List of homicides in 1979

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This is a List of homicides in 1979. Note that a "homicide" refers to the cause of death as determined by a medical examiner, not to the crime of murder as charged by prosecutors and determined by plea or trial.

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Jefferson County

Bessemer

  • May 2: Bessemer Police Lieutenant Clifford Hill, 48, was killed by a letter bomb sent to Bessemer City Hall. Thomas B. Fullman, a former police officer, was charged with capital murder, mayhem, and assault. The first trial before Judge Dan Roberts resulted in a hung jury. He was acquitted at his second trial. Fullman brought a lawsuit against several officials involved in his prosecution, but the suit was dismissed. No one else was ever charged. (report)

Birmingham

Graysville

  • February 12: Gail Nix, 38, was found shot to death off of U.S. Highway 78 after being assaulted at the First National Bank of Birmingham Green Springs branch in Homewood, then kidnapped and forced to withdraw cash at several area ATMs, before being robbed of her jewelry and credit cards and murdered. Danny Eugene Moulds was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. His wife Christine Moulds and cousin Charles Edward Vanderford, then a minor, were also convicted for participating in the robbery. Moulds served his sentence at the Donaldson Correctional Facility.
  • July 26: Monica Ratliff, 19, was struck and killed while pushing a stroller on South Main Street. Her 9-month-old son, Johnny Lee Ratliff Jr, was injured but survived. William O. Tarter Jr was arrested and initially charged with manslaughter. The charge was elevated to 2nd degree murder by a grand jury. He initially said that his car had been stolen and that he happened to come across it after the wreck. At trial he admitted to being behind the wheel, but denied being intoxicated, and claimed that his brakes had failed. The jury found him guilty of 1st degree manslaughter and Judge Charles Nice sentenced him to 5 years in prison. (report)

Tarrant

  • May 19: Douglas Allan Easley, 21, was shot to death at a home at 1849 Ligon Avenue. The home's owner, Charles F. Scroggins Jr, whose son was a friend of Easley's, claimed that he fired in self defense. He was convicted of 1st degree murder. (report)

Vestavia Hills

Shelby County

  • November 19: The body of Larry Thomas Osborne, 20, reported missing from work at the Western Supermarket in the Mountain Brook Shopping Center, was found tied to a tree with blunt force wounds to the head in a wooded area off Shelby County Road 25. Steve Smith, a former assistant manager at the store, was arrested and charged with 1st degree murder. His initial case was dismissed. At his 2nd trial he pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and was sentenced by Judge Harold Waldren to 28 years in prison. (report)

Walker County

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