly garnered media attention across the country. The defense then attacked Fate Leeberns character. Suspect arrested in murder of Phenix City hospital employee, Evening fire damages building on Victory Dr. in Columbus, Muscogee County School Board announces recent leadership changes, New affordable housing coming to South Columbus, Muscogee County School District postpones vote on time change proposal, 2 Opelika men arrested on felony theft charges, Auburn police say. He had a wife and three mistresses that he kept in clothes, cars, and houses and almost any woman he took a fancy to of course, they werent all willing and when they werent there were ways of persuasion or penalty which was how he kept the jail filled up and the whore houses provided with an unlimited stable of girls. Fate, his archrival from Columbus, was sitting at a table with a Columbus Beauty Queen. (The US average is 22.7) Phenix City property crime is 71.0. In Jefferson County, the results were 23,858 for Patterson and 23,060 for Porter. They were Roderick Beddow from Birmingham, E.E. Patterson had been gunned down June 18, 1954, in the street outside his law office just days after winning the Democratic nomination for attorney general, for which he had campaigned on a platform of cleaning up the Souths most notorious town. The man, later identified as 47-year-old Jeffrey Lynn Martin, reportedly ran into a wooded area near the house where the shooting took place. Have a tip we should know? So she came to my house and she went to another friends house, said Moore. I just want to say, Richard really went out like a real man for his family. In March 1955, director Phil Karlson and his cast and crew began filming in Phenix City, popularly known in the national press as Sin City, USA, for rampant abuses by organized crime. Its pursuit of the circumstances would be thorough and relentless and for this grief, they held Albert Patterson personally responsible. Updated annually. According to the reports, Russel County Coroner Dr. Arthur Sumbry, Jr. confirmed that 35-year-old Jessica Martin, 40-year-old Richard Cook, and an infant child whose name was not released were fatally shot at a home located at the 3700 block of U.S. Highway 80 in Phenix City on Friday. Doctors carried out a caesarian in a bid to save her unborn child but were unsuccessful. Elmer Reese continued in his position, as he was not up for an election that year. He had more money than he could get in his pocket. Hoyt then walks to Fates table and asks him to follow him to the dice room. They had determined they only needed 600 votes instead of 700. Shortly after, Walden killed his wife for threatening to tell the police and took her body to the Okefenokee Swamp. As the Democratic nominee for state attorney general in 1954, Patterson promised to "clean up" Phenix City, Russell County, which was largely run by organized crime and corrupt politicians. It occurred to Albert Fuller (pictured to the right) that what these people needed was protection - and he was the man to provide it. Every corner was covered, law enforcement, legislative, and judicial. The relatives said Cook armed himself with a baseball bat as he tried to fend off Martin. Feeling pressured, Lamar left the tabulation sheets with Si Garrett. All of this didnt sit well with Albert Patterson (pictured below). Arriving at his fathers house bruised and bloodied, the younger Patterson urges his father to clean up the town. Phenix City is the county seat of Russell County and is located in east Alabama along the west bank of the Chattahoochee River, which separates the city from Columbus, Georgia. He developed a reputation for being fast with a trigger thanks to a raid with two ABC agents and he began to build power of his own. Its pursuit of the circumstances would be thorough and relentless and for this grief, they held Albert Patterson personally responsible. All the trademarks displayed on this page are the property of Location, Inc. Hoyt Shepherd wanted to make a deal with Hugh Bentley. Law enforcement officers reported that Jeffrey Martins cause of death appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. Otis Stewart was never seen again. Pattersons persuasion and expertise had, he felt, made him a party to an obstruction of justice and he made up his mind, that he would never again represent the criminal element who so violated his own personal code of ethics. This is compared to communities of all sizes, from the smallest to the largest. The girls he hired were tattooed, with an identification number like a thoroughbred horse, inside the lower lip, so that if they tried to run away, or if anyone tried to hire them away, the tattoo would prove they were one of Franks.. Williams is a Phenix City resident, according to officials. A Grand Jury investigation was quickly called and thankfully they were in session. The straw broke for the adult Hugh Bentley