Carl Harris: I had to go out of town to get jobs, where people don't know me. Eugene's body was sent to Ashland, Ohio, where his father and some family resided. A Dothan woman has been charged with assaulting a police officer, according to a Dothan Police Department news release. By 2016, he had moved to South Carolina, where investigators gave him a call. McCraney has also been involved in local churches in the Dothan and Ozark area. Despite all the talk in town, Tracey never filed police reports about the alleged abuse. "I think from the very get-go, there was only one suspect in this case " said Davis. Can we really solve this for Carolyn? After 13 years of marriage and four children, she and Jeff divorced. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Those things just add up. 1 suspect had not changed. All rights reserved. The prosecutors were confident in their case -- until they got in touch with a potential witness for the trial who would upend Carl Harris' murder trial just days before it was to start, and point prosecutors to the real killer. Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley, both 17, were found shot to death in the trunk of Beasley's car in Ozark on Aug. 1, 1999, according to reports. Jeff Beasley's name, until they spoke to Dawn, was unfamiliar. OZARK, Ala. (WTVY) - A woman who had accused Ozark police of covering up the murder of two teens to protect one of their own recanted those claims in explosive testimony on Thursday. Why? Dawn Beasley: And every word of my statement was true. Hawlett's mother, Carol Roberts, said in 2007 that the girls called her from a gas station, telling her they were on their way home, according to the local station. Tracey Harris, 22, disappeared on March 7, 1990. Legal Statement. Genetic genealogy allows law enforcement agencies to identify a potential suspect through his or her family members who voluntarily submit their DNA to a genealogy database, allowing investigators to create a larger family tree than in years past. Dawn Beasley [crying]: I should have been sorry for Carolyn and I was sorry for me. Maureen Maher: Did he verbally threaten her? Dawn refused to come, saying she was too busy. Maureen Maher: What did people tell you about him? "I never put my hands on Tracey Never," he told "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher. Kirke Adams: There was nobody whose name had ever come up that had any reason to kill Tracey Harris. Police were able to find a match to a family member who had submitted DNA to one of the website databases. David Harrison: Bobby Herring was convicted of raping a woman in a sister county. Man Whose First Wife Died Mysteriously Is Wanted in the Murder of His Second Wife. Carolyn Aznavour: I was four years old when my mom was murdered I was 4 or 5, I would cry nonstop if I would get in trouble and say, "I want my mom, I want my mom.". It was not clear Sunday if McCraney had an attorney. I'm about to get married, I'm pregnant This baby deserves a chance at a life with a loving family and a mom and a dad. One suspect, Johnny William Barrentine, was arrested after he implicated himself by placing himself at the crime scene during an interview with police. McCraney has worked for several trucking companies in Alabama over the past 20 years, according to the Dothan Eagle. A press conference is also scheduled for Monday where Dale County officials and Ozark Police are expected to announce the charges against McCraney. But a few months before the anniversary, police sent evidence from the crime scene to Parabon. Cops investigating the deaths of high school seniors Tracie Hawlett and J.B. Beasley in Ozark, Ala., got a break when DNA and a search of apublic genealogy website linked Coley McCraney, 45, to the crime, local media reported. The capital murder trial of a trucker charged with killing two Alabama teens in 1999 has been delayed until next year. Even after Jeff was arrested again, in 1991 for burglary, and spent 5 years in prison, Dawn kept the secret, wanting her family life to be normal when he got out. McCraney was 26 at the time of the killings. Carole Roberts, Hawletts mother, told the news site the girls had stopped at a convenience store in Ozark and could not understand the directions home. Jordan Davis: I thought, wow she's coming up with a crazy story as to why she can't get here. - October 16, 2018 Meanwhile, the prosecutors, on the Friday before the start of the trial, were also processing what Dawn had just told them. Her growing family eventually made her think of Tracey's daughter, Carolyn. Dawn Beasley: Maybe I do it on my deathbed. A Dothan man has been arrested and charged with one count of rape. The picture Carl painted of a happy home though was not what police found when they started questioning friends and family. Friday, a member of that family was arrested in Oklahoma City by federal and local law enforcement officers and accused of killing his mother, father and older brother in Ozark, Ala. Jason Hunter Culverhouse, 23, was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshals' Service Metro Fugitive Squad at an Oklahoma City truck stop. Kirke Adams: It hurt our pride that we had the wrong person you've got to, you know, check your ego at the door, because what's important is the right person got charged. (334) 733-5927. But after it all happened, we just stopped seeing each other. Now, with Dawn Beasley's revelation that her ex-husband Jeff told her that he killed Tracey, they hoped to learn the truth. It is believed that Brogdon killed his mother at his home, cutting up . Police thought that location by the river might provide more clues. The church appears to hold services and community events at local places of worship around the Ozark area. Ozark alabama, it was the Culverhouse murders. David Harrison: I've tried 140 criminal jury trials. Police received the DNA match about three weeks ago. ABC News' Emily Shapiro contributed to this report. Aug 3, 2008 Updated Mar 29, 2016. As confident as the prosecution was, so was the defense. I tried to talk her into leaving him. Emergency: Dial 911. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! Seller, buyer, property location, total purchase price, date. 24/7 coverage of breaking news and live events. Investigators identified Coley McCraney, of Dothan, Alabama, in the murders of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett as the case closed in on two decades without being solved, Ozark Police Chief Marlos Walker told ABC News. He then dropped Tracey off at their house and headed out to his job at a supermarket. "Everybody thought I killed her. Selina Dodson: Tracey and Carl started dating when we were probably 16, 17 years old. A financial advisor drags his family from Chicago to the Missouri Ozarks, where he must launder money to appease a drug boss. What we thought was interesting was that she had witnessed it in the same manner as how Tracey was actually killed. Jordan Davis: The one in particular that we found that they hadn't talked to in 2016 was this Dawn Hulbert now Beasley. Walker said they decided to send in the evidence, which was semen found on Beasleys clothes, after the arrest of the Golden State Killer suspect in California and with the 20th anniversary of the girls deaths upcoming this summer. Then what happens to me? The autopsy revealed that Tracey had drowned, but also noted marks around her neck likely indicating strangulation. McCraney faces multiple counts of capital murder in the deaths of Beasley and Hawlett, including one capital murder charge for the rape of Beasley. 1980 murder . He graduated from Carroll High School in 1992, where he was the president of the library club and was an athlete, according to WDHN-TV. His DNA was not on file because he had no criminal record, WSFA-TV reported. Dawn Beasley: I told Jordan, I have given you completely honest reasons why I don't want to testify, but the most important reason I can't testify is because you have an innocent man on trial. When Carolyn was about 21, she says Carl did reach out and they met, but did not talk about Tracey. Because the credibility of the people that were going to testify they had no credibility, none whatsoever. Beasley pleaded guilty and received a 30-year sentence. Kirke Adams: Can we really do this? Selina Dodson: When she had Carolyn, she was adorable everybody just loved her. Carolyn Aznavour: I've always wondered what happened to my mom since I can remember. He says Carl's arrest was motivated by politics and nothing more. On August 19th, 2021, Carl Harris filed his lawsuit against the City of Ozark. Alleging that police fabricated information, like that investigator's report describing how Carl killed Tracey, Carl filed notice that he plans to sue the City of Ozark for $6 million for damages including false imprisonment, and pain and suffering. Get instant notifications on top stories from News 4 by downloading our mobile apps. Kirke Adams: He confessed in a way that matches the evidence I don't know how many times that happens -- when you get a confession from the real killer technically 17-18 hours before trial. Jordan Davis: He did have a 17-year-old girlfriend at the time who several people said he had had conversations with about marrying her, but that she couldn't -- he couldn't leave Tracey because he'd have to pay child support. And I said," well, I know he's a rat bastard." Dawn Beasley: And she says "My name is Jordan Davis, I'm with Dale County D.A. Updated: Mar 24, 2022 / 01:03 PM CDT. Alabama police have linked a suspect to the 1999 cold case murders of two 17-year-old girls using DNA and genetic genealogy. The break in the case came when investigators submitted DNA from the crime scene to Virgina-based Parabon Labs, Ozark Police Chief Marlos Walker told ABC News. Maureen Maher: Has there ever been a time that Carl Harris said, "I want you to find out who killed Tracey?". At the same time, the cold case unit was starting to reopen the investigation. Tracey's mother, was taking care of Carolyn You know young parents, you could tell, you know, that her and Carl, you know, struggled some. Colin McCraney, 45, was charged Friday with five. The City-Data.com crime index weighs serious crimes and violent crimes more heavily. I know he's innocent because the man that did commit the crime confessed it to me the night he did it. OZARK, Ala. (AP) A trial is scheduled next year in the capital murder of two Alabama teenagers who were found in the trunk of a car in 1999. The newspaper quoted Tracies mother as saying at a vigil on the tenth anniversary of the murders that she prayed every day law enforcement would come up with answers. Coley McCraney, 45, of Dothan, Alabama, has been arrested in the 1999 murders of Hawlett and Beasley. For people to come out and care this much, its a miracle. She said that her son happened to be best friends with the sheriff. One particularly heinous crime, a 1989 stabbing death, had attracted the McCraney was divorced and a military veteran in 1999. Kirke Adams: It was certainly one of the first places that investigators were looking for Tracey. "48 Hours" wanted to ask Ozark police about the investigation, but they declined, citing the pending claim. View Full Report Card. 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