McCraney case bound over to grand jury

A man charged in the 1999 deaths of two Dothan girls was bound over to a grand jury by District Judge Stan Garner Jr. on Wednesday, April 3.

Coley McCraney, 45, was arrested on Saturday, March 16, and charged with five counts of capital murder and rape in the 1999 deaths of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett.

A preliminary hearing to determine if there was probable cause for a trial against McCraney was held at the Dale County Courthouse. He is represented by David Harrison and Andrew Scarborough. Thirty-third Judicial Circuit District Attorney Kirke Adams and Assistant DA David Emery represented the state.

Garner stated there are three cases against McCraney with Beasley cited as the victim. There is one murder charge, one murder while attempting to engage in sexual activity and one murder in a motor vehicle charge.

The other two murder charges cite Hawlett as the victim: one murder charge and one murder charge in a motor vehicle.

Investigator Michael Bryan, commander of investigations and other groups with the Ozark Police Department, was the first witness on the stand.

Bryan confirmed questions from Emery that both girls were found in the trunk of an abandoned car located on Herring Avenue and both were dead with a gunshot to the head. Later, he specified, while referring to an autopsy report, that Beasley was shot with a bullet that entered her right cheek and exited near the back of her neck. Hawlett was shot with a bullet that entered her right temple and exited from the left side of her head.

Bryan said a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) was released on Aug. 1, 1999, for the girls’ car by the Dothan Police Department around 10:30 a.m. While the BOLO was sent out, Bryan said Sgt. Bobby Blankenship had reported to dispatch that he saw the vehicle while on patrol.

Dothan officers reached the vehicle around 2 p.m. and opened the trunk of the car where the two girls were found dead, Bryan said.

Bryan told Emery the vehicle was taken by the Dothan PD for examination, and the girls’ bodies were taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery for autopsies and forensic examinations.

Emery asked if any other items were taken from the trunk of the car where the girls were found. Bryan said “two projectiles,” later classified as bullets, were also taken for analysis to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences, as well as a 9 mm casing.

The projectiles were located in the rear right and left corner panels of the trunk, Bryan said. He also said the casing analysis showed it could have been fired from guns made from three possible manufacturers, including a Hi-Point 9 mm handgun.

This make of gun was later referenced in a 1994 Air Force offense report against McCraney that included charges of aggravated assault consummated by battery of a child under 16 years of age, unlawful detention and possession of a concealed weapon.

This weapon was cited to be a 9 mm Hi-Point handgun, though defense attorney Harrison argued the narrative of the report did not include an actual handgun being found on McCraney’s person. Rather, Harrison argued that six 9 mm rounds and a broken 9 mm magazine, information that Bryan read from the offense report, was found on another civilian referenced in the report.

Bryan also confirmed the autopsy report recorded “powder stippling” on the hands of both girls, which he said was due to the closeness of the gun. He said the gun, based on the stippling, was “within feet” of the girls.

Emery then asked about the night before the girls were found in the car trunk, or July 31, 1999. Bryan told Emery investigations by the OPD determined Hawlett made a phone call to her mother at 11:38 p.m. He said the phone call was made from a payphone at the Big Little gas station off Broad Street in Ozark.

Bryan said the mother, Carol, was interviewed and told police Hawlett told her during the call that the two girls had gotten lost and were getting directions from another person in the parking lot to find a way home. Bryan said the phone call ended at approximately 11:42 p.m.

Emery asked where the Big Little station was located in connection with where the girls were found in the car trunk. Bryan stated the station was less than a mile from where the girls were found.

Emery then asked if McCraney’s name was ever mentioned before in the almost 20 years of investigation in the case. Bryan replied that McCraney was never considered in any way until recently.

He confirmed McCraney was from the Ozark area, graduating from Carroll High School, but said he now lives in Dothan. He would have been approximately 25 years old in 1999, according to Bryan.

Emery asked if police have investigated McCraney’s location in 1999. Bryan stated police found McCraney lived at 4 Lisenby Drive, now 143 Patterson Drive, by using resources from Alabama Power, the city’s water department and other resources.

When asked, Bryan confirmed that Alabama Power records, which were subpoenaed, indicated power was turned on in McCraney’s name at 4 Lisenby Drive on June 12, 1998 and turned off on August 16, 1999.

He confirmed that city water department records indicated water was turned on in McCraney’s name at the same address on June 11, 1998 and turned off on Aug. 19, 1999.

When asked about the location of 4 Lisenby Drive in relation to the Big Little station and the location of the car where the girls were found, Bryan said the residence was approximately less than half a mile from the Big Little station and less than a mile from the location of the car.

Bryan later stated that during interrogation, McCraney told police he lived at his mother’s residence where a trailer was placed on his mother’s property on Coleman Drive. Bryan said McCraney did live on Coleman Drive after records showed he lived on Lisenby Drive.

Emery asked about biological evidence that was also analyzed by the Alabama Department of Forensic Science.

