Bonnie and Clyde of Georgia
Alvin Howard Neelley Jr was born July 15,1953 in Trion, Georgia to Alvin Neelley Sr. and Jessie Lee Grimes Neelley. He reportedly had a rough childhood, but no details could be found. As a teenager, he spent his time stealing cars. He was described as being a large man.
Judith Ann Adams Neelley was born June 7,1964 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Information about her parents was not available aside from the report that her father was an alcoholic that died in a motorcycle accident when Judith was only 9 years old. Also reported, was that her mother was arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Needless to say, it appears that her home life was not ideal growing up.
When Judith was 15 years old, she met Alvin. He was married at the time to another woman. He decided that he wanted to be with Judith instead, so he divorced his wife. In 1980, Judith and Alvin eloped. The couple then began their life of crime by robbing gas stations from Georgia to Texas.
In 1980, Judith was pregnant with twins. She and Alvin held a woman at gunpoint at the mall in Rome, Georgia. They robbed the woman and immediately tried to cash checks they had stolen from her. They were both apprehended. Alvin had active warrants in multiple states and therefore received a five year prison sentence. Judith was only 16 years old, so she was sent to Rome's Youth Development Center where she gave birth to the couple's twins. After giving birth, she was moved to a facility in Macon, Georgia. She wrote to Alvin regularly and claimed she was sexually abused while in Rome YDC.
Judith was released in 1981 and moved in with Alvin's parents in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His parents took care of the twins. Judith was arrested again for robbing another convenience store. Once Alvin was granted early release, the couple took their children and continued their life of crime. The stole checks and forged money orders as their primary source of income. In the time before cell phones, they used CB radios they installed in their cars. Alvin's handle was "Nightrider" and Judith's was "Lady Sundown".
Now that they were better prepared and had a consistent money flow, they decided to set forth with their plan of attack on the Rome YDC in retribution for the supposed sexual abuse. September 11,1982 Ken Dooley, a YDC employee, was shot four times. The next day, Linda Adair, another YDC employee, had her home set on fire via a molotov cocktail. Calls were made to both victims claiming the female caller had been sexually abused while at Rome YDC, but the victims were unable to identify the caller. Judith claimed that she was raped by Ken Dooley and that Linda Adair had set up the entire thing.
Lisa Ann Millican (13 years old)
Lisa was born March 18,1969 to Frankie and Fred Millican in Cedartown, Georgia. There is not a lot known about her childhood. She was a resident of Ethel Harpst Home in Cedartown, Georgia. The home was a facility for neglected and abused boys and girls.
On September 25,1982, Lisa was on a trip to the Riverbend Mall in Rome, Georgia with other residents of the Ethel Harpst Home. She was in the mall's arcade by herself when Judith and Alvin Neelley approached her and managed to lure her out of the mall. The couple kidnapped Lisa and took her to a motel in Alabama. The couple raped the young teen numerous times over the course of three days. This was all done in front of their young twins. They kept her handcuffed to the bed and made her sleep on the floor. On September 28th, Alvin instructed Judith to get rid of Lisa. Judith injected Lisa with liquid drain cleaner in her neck on one side. When that didn't work, she then injected her with the drain cleaner on both sides of her neck, both arms and both buttocks. The attempt to poison Lisa with drain cleaner was not successful due to Judith injecting it into Lisa's muscle and not the vein. So Judith decided to take Lisa to a cliff in Little River Canyon in Forth Payne, Alabama. She shot Lisa three times in the back and tossed her body into the canyon. Her body was found on the canyon floor, draped over a fallen tree.
Janice Chatman (22 years old)
Janice Chatman was born in 1959 to Fred and Betty Morrow in Floyd County, Georgia. There is very little information available about Janice's childhood or life. She was engaged to John Hancock.
They come to an isolated spot in Gordon County, Georgia where Judith made John march into a wooded spot. She then shot him in the back and left him to die. Fortunately, John survived being shot and was later found.
Judith and Alvin then took Janice to a motel in Rome, Georgia where they raped and tortured her. The couple murdered Janice by shooting her 4 times in the back. They then drove her body to a wooded area near a creek in Haywood Valley in Chattooga County, Georgia and dumped her body.
John was able to identify the 2 murderers and the police immediately issued wanted posters. The couple had travelled to Murfreesboro, Tennessee and were arrested while trying to cash forged money orders. Someone there recognized them from the police flyers.
The Arrest and Trials
Lead Detective Kenneth Kines followed the couple for 3 weeks before finally arresting them in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They immediately turned on each other and began accusing the other one as the mastermind behind it all. Alvin quickly obtained a lawyer and began accusing Judith of being the one who planned and executed all of the crimes. He claimed that she was the owner of the guns and that he had not wanted to rape and murder the girls. In order to avoid the death penalty, Alvin plead guilty to murder and aggravated assault in Georgia and was sentenced to life. He was sent to Bostick State Prison to serve his sentence.
Judith faced the death penalty for the premeditated murder of Lisa Millican. She initially confessed to both murders and described the victims last moments to investigators. She described how Lisa begged for her life and was in so much pain from the injections of liquid drain cleaner. She admitted to the attacks against the Rome YDC employees, but claimed they were justified because of the sexual assault she was subjected to at the hands of Dooley and Adair.
In Alabama, Judith faced charges of murder, abduction with the intent to harm and abduction with the intent to terrorize. She tried to have the court consider her a juvenile defender. This would make the maximum sentence she could receive a $1000 fine and 3 years in prison. Her request was denied. The next plan of action was an insanity defense due to battered woman syndrome. After psychiatric evaluations, she was determined to be competent to stand trial.
Her trial began March 9,1983 in Fort Payne, Alabama. After 6 weeks, she was found guilty and the jury recommended a life sentence. Judge Randall Cole, instead, sentenced her to death in the electric chair. At 18, she became the youngest female to be sentenced to death in Alabama.
In order to avoid another death sentence, she plead guilty to the abduction and murder of Janice Chatman and the shooting of John Hancock. She received a life sentence for the first and a 10 year sentence for the latter. She was sent to Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka. In 1983, she gave birth to her 3rd child. All of Judith's children were born while she was incarcerated.
Judith appealed to get a new trial, but the Supreme Court rejected the appeal in March 1987. In 1989, the Supreme Court upheld her death sentence.
While in prison, Judith made a suicide pact with a woman she developed a relationship with. May 24, 1994 the woman was found in her home dead from a gunshot wound. Judith was found in her cell with her wrists slit with a disposable razor. Judith survived her attempt.
Just before her scheduled execution date, Alabama Governor Fob James commuted Judith's sentence to life with the possibility of parole on January 15,1999. After outrage from the family and community, the Alabama legislature passed a law in 2003 that blocked Judith from being paroled. Even if she did manage to get paroled, she would be sent to Georgia to serve her life sentence for the rape and murder of Janice Chatman.
Judith is still serving her life sentence in Alabama.
Alvin died in prison in 2005.
Lisa's Law
The only positive thing to come out of this tragedy is a law passed in Alabama in 2009. This law prevents criminals from profiting off their crimes through books, movies, or other forms of entertainment. The law requires the attorney general to be notified of any profits of $5000 or more. The victim or their family would be given the chance to file a civil suit. The law only applies to crimes of moral turpitude.
Judith and Alvin Neelley committed such heinous crimes. It is unfathomable how they even concocted such plans. Most of their crimes were committed in front of their twins. Most parents want to shield their children from the horrors of the world. Not this couple. Their children have spent so much time trying to avoid the media and the stigma that is attached to them. They are not to blame for the crimes of their parents.
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