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Every 23 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.760 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 24 00:01:25.879 --> 00:01:30.040 infamous killers in true crime history True Murder with your 25 00:01:30.079 --> 00:01:33.760 host journalist and author Dan Zupanski. 26 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:47.079 Good Evening, According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, was this 27 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:52.200 small town TV repairman a harmless, eccentric or a bizarre killer? 28 00:01:52.920 --> 00:01:57.319 For the first time, Alvin Ridley's own defense attorney reveals 29 00:01:57.400 --> 00:02:00.799 the inside story of his case and try in an 30 00:02:00.799 --> 00:02:05.120 extraordinary tale of friendship and an idealistic young attorney's quest 31 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:09.000 to clear his client's name and in the process, rebuild 32 00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:13.000 his own life. In October nineteen ninety seven, the town 33 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:16.719 of Ringgold And northwest Georgia was shaken by reports of 34 00:02:16.759 --> 00:02:17.639 a murder. 35 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:18.000 In its midst. 36 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.840 A dead woman was found in Alvin Ridley's house, and 37 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:24.639 even more shockingly, she was the wife no one knew 38 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.960 he had. Mccrack and Postin had been a state representative 39 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:32.639 before he lost his bid for US Congress and returned 40 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:36.240 to his law career. Alvin Ridley was a local character 41 00:02:36.280 --> 00:02:40.879 who once sold and serviced Zenith Television's. Though reclusive and 42 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:45.800 an outsider, the Zenith Man, as postinnew him, hardly seemed 43 00:02:45.800 --> 00:02:49.680 capable of murder. Alvin was a difficult client, starring evidence 44 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.719 in a cockroach infested suitcase, unwilling to reveal key facts 45 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:57.639 to his defender, Gradually post and pieced together the full 46 00:02:57.680 --> 00:03:02.039 story behind Virginia and Alvin's curious marriage and her cause 47 00:03:02.039 --> 00:03:06.719 of death, which was completely overlooked by law enforcement. Calling 48 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:11.280 on medical experts, testimony from Alvin himself, and a wealth 49 00:03:11.319 --> 00:03:15.759 of surprising evidence gleaned from Alvin's junk strewn house, Postin 50 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:20.120 presented a groundbreaking defense that allowed Alvin to return to 51 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:24.319 his peculiar lifestyle a free man. Years after his trial, 52 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:29.080 Alvin was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a revelation that 53 00:03:29.159 --> 00:03:32.400 sheds light on much of his lifelong personal battle and 54 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:36.240 shows how easily those who don't fit societal norms can 55 00:03:36.280 --> 00:03:41.439 be castigated and misunderstood. Part true crime, part courtroom drama, 56 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:45.280 and full of local color, zenith Man is also the 57 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:50.240 moving story of an unexpected friendship between two very different 58 00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:54.560 men that changed and perhaps saved the lives of both. 59 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:58.560 The book that we're featuring this evening is zenith Man, Death, 60 00:03:58.840 --> 00:04:03.039 Love and Redemption in a Georgia courtroom With my special guest, 61 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:07.639 attorney and author McCracken, Postin junior. Welcome to the program, 62 00:04:07.680 --> 00:04:11.400 and thank you very much for this interview. McCracken postin Junior. 63 00:04:11.240 --> 00:04:13.280 I'm so glad to be here with you. 64 00:04:13.639 --> 00:04:17.519 Thank you so much, and congratulations on this fascinating book. 65 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:19.399 Zenith Mann, thank you. 66 00:04:19.639 --> 00:04:23.759 It was a labor of love. Took me over two 67 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:27.759 decades to form the book in my head to finally 68 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.519 write it. A lot of your listeners are going to 69 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:33.839 be familiar with the case because it has been over 70 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:39.040 the years featured and re ran on Forensic Files. The 71 00:04:39.120 --> 00:04:42.720 episode is called Calligraphy of the kind of a play 72 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:46.199 on the word kill and the word calligraphy, right, and 73 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:49.959 then on A and E's American Justice, an episode called 74 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:53.920 Death in a Small Town, on NPR Snap Judgment, an 75 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:56.480 episode called the Writing on the Wall. 76 00:04:56.839 --> 00:05:00.240 Now you talk about October fourth, nineteen ninety five Heaven 77 00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:03.720 