in 1944 when he and his friend Hugh Britton found a soldier, almost dead, off the side of the road at the Dillingham Street Bridge. They witnessed marked ballots, bought votes, and unqualified voters. One week later, both Hoyt and Jimmie were also arrested, charged with murder, and put in the same cell as Grady in the Russell County Jail (pictured below). Gibson is currently in the Russell County Jail on two counts of capital murder - count one is murder by the defendant during a robbery and count two is murder committed by or through the use of a deadly weapon while the victim is in a vehicle. I also want to encourage you to follow Historic Columbus on Facebook and Instagram for more posts on our community's history. Hugh Bentley and the RBA were not the only ones saying that law enforcement in Phenix City had gone to hell. During the divorce proceedings, Gloria disclosed the gambling business as the source of family income and the National Lottery Company (Davis business) grossing more than one million dollars a year. Lamar Reid felt his doubts being swept away with the arguments of the two men and returned to euphoria for being included in something important. For what he had done, Albert Patterson was removed from the reserved list to the endangered list and systematically stripped of every public office he held on the School Board, the Draft Board, and even as a deacon of his church. In addition, NeighborhoodScout found that a lot of the crime that takes place in Phenix City is property crime. He claimed Martin had been stalking the family by camping out in the wooded area opposite the home in the days prior. When I came up in the driveway, [Martins son] came up running to me saying, Uncle Bubba, Richards dead, my dad shot him in the head, he went in there and said my mom is gurgling. Hes going to need a lot of counseling. He stood his ground, and when that man came in his house, Richard stood there with a baseball bat against a gun, and he died protecting his wife and unborn child, said Jessica Martins Uncle, Terry Moore. He drove to Montgomery that morning to help his friend. John Patterson (1921-2021) was thrust into the Alabama political arena in 1954 by the brutal murder of his father, Albert Patterson, who had gained the Democratic nomination for Alabama attorney general with promises to end the rampant organized crime in Phenix City. By Monday, June 7th, Ben Ray, chairman of the State Democratic Executive Committee, received a telegram from RBA President Howard Pennington stating that as much as $30,000 had been offered to county election officials across the state to change their tally sheets in favor of Lee Porter before the official canvas in Montgomery on June 10th. When the jury convened, they came back with a verdict within four hours. The news of Albert Pattersons ambush slaying flashed like lightening across the Alabama. There was another whole field of exploitation that had been permitted to flourish but had not yet been organized, prostitution. Now, it seemed that opportunity had come. Everywhere you looked, there was Hugh Bentley and Hugh Britton attacking city government and county government, Mayor Homer Cobb and the City Commission, and Elmer Reese. Columbus, Georgia 31901, Historic Columbus On June 4, 1954, Si Garrett set out to see Lamar Reid, the 28-year-old brand new chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee in Birmingham. All rights reserved. Continue Reading Show full articles without "Continue Reading" button for {0} hours. Patterson then joined Hugh Bentley and Hugh Britton in their effort to beat the rackets. Dixie mafia wasnt yet done, as Janice Branch Tracy records in her book Mississippi Moonshine Politics: How was such big business, Tracy writes, local law enforcement in Mississippi often The three-man City Commission was also expanded to five. The Phenix City Story. He was saying I just want to see my son, then he did what he did in front of his son, Moore said. In Columbus, cab driver James Radius Taylor picked up a fare, an Army lieutenant, who destination was Chads Rose Room in Phenix City. Read more about Scout's Crime Data. They needed to steal it back. Raw data sources: He had been shot three times once in the chest, the arm, and in the mouth, the acknowledged death mark for informers. District Attorney Rick Chancey said she appeared to have little remorse. Later, atrocities continued at Fort Mitchell, the killing grounds for early Georgia politicians who fought to the death over rival politics and bitter feuds. Phenix City has a mayor-commission form of government, with each member serving for four years. They would never be able to beat the Machine, at least not the way it was set up at that point. of a local reformer named Albert Patterson, the governor of Alabama was forced This was horrifyingly devastating to the Leebern family, but unfortunately not surprising within the framework of