List of homicides in 1983
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
This is a List of homicides in 1983. It includes homicide cases occuring throughout the Birmingham area during the calendar year. Note that not all homicides are ultimately ruled to be murder in courts of law.
Etowah County
- April: Alan Douglas Livingston, 25, an employee at the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. plant in Gadsden, was reported missing from his home at the Forest River Apartments on George Wallace Drive. William Roth Jr, arrested in Arkansas for another murder later that year, confessed to hitting Livingston in the head during an argument at the "Bird Sanctuary" near the apartments complex. Livingston's Ford Bronco, with his remains, were discovered in the Coosa River near the complex in January 2022 and removed in October of that year for analysis. Roth Jr is serving a life sentence in Texas. (report)
Jefferson County
Birmingham
Irondale
- July 12: Rex W. Winchester, 54, an Irondale Police officer, was shot and killed while investigating a disturbance in the back yard of a house. The shooter, who was drunk, fired at him through the screen door of his house. He then shot himself fatally. (report)
Unincorporated Jefferson County
- February 21: Denise Madolyn Murphree, 22, was found stabbed to death at her parents' home on U.S. Highway 11 east of Trussville. Her sister's husband and neighbor, Paul Dewayne Handley, was arrested and charged with murder. (report)
Shelby County
- April 17: The body of Birmingham art dealer Malcolm McRae, 30, missing since February 27, was found in a wooded area near the Cahaba River in Helena. Former firefighter Gerald Wayne Lawley was arrested and charged with murder. He initially claimed that he accidentally shot McRae while aiming for a tossed wine bottle and fled afterward. No bottle or glass was found at the scene. Lawley pleaded guilty on April 9, 1984 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. McRae's mother supported Lawley's petition for parole, which he was granted after eight years in prison. (report)
St Clair County
- John Henry Northard, 64, was found dead with his wife in a burning home. His son, Dorsie Northard, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. He died of cancer in prison in 2011 (report)
- Jimmie Loreen Northard, 63, was found dead with her husband in a burning home. Her step-son, Dorsie Northard, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life without parole. He died of cancer in prison in 2011 (report)
References
- Birmingham News reports accessed at the microfilm room of the Birmingham Public Library