In the late summer of 1984, the quiet of Etowah, Alabama, was shattered by a brutal act of violence that claimed four lives, including that of 51-year-old Wilbur Tilden Nelson. On the evening of August 25th, Nelson was working his shift as a clerk at the Guest Service Station in Attalla. It was a night that would end in a bloody robbery, leaving a lasting scar on the community.
The tranquility of the evening was broken when Thomas Jerry Fortenberry, a man driven by a gambling habit and a desperate need for money, entered the service station with the intent to rob it. The situation quickly escalated, resulting in the shooting deaths of not only Wilbur Nelson, but also Ronald Michael Guest, the son of the station's owner, and two customers, William Robert 'Bobby' Payne and his wife, Nancy S. Brandon Payne. The motive for the quadruple homicide was a mere $400.
The investigation into the horrific crime led law enforcement to Fortenberry. A crucial piece of evidence, the murder weapon, was discovered on the bank of a nearby creek months later and was traced back to a gun repair shop with connections to Fortenberry's father. During questioning, Fortenberry provided several conflicting accounts of the events of that tragic night, at times confessing to the murders and at other times attempting to place the blame on another individual. Despite his inconsistent statements, he led investigators to the location where he had disposed of the pistol used in the slayings.
In 1985, Thomas Jerry Fortenberry was brought to trial. The jury found him guilty of two counts of capital murder, one for the robbery-murders and another for the murder of two or more persons. Following the guilty verdict, the jury unanimously recommended the death penalty. After more than 17 years on death row, Fortenberry was executed by lethal injection on August 7, 2003, bringing a final, somber chapter to the story of the lives he so violently ended.