Bryan stated during the hearing that DNA from the biological evidence was used to create a profile in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), though no match was found to the DNA until recently.

While referring to a report on “some” of the biological evidence that was found on Beasley’s sweater or top, which is still in OPD custody, and underwear, Bryan said the DNA was found to match McCraney’s.

Referring to a separate report on biological evidence taken from vaginal swabs from Beasley, Bryan said the evidence, later classified as semen, was found to be a mixture of two individuals, Beasley and McCraney.

When asked about the state of the clothes on the girls, Bryan said mud was found on both girls’ pants and the clothes were damp.

At the time of his arrest, McCraney was read his Miranda Rights, according to Bryan, who also stated that he did not explain “verbatim” why McCraney was in police custody at the time. He also said he did not threaten McCraney and McCraney was responsive during interrogation.

During interrogation, McCraney denied knowing or killing both girls, according to Bryan. He said McCraney stated “he’s never even met them.”

While Bryan was still on the stand, Harrison asked how the rape charge, written on the affidavit to arrest McCraney, was determined. Bryan stated the charge was added “based on the totality of the circumstances” in investigation and interrogation.

Bryan told Harrison there were several factors he used to determined that rape had occurred. These factors included the semen found on Beasley, including on the vaginal swabs, as well as McCraney denying knowing either Hawlett or Beasley. He said he also considered that no one else knew of any connection between the girls and McCraney.

Harrison asked if rape was ever included in the autopsy report on the victims, and Bryan confirmed that it had not.

According to several references in the Daleville Sun-Courier archives, a preliminary forensics report in 1999 showed both girls had not been sexually assaulted. Former OPD Chief Tony Spivey was reported saying that sexual assault and robbery were ruled out as motives for the murders in an Aug. 25, 1999, Daleville Sun-Courier article.

The Daleville Sun-Courier archives also show that Spivey told media in 1999 that there was evidence that the suspect in the murders was a local resident.

During the hearing, Harrison also asked Bryan about the number of confessions to the murders, specifically that of Daleville native Johnny Williams Barrentine, who was arrested a month after the murders of Beasley and Hawlett. At the time of his arrest, Barrentine was charged with only two counts of capital murder and was said to have killed the girls because they turned him down for sex, according to Daleville Sun-Courier archives, which also show that an “alleged admission” led to Barrentine moving forward to a grand jury after a preliminary hearing where Emery also represented the state.

Barrentine was later released on $200,000 bond after being denied bond twice before, according to Sun-Courier archives. The grand jury then found there was not sufficient evidence to indict Barrentine.

Bryan initially said he did not remember much about the arrest of Barrentine, but later stated he recalled the charges were dropped because of several details, including Barrentine confessing to lying about killing the two girls.

Harrison also asked Bryan several times if McCraney asked for a lawyer during the interrogation performed by the OPD. Harrison referenced several time stamps, from 3:58 p.m. to 4:47 p.m., where he said McCraney asked law enforcement about a lawyer.

Bryan said McCraney referenced a lawyer, asking if one was there. Bryan said he told McCraney there was not a lawyer at the OPD, and he said McCraney did not specifically ask for a lawyer until later in the interrogation.

Harrison asked if Bryan told McCraney that a lawyer “can’t change the facts,” to which Bryan replied that a lawyer could not change the facts.

Harrison also asked if McCraney was kept in the interrogation room for 27 hours, eight of which he was in handcuffs. Bryan replied that McCraney was given bathroom breaks and was offered food. Bryan described the treatment as better than that of the Dale County Jail.

Bryan also said McCraney was given a mat to use to sleep on the floor. He also confirmed that the morning of March 16, Chief Walker removed McCraney from the interrogation room to give him a change of environment.

Later, OPD Chief Walker, when questioned by McCraney’s other defense attorney Scarborough, stated that he met with McCraney on Saturday morning, March 16, after being told Coley had not eaten anything. He said he wanted him to eat, so he took him to a conference room in the station and offered him food.

He said he and McCraney did not talk about the case, but only “talked about basketball, football, things of that nature.”

When asked about DNA evidence and where it was held, Walker also told Scarborough that the Alabama Department of Forensic Science in Montgomery initially kept the biological evidence, or DNA evidence, and any excess was sent back to the OPD to be kept in the evidence room.

Walker told Scarborough he reached out to Parabon NanoLabs Inc. in August 2018. He said the company provided him with information about the company and its process, and he decided to seek their help.

He told Scarborough the DNA evidence was sent to the company through FedEx.

Scarborough asked Walker why he thought his “former counterpart” would state that “rape is not a motive” regarding this case. Walker said he was not familiar with this statement.

Scarborough also asked Walker about the charges against Barrentine. Walker said he did not know if Barrentine was charged with rape.

After the hearing, Garner stated that he did find probable cause for each of the five complaints against McCraney and bound him over to a grand jury based on the DNA evidence.