right away, just in the prologue. And so you say 78 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:06.959 that people are familiar with this story, and you write 79 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:10.480 that they are familiar with a portion of a nine 80 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:13.519 to one one call which brings everybody the attention of 81 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:16.920 this international attention to this story. So you say that 82 00:05:16.959 --> 00:05:20.439 he Alvin Ridley lived in his late parents' house on 83 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:24.800 Inmond Street. He was a failed television repairman and the 84 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.839 town boogieman. He left his house and drove past the 85 00:05:27.920 --> 00:05:32.439 local fire department staff with ambulance and EMTs and drove 86 00:05:32.839 --> 00:05:36.480 looking for a workable payphone. Speculation as he called a 87 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:40.240 funeral home to retrieve a dead body. But he did call. 88 00:05:40.399 --> 00:05:45.519 It was confirmed Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee. But he 89 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.199 is instructed that it is a matter for the Catusa 90 00:05:48.279 --> 00:05:53.000 County authorities, And so reluctantly you write. He calls nine 91 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:56.319 one one and the Catusa County nine one one office 92 00:05:56.680 --> 00:05:59.560 is right across the street and says something to the 93 00:05:59.560 --> 00:06:03.079 effect his wife breathing, and he says, I don't think so. 94 00:06:03.079 --> 00:06:06.639 So tell us about this nine to one one call 95 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:11.600 and what the public hears, and a little bit about 96 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.680 your background and how you came to be involved in 97 00:06:15.680 --> 00:06:17.199 this extraordinary case. 98 00:06:17.360 --> 00:06:22.439 Thank you, Dan First Ringold, Georgia is a relatively small town. 99 00:06:22.680 --> 00:06:27.279 It has around five thousand citizens in it. Catoosa County 100 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:31.920 has in the sixty thousand in number. We are a 101 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:37.920 part of metropolitan area of Chattanooga, Tennessee. We are on 102 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:42.120 the Georgia, Tennessee border on the Georgia side it's a 103 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.639 very historic area from the American Civil War. The Battle 104 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:50.439 of Chickamauga happened on the west side of the county. 105 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:55.079 Ringgold was named for Mexican American war hero that, as 106 00:06:55.120 --> 00:06:57.720 far as I know, never set foot here. He happened 107 00:06:57.720 --> 00:07:01.480 to die at a time and the penny press had 108 00:07:01.480 --> 00:07:04.319 been developed, and so he was kind of a mass 109 00:07:04.360 --> 00:07:07.959 media hero with a heroic death at a battle of 110 00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:12.680 Palo Alto, and so Ringold. Really, over the years, and 111 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:16.600 definitely since the Civil War, it kind of took a 112 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:21.319 very small town approach. It didn't grow much more. We're 113 00:07:21.399 --> 00:07:26.079 mainly known for the place that Dolly Parton and Carl 114 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:31.519 Dean got married in nineteen sixty six, and three weeks 115 00:07:31.600 --> 00:07:36.959 later Alvin Ridley and young Virginia Hickey got their marriage license. 116 00:07:37.279 --> 00:07:41.879 Now this was in nineteen sixty six. In nineteen ninety seven, 117 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:47.959 I was a somewhat down on my luck, defeated congressional candidate, 118 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:53.040 found myself back home with little prospects of any political 119 00:07:53.439 --> 00:07:57.680 appointment or electoral chances. I was trying to put my 120 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:02.399 life back together, and I have a moribund law practice, 121 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:07.160 and suddenly this thing happened on October fourth, of nineteen 122 00:08:07.240 --> 00:08:10.240 ninety seven. That kind of sent shockwaves through the small 123 00:08:10.319 --> 00:08:14.600 town one. Everybody knew who Alvin Ridley was. He was 124 00:08:14.879 --> 00:08:18.000 a malcontent. I think it would be a not too 125 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:20.920 much of a stretch to call him that. He was 126 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:26.560 constantly suing local officials. He posted missives on the inside 127 00:08:26.560 --> 00:08:32.879 of his shuttered and padlocked Zenith TV dealership that was 128 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.440 falling apart, had a giant hole in the roof. His 129 00:08:36.519 --> 00:08:40.519 life just seemed to have fallen apart in the early eighties, 130 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:43.799 and he had a lot of people he was blaming 131 00:08:43.879 --> 00:08:47.559 for that, and he would post these diatribes on the 132 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:51.440 inside of the glass so you couldn't move them, but 133 00:08:52.399 --> 00:08:56.840 you would often name people who he thought were responsible 134 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:01.159 