Terra Klugh Bates, a 30-year-old female, and her husband, Alan Geoffre Bates, were tragically killed on February 15, 2002, in Hoover, Alabama. The couple, who resided in Frederick, Maryland, had traveled to the Birmingham area for a deposition concerning a contentious child custody dispute between Alan Bates and his ex-wife, Jessica McCord. That evening, they were scheduled to pick up Alan's two young daughters from the home of Jessica and her new husband, Jeff K.
McCord Jr., for a weekend visit.
However, the couple was ambushed upon their arrival at the McCord residence. Inside the home, they were both shot multiple times. After the murders, their bodies were placed in the trunk of their rental car. The vehicle was then driven to Rutledge, Georgia, a rural area about 60 miles east of Atlanta, where it was set on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence. The bullet-riddled and burned bodies of Terra and Alan Bates were discovered in the smoldering vehicle in the early morning hours of February 16, 2002.
The subsequent investigation swiftly focused on Jessica McCord, 30, and her husband, Jeff K. McCord Jr., 31, who was a police officer with the Pelham Police Department. Authorities believed the motive for the murders stemmed from the bitter and prolonged custody battle over the two daughters Alan Bates shared with Jessica McCord. Evidence found at the McCord's home, including Terra Bates's blood on a coffee table and a bullet that matched one recovered from the victims, linked them to the crime scene.
Jessica McCord and Jeff McCord were arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Jeff McCord, who was placed on administrative leave and later fired from his police job, eventually pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to life in prison. Jessica McCord was convicted of capital murder in February 2003, exactly one year after the killings, and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