the system that had been established at the time. On May 17, the Phenix City Police Department Criminal Investigations Division obtained information about the homicide which led to the arrest of 24-year-old DAntonio Gibson. This site offers articles on Alabama's people, events, sports, art, literature, industry, government, plant and animal life, agriculture, recreation, and so much more. While Hugh Bentley was ecstatic, the crime syndicate was stunned beyond belief that they had not bought enough votes, so they swung into action. They never let up and when election day came, they appointed themselves poll watchers to see to it that the ballots were cast according to the law. It was hard to capture and condense it all. Silas Garrett III was a man accustomed to having his own way. At one time nationally known, Albert Patterson (1894-1954) was a prominent Alabama attorney and politician. Hoyt Shepherd had seen to that. Take a walk with author Faith Serafin as she travels through the darkest recesses of Phenix Citys past. 29-year-old Damon Daniels Jr., of Phenix City, is charged with capital murder. As of the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 38,817.. Phenix City lies immediately west across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus, Georgia and observes Eastern Time on a de facto basis (in contrast to the rest of Alabama, which observes Central Time) due to Phenix . Just like in Alabama, organized crime flourished in Mississippi, both in the era of Prohibition as well as in the boom years after the end of World War II. Several witnesses in the area reported hearing gunshots and then seeing a male suspect flee form the scene. Violent offenses tracked included rape, murder and non-negligent manslaughter, armed robbery, and aggravated assault, including assault with a deadly weapon. Authorities have identified the two men killed in a shooting Saturday on the Phenix City Riverwalk. ***Editor's Note: There was so much happening during this time and so many players. This capitulation, however, was not due to Hugh Bentley or the RBA, but a federal tax increase that had been passed by Congress which included a new federal law requiring all lottery operators, nationwide, to register, buy a $50 occupational tax stamp, and pay a ten percent tax on their gross income. They got here, they wasnt here 30 minutes, and he came up and waited on them to get here, and he was saying I just want to see my son, then he did what he did in front of his son.. With regards to property crime, you have a 1 in 24 chance of becoming a victim. Published: Apr. The decision to back Otis Taff seemed like a good one, but with this fateful decision, a chain of escalating events began, followed by a series of significant murders that each contributed to the destiny of Phenix City, and brought it to its ultimate tragedy. Where is 2022 data? Serafin details one The most famous murder in Alabama history is the 1988 Hawes murders, which took place in the city of Birmingham. What can we say? They chose to back Otis Taff who was running against the gamblers candidate, Elmer Reese. In 1947, Hoyt got his wish. According to police, Martins ex-husband shot and killed her and Richard Cook in their home along Highway 80 on Misty Lane in Phenix City. Bubber was set on seeing she got nothing. As in real life, the cinematic version of Albert Patterson is murdered by men threatened by his victory in the Democratic primary for state attorney general. Now let us turn to take a look at how Phenix City does for violent crimes specifically, and then how it does for property crimes. Both McVeigh and Walden were soon arrested and confessed to the crime. She charged him with cruelty, he charged her with drunkenness. straighten the town out. Our nationally-comparable school ratings are covered under US Patent No. What? They decided that day to try and get someone a seat on the City Commission to change what was happening in their town. Fuller had carved out an empire of his own: protection and prostitution with levies so high that there were constant complaints from the gamblers about the exorbitant fees. Other US patent applications are currently pending. On May 13, at approximately 7:45 p.m., Phenix City officers responded to Jack Hughston Memorial Hospital in reference to a person suffering multiple gunshot wounds. kidnappings, and murder in order to keep control of the town. For what he had done, Albert Patterson was removed from the reserved list to the endangered list and systematically stripped of every public office he held on the School Board, the Draft Board, and even as a deacon of his church. What happened when that raid forced Governor Johnsons hand? Copyright 2021 WTVM. He had more money than he could get in his pocket. The victims were all identified by the Russell County Coroner. She notes in her Foreword that information came from in-depth interviews with the principals and investigators, witness sworn testimony, and recordings from wire-taps. Sheriff Taylor says agents received. It was not nearly so high-risk as gambling and lottery with investigations going on all the time. Phenix City is a city in Lee and Russell counties in the U.S. state of Alabama, and the county seat of Russell County. Regardless of whether Phenix City does well or poorly compared to all other cities and towns in the US of all sizes, compared to places with a similar population, it fares badly. The infant appears to have been Martin's unborn child. Lamar saw it as a call to arms, an invitation to a heroic act. He was from a prominent and distinguished family of attorneys. Other establishments provided more extensive services where a girls sexual favors could be bought by the minute, the hour, or the evening. This bombing bred a new kind of terror in Phenix City. The NeighborhoodScout search engine is covered under US Patents No. all, the BAMA Club, local capos (of Growing up, he had three close friends killed in their adolescence by the excesses of Phenix City Jesse Stubbs with his head shot off, Herman Elliott, knocked in the head and found floating in the river, and Jimmie Hooks, stabbed in the heart. He also was the owner of several sporting goods stores and created a plastic helmet liner used. What Lamar then realized was that when the discovery of the discrepancy was made, the responsibility of what had been done was his. Pettway just recently started a supervisor job at a hospital in Phenix City, the same hospital he drove himself to after being shot multiple times. Gordon Persons, with only six months left in office as governor, was acutely aware of the powerful passions and potential powder keg in Phenix City - the shooting, killing, and retaliation that was likely to occur as a result of this shocking slaying of the attorney general-elect. As the movie starts, Albert Patterson is being urged to run for public office and battle the corrupt influence of Rhett Tanner (played by Edward Andrews), the gangster who controls Phenix Citys virtually lawless 14th Street. to declare martial law, and bring in a decorated World War II general to counties, towns, and (sometimes) families too much. Grady Shepherd admitted to police the next day to killing Fate Leebern in self-defense with Hoyt Shepherd and Jimmie Matthews stating they were eyewitnesses to it. Hoyt Shepherd was also unhappy and greatly disturbed by the disclosures and conduct of the trial. Sign up for the Crime Capsule newsletter today. Also, later that same year in May, Hugh Bentley and members of the RBA took up their positions at the ballot boxes as poll watchers. She was six weeks from her due date, said Autry. Godwin, Revel, and Allred were arrested, but released because McVeigh and Walden deny knowing them or being hired. The Architectural Styles of Our Town: Columbus, GA by Historic Columbus is licensed under ACreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Jessica was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to police. Site design by Tabbed Creative. The information was immediately turned over to the three gamblers. First responders on the scene reported initially finding Cook deceased from what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds. Here clubs such as the Shangri-La and Paradise Point, or the beautifully-named Chez Joeys and the Gay Paree, profited from boozehounds and gamblers arriving both by land and by water. Bless their hearts. A 1954 report by the US Armys Criminal Investigation Division stated that the small town had more per capita incidences of venereal disease and violence than any other city in America. There was Ma Beachie, a grandmotherly woman who swore that all she provided was high-spirited good fun and a floor show. wind speeds 158-206 mph) tornado 2.8 miles away from the Phenix City city center injured 7 people and caused between $5000 and $50,000 in damages.. On 4/18/1953, a category F3 tornado 5.9 miles away from the . She was seeking alimony and support for their two-year-old daughter. and Russell County Sheriff Ralph Matthews. Gordon Persons, with only six months left in office as governor, was acutely aware of the powerful passions and potential powder keg in Phenix City - the shooting, killing, and retaliation that was likely to occur as a result of this shocking slaying of the attorney general-elect. In Phenix City, AL you have a 1 in 139 chance of becoming a victim of violent crime. The Phenix City Story is a crime film based on the assassination of Alabama politician and attorney Albert Patterson in June 1954 in Phenix City, Russell County. According to police, Martin's ex-husband shot and killed her and Richard Cook in their home along Highway 80 on Misty Lane in Phenix City. This is possible by associating the 9.4 million reported crimes in the U.S, including over 2 million geocoded point locations. Graham, a Phenix City Native, was convicted of hiring a family friend, Kenny Walton, to shoot and kill her own daughter 21-year-old Stephanie "Shae" Graham in 2007. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2004. Fuller would even cruise the county for girls. In addition to all of the precinct workers, Hoyt Shepherd had gathered all of his friends around that night his brother, Grady, his partner, Jimmie Matthews, and his old mentor, Clyde Yarborough. The. The search engine finds the neighborhoods that are the optimum fit to the set of criteria you choose. Later in 1950, no one, least of all Godwin Davis and the gambling community, expected a divorce trial to put in motion a tide of events that would challenge and nearly topple their carefully crafted gambling empire. First, the gambling machine gets Russell Countys two State Representatives Jabe Brassell and Ben Cole to introduce legislation declaring the five-man commission created in 1947 as unconstitutional and request a return to the three-man commission (who would be gambler-friendly). John Patterson (1921-2021) was thrust into the Alabama political arena in 1954 by the brutal murder of his father, Albert Patterson, who had gained the Democratic nomination for Alabama attorney general with promises to end the rampant organized crime in Phenix City. Every bar, honky tonk, and gambling joint hired girls to lure customers into drinking themselves into insensibility, gambling their money, and losing it all before they left. Police have not released anymore details into this incident they are calling a murder-suicide, but family members of Martin told News Leader 9 her ex-husband showed up out of nowhere, after no one had heard from him for over 10 years, and began threatening her the day before he killed his ex and her boyfriend. On May 13, at approximately 7:45 p.m., Phenix City officers responded to Jack Hughston Memorial . COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - The East Alabama Board of Realtors teamed up with a friend to honor a young boy who lost his life too soon. Of course, once the girls started to work, they had to pay their dues for protection to insure themselves against arrest for prostitution. The film also was well-reviewed by film critics. Jessica was six weeks shy of having her baby. DVD. PHENIX CITY, Ala. ( WRBL) - Two men are dead Saturday afternoon in an apparent shooting on the Phenix City Riverwalk, according to Russell County District Attorney-elect Rick Chancey. Before Las Vegas, there was Phenix City, Alabama-the original sin city. This, though, not the confirmed location of Edwards death. Jerry Lambe is a journalist at Law&Crime. The film invents instances of the fictional Tanner and his cronies engaging in a campaign of terror against the Pattersons and their supporters even before Albert Patterson is assassinated. Later that day, Si Garrett and Russell County Solicitor Arch Ferrell went to Lamars office with a proposition that they werent going to need as many votes instead of 2,000 it would be more like 700. Stringfellow, a soldier doing time in the federal detention barracks for violating the military code, had been released from prison to become an undercover agent for the federal authorities and a government witness in a liquor conspiracy case against Revel, Davis, and Allred. Extortion. Before Las Vegas, there was Phenix City, Alabamathe original sin city. You have a 1 in 156.0 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in Phenix City each year. In Fuller would even cruise the county for girls. According to NeighborhoodScout's analysis of FBI reported crime data, your chance of becoming a victim of one of these crimes in Phenix City is one in 145. Hoyt then walks to Fates table and asks him to follow him to the dice room. He was assassinated outside his law office shortly after he had won the Democratic nomination for Alabama Attorney General on a platform of reforming the rife corruption and vice in Phenix City. Samantha Autry, the little sister of 35-year-old Jessica Martin, told News Leader 9 her sister and her boyfriend, 40-year-old Richard Cook, were preparing to welcome a new born baby boy into the world before they were killed by Jessica Martins ex husband, 47-year-old Jeffery Martin, according to police. The main source of this Spotlight is The Tragedy and The Triumph of Phenix City, Alabama by Margaret Ann Barnes. Relatives say Martins 14-year-old son, who he shared with Jessica, was inside the home at the time and witnessed the horrific ordeal. cases murdered their political opponents in cold blood. Family members said, Jessica and Jeffery's 14-year-old. Fuller began providing racket protection to the gamblers. It was double pay for Albert the soldier paid for the girl and the girl paid for protection and the money kept growing and with it, power. They needed to steal it back. 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