for his ills. So when he called the nine to 135 00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:04.039 one one call on the morning of October four, nineteen 136 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:08.440 ninety seven, which was a Saturday, everyone noticed a very 137 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:13.720 flat effect of his voice. He just sounded, as matter 138 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:17.960 of fact, my wife's not breathing, and there was just 139 00:09:18.320 --> 00:09:22.080 not a lot of emotion in his voice. And even 140 00:09:22.159 --> 00:09:25.519 though at the end of the paul he said please 141 00:09:25.639 --> 00:09:30.000 hurry again in a somewhat non excited voice. The nine 142 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:33.679 one one tape was went around the world as here's 143 00:09:33.720 --> 00:09:37.360 a guy calling in for nine to one one who 144 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:41.519 does not sound very excited, and who is this woman? 145 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:46.039 Nobody in town, or at least not a lot of 146 00:09:46.080 --> 00:09:49.759 people in town, knew that she even existed, much less 147 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:52.080 the fact that she had been his wife for thirty 148 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:56.399 two years. So Virginia's family, or what was left of them, 149 00:09:56.519 --> 00:09:59.159 were siblings. Her mother at the time was in a 150 00:09:59.480 --> 00:10:04.200 rest home. They picked up the mantle that Virginia's parents 151 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:08.600 had started back in the late nineteen sixties of saying, well, 152 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:12.960 she's been kept against her will, and that evolved into 153 00:10:13.559 --> 00:10:18.480 being kept in the basement against her will for thirty years. 154 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:22.559 So you can imagine how that went over with the 155 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:27.519 investigating authorities, and so they began to ask a lot 156 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:30.480 more probing questions to Alvin Ridley. 157 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:36.279 And you write about your interactions with this gentleman and 158 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:39.600 the interactions with your father, and your father had known 159 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:42.200 Alvin as well, and the family. Tell us just a 160 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:44.320 little bit about your background with Alvin. 161 00:10:44.519 --> 00:10:47.840 Well, Alvin had gone to high school with my oldest sister. 162 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.639 I was born the beginning of their senior year, so 163 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:54.000 I had no real direct memory of him, but I 164 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:57.200 knew that he had a TV shop in Ringold My 165 00:10:57.399 --> 00:11:00.960 father traded with him, and father was the kind of 166 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:04.039 guy who always tried to get the best deals and 167 00:11:04.679 --> 00:11:08.240 a lot of times would interact with people who were 168 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:12.919 not in the highest echelons of society. Was just the 169 00:11:12.919 --> 00:11:15.919 way my father was. He was a very kind and 170 00:11:16.440 --> 00:11:21.120 understanding man. However, he had a drinking problem, and it 171 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:28.120 wasn't your stereotypical Southern drunken wife beater. He was very kind, 172 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:34.000 sad man who had a serious alcohol problem, but he 173 00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:36.519 was very high functioning. He worked in a foundry in 174 00:11:36.600 --> 00:11:40.480 Chattanooga and raised six children, allowing my mother to stay 175 00:11:40.519 --> 00:11:45.360 at home and have a garden, and you know, raised 176 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.559 us all very well, except for the fact of, you know, 177 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:53.240 having an alcoholic parent. My first early memory of Alvin, 178 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:57.480 and I was only reminded of this during the representation, 179 00:11:58.120 --> 00:12:02.320 but I was about thirteen or so and was watching 180 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:07.039 live wrestling on television. I had long worn off the 181 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:10.279 tuner knob and we were using a pair of pliers 182 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:14.639 to turn the channels between the three channels out of Chattanooga, 183 00:12:14.679 --> 00:12:17.679 and suddenly this strange man is in my living room. 184 00:12:17.759 --> 00:12:20.759 My mother had just waved him in and he has 185 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.799 got a new knob for our TV. But he takes 186 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:26.720 the opportunity to give me a lecture of how to 187 00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:31.879 turn the channels on a TV. And I only remembered 188 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:35.000 it because he noted that I was watching wrestling, and 189 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:38.240 he mentioned that he had in Chattanooga at the venue 190 00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:41.200 