The List

Retired Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts’ name appeared on the ‘hit list’ that Billy Joe Magwood created before gunning down former Sheriff Neil Grantham in front of the old Coffee County Jail.

March 1 marked the 42-year anniversary of the tragic murder of former Coffee County Sheriff Neil Grantham in front of the old Coffee County Jail in Elba. A sometimes forgotten part of the history of that tragedy is that there very well could have been even more victims.

When Billy Joe Magwood was arrested for the murder of Grantham, a list of names was found in his home, believed to be his “hit list.” On that list were the names of Grantham, a lawyer, a local car salesman, a banker and two judges. Retired Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts was one of those names and until now had never spoken publicly about the night that Magwood came to his home.

Butts’ history with Magwood was a very, very brief one. In the 1970s Butts was a local attorney but also served part time as a county judge – which was the forerunner to what would eventually become the district judge position – where Butts simply oversaw felony cases and decided whether to grant bond or not.

Magwood came before Butts on a bond hearing for a drug case and eventually he was sentenced to six years. After his release from prison, Magwood sent both Butts and the judge that had tried his case a letter.

“He got out of jail sometime in the fall or the first contact he had with me he sent me a letter, and he sent one (to the other judge), in which he told us that we had abused his rights,” Butts recalled. “He wanted us to deposit in the Elba Exchange Bank the money that he said we owed him, which was over $1 million.”

Butts then said that a few months later Magwood came to his office to see him.

“I wasn’t too alarmed – back at that time you felt invencible – and all of a sudden he started pointing up at all the books (in my office),” Butt said. “He said, ‘I know everything in these books and I know about the law.’ The more he talked the more worked up he got and I started to get concerned. I realized that this was probably a mistake.”

Butts said that he got up and asked Magwood politely to leave his office.

“He got up and walked by and then stopped and hesitated, so I took a step back,” Butts said. “When he turned around to leave his jacket flew open and I could see he had a big hunting knife on his belt.”

Butts said that Magwood then walked down to the circuit clerk’s office and demanded an arrest warrant be issued for his arrest before being asked to leave there, as well.

A few days later Butts and Grantham’s office were broken into. Butts and longtime judge Eris Paul – who was the other judge that Magwood had on his list and was the judge that originally sentenced him to jail – went to see the sheriff after this incident.

“Someone had broken into my office and the sheriff’s offices and ransacked it,” Butts said. “Judge Paul and I met Neil at the sheriff’s office and that was the last time I ever spoke to Neil.

“Judge and I were both concerned and we figured (Magwood) is who had done it. So, we told Neil and he laughed.

“I’ll never forget this. Judge Paul said, ‘Sheriff, you better take this one serious.’ I’ll never forget that. Neil goes, ‘It will be alright, if it’s him we’ll catch him.’ That was Feb. 15 or 16 and on March 1 Neil was killed.”

On Feb. 28, Butts said that he was awakened by the sound of his doorbell ringing in the middle of the night.

“The front door bell started ringing and at that time you didn’t come to my front door. If you knew me, you came down the driveway to the side door,” Butts remembered. “I got up and I went in there and I couldn’t see who was at the door but I could see that there wasn’t a car in the driveway.

“The doorbell just kept ringing and ringing, so I backed off and got my pistol.”

As Butts stood there he said he started to get an ominous feeling about what was waiting for him on the other side of that door.

“I put my hand on that knob and I think that was the only experience I’ve ever had with the Lord,” Butts said. “You could just feel the evil. You could feel it.

“My hand started shaking and I backed off and cocked that pistol. I said to myself whoever this is going to come in here and I’m going to have to kill them. It was just an awful feeling, and then it stopped ringing.”

Butts said that he waited for a time before getting up and looking around the outside of his home and finding no one. He said that he then called his girlfriend and asked if her son was home and safe as the two had been playing pool together earlier in the night.

“She told me to call the police but I said they would just laugh at me and call me a wimp,” Butts said. “The next morning at 7:30 (a.m.) he killed Neil.”

Butts said that Magwood’s attorney’s informed him that he had admitted to coming to Butts’ home – and the home of Paul who had been out of town – the night before shooting Grantham. Years later, Butts received a photo copy of the hit list from a friend in the district attorney’s office.

Butts said that he often thinks about how close he came to death that night and also thinks about Grantham. In fact, Butts said that he has the special Law Enforcement Memorial car tag – which honors law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty in Alabama – on his car and renews it every year in Grantham’s honor.

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.