On a summer evening in Attalla, Alabama, the lives of four people were tragically cut short in a brutal act of violence. On August 25, 1984, Nancy Payne, a 29-year-old woman, her husband Robert William 'Bobby' Payne, 43, Ronald Michael Guest, 21, and Wilbur Tilden Nelson, 51, were shot and killed at the Guest Service Station. The couple had stopped to buy a soft drink and cigarettes, unknowingly stumbling into a robbery in progress.
The initial investigation into the quadruple homicide
hit a dead end after an early lead based on a false accusation proved fruitless. For months, the case remained unsolved, leaving the small community in fear and uncertainty. A significant breakthrough came in March 1985 when a local resident discovered a. 44-caliber magnum Ruger Super Blackhawk revolver on the bank of Black Creek. Ballistics testing confirmed it was the weapon used in the service station murders.
The discovery of the firearm led investigators to a gun repair business co-owned by the father of Tommy Jerry Fortenberry. Witnesses came forward stating they had seen Fortenberry with the weapon shortly before the killings. This crucial information pointed the finger directly at Fortenberry, who was 20 years old at the time of the murders. He was arrested on May 3, 1985. During questioning, Fortenberry gave conflicting accounts, at one point confessing to the robbery and murders, and at another time, attempting to blame another individual named Harvey Underwood. He revealed to investigators that his motive was a gambling habit that left him in need of money. He recounted how he was robbing Nelson when Guest attempted to intervene, just as the Paynes arrived at the station. He admitted to shooting Guest and Mr. Payne outside, then Nelson inside the station. He told police he fired a 'pot shot' at Nancy Payne as she tried to flee for help.
Fortenberry was charged with capital murder for the robbery-murders and for the murder of two or more persons. In February 1986, a jury found him guilty as charged. Following the conviction, the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty. A judge formally sentenced him to death by electrocution. After years of appeals, Tommy Jerry Fortenberry was executed by lethal injection at Holman Prison in Atmore on August 7, 2003.