where the wrestling happened up there, that he had met 191 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:44.519 Andrea the Giant. I remember telling my friends at school, 192 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.600 I met this strange guy who says he met Andrea 193 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:51.279 the Giant. And Andrea the Giant allegedly told him what 194 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:54.200 he had for breakfast every morning, which was like a 195 00:12:54.240 --> 00:12:56.879 dozen eggs, or a couple of dozen eggs, you know, 196 00:12:56.960 --> 00:12:59.559 a couple of loaves of bread or something like that. 197 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:02.639 I remember telling that story, like I've met somebody who 198 00:13:02.679 --> 00:13:05.200 met Andrea the Giant. I didn't think of it again 199 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:08.120 until I'm having a conversation now with a man I'm 200 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:13.039 advising who is about to be charged with murder and 201 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:17.679 about to be accused of holding his wife a captive 202 00:13:17.960 --> 00:13:21.279 for thirty years in the basement, and he mentions that 203 00:13:21.399 --> 00:13:24.200 he has met Andrea the Giant and what Andrea the 204 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:27.000 Giant had for breakfast? And I thought, you're that guy. 205 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.480 You're that guy that I talked to when I was thirteen, 206 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:32.840 and you told me that because I went and told 207 00:13:32.840 --> 00:13:37.279 it at school. And so it was interesting because early 208 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:42.120 on our conversations were not that pleasant. Early on, Alvin 209 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.960 was extremely difficult. He would call me at night, yelling 210 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:49.399 at me, insisting that I am using air quotes here 211 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:54.039 knock his case out because it was, in his opinion, 212 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:57.919 a wrongfully brought case, and that he really wanted me 213 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:03.120 to look into ancient civil litigation that dealt with his 214 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:09.279 father's car wreck, the counterclaim judgment against him that caused 215 00:14:09.320 --> 00:14:12.879 the county to seize a van that he owned, and 216 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:16.320 all of these things that I almost I had to 217 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:19.000 promise to look into them just to get him to 218 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:23.080 cooperate with me on the murder case. He would say, 219 00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:26.519 for example, I would say, Alvan, we can't talk about 220 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:30.840 your van, this is a murder case, and he would say, well, 221 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:33.120 yes we can, because I didn't kill her, but they 222 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.240 did take my van. Yeah. So he was hell bent 223 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:41.600 on kneecapping any real effort to represent him on what 224 00:14:41.759 --> 00:14:43.080 became a murder case. 225 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:45.559 You say too. He was in a pitiful state, with 226 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:51.000 the sagging, filthy clothes and dis horrible hygiene. 227 00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:56.519 He seemed to have a mental state that he relished 228 00:14:56.720 --> 00:15:02.720 in needing the sympathy and sometimes financial help of others. 229 00:15:02.919 --> 00:15:06.120 He went to a number of churches where he would 230 00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:10.200 make his plea and many of them helped him, and 231 00:15:10.519 --> 00:15:13.879 many of them then wrote letters saying, Hey, don't come 232 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:17.799 back here asking for any more money for your mother's roof. 233 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.919 We've given you plenty to fix it. So there was 234 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.600 something going on with him, because I think he was 235 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:28.200 very sincere, but he could come off as a con 236 00:15:28.320 --> 00:15:31.039 man if you weren't, if you didn't look at him 237 00:15:31.159 --> 00:15:31.960 deeply enough. 238 00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:36.039 You write about June twenty ninth, nineteen ninety eight, and 239 00:15:36.559 --> 00:15:40.399 you're talking to a friend in law enforcement and he 240 00:15:40.639 --> 00:15:44.080 breaks the news about Alvin Ridley being arrested. 241 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:48.440 It was actually a tire dealer that was excited about 242 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:51.480 the fact that Alvin had just been arrested on in 243 00:15:51.559 --> 00:15:55.960 his parking lot, pulled over and arrested there when the 244 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:00.159 young officer, Johnny Gass, recognized him what had happened. And 245 00:16:00.679 --> 00:16:04.679 in most cases there's a suspect, there's an arrest, and 246 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:08.559 then the news springs from there. In this case was 247 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:13.240 not like that. Alvin was a suspect, but not directly one, 248 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:16.679 or it didn't seem to be direct because there was 249 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.320 no more questioning of him within a week of his 250 00:16:19.360 --> 00:16:22.279 wife's death. But there was a kind of a drawn 251 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.679 out process with Virginia's autopsy, and then there was a 252 00:16:25.720 --> 00:16:29.039 special presentment to the grand jury which none of us 253 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:31.799 knew about. And then once the grand jury true build 254 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.679 an indictment, then Alvin was a wanted man. He and 255 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:39.679 I had talked for weeks and finally it just come 256 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:42.840 to the conclusion of there may not be any charges brought, 257 00:16:43.080 --> 00:16:46.360 so let's just have this understanding that let me know 258 00:16:46.440 --> 00:16:50.360 if they bring charges or I'll be monitoring. If I 259 00:16:50.399 --> 00:16:53.519 ever hear you're arrested, I'll come to you. And of 260 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.320 course when I heard it that day, I went. I 261 00:16:56.320 --> 00:16:58.360 did go to him at the county jail. 262 00:16:58.519 --> 00:17:02.919 You also write that National Inquirer has headlines and you 263 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:08.640 included sickle Hold's wife hostage for thirty years, then kills her. 264 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.559 Yeah. I think it was the National Examiner, which is 265 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:16.119 the same ilk of tabloid. And of course that just 266 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:20.640 spread like wildfire throughout the world. Before you knew it. 267 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:25.680 We had German film crews in town everybody titillated by 268 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.599 the notion that a woman was held against her will 269 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:33.640 in a basement for decades, three decades and then and 270 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.480 then was killed. Early on from the first nine one 271 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:41.359 one call, Alvin informed the authorities that his wife had epilepsy. 272 00:17:42.119 --> 00:17:45.519 He maintained throughout all of the questioning that she had 273 00:17:45.559 --> 00:17:48.920 had what he called a spell. By that he meant 274 00:17:49.119 --> 00:17:55.400 a seizure. She had from childhood severe epilepsy sometime well. 275 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:59.799 The authorities had were under the assumption that she was 276 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:05.880 not given medication, and thanks to Alvin being a pack 277 00:18:05.960 --> 00:18:09.279 rat and never throwing anything away, we were able to 278 00:18:09.319 --> 00:18:10.039 dispel that. 279 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:15.559 You include that in this sensational coverage in the press. 280 00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:20.440 They also said that the examination the investigation may include 281 00:18:20.480 --> 00:18:25.279 the exhumation of Alvin's mother, many Ridley, So just adding 282 00:18:25.319 --> 00:18:29.720 to more controversy and speculation about the horrors that went 283 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:31.559 on behind these closed doors. 284 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.160 Alvin had gotten into it with Social Services, and this 285 00:18:35.240 --> 00:18:39.079 was at the height of he and his mother's litigation 286 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:45.480 over his father's car accident, and they kind of caused 287 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:51.359 it themselves. Alvin's mother wrote to Social Services declaring that 288 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:55.359 her husband had died and that they're having trouble maintaining 289 00:18:55.440 --> 00:19:00.480 their lawsuit, and that her husband promised her of refrireador 290 00:19:00.599 --> 00:19:03.920 and two new dresses, and she really is in a 291 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:07.880 bad way. Well, when a state agency gets something like that, 292 00:19:08.319 --> 00:19:12.640 they want to investigate. So innocently enough they start wanting 293 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:16.000 to investigate. But Alvin and his mother really took that 294 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:20.480 as a government intrusion on their privacy. And there was 295 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:25.759 a race to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga across jurisdictional state 296 00:19:25.839 --> 00:19:30.680 line where his mother ended up, and his mother told 297 00:19:30.720 --> 00:19:33.400 the doctors they need to leave us alone. I want 298 00:19:33.400 --> 00:19:37.039 to be with my son. And of course nobody was 299 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:42.319 mentioning Virginia, and in the back of every agency's mind 300 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.240 when they went to the Ridley house over the years, 301 00:19:45.599 --> 00:19:47.480 a lot of times it was just an effort to 302 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:51.759 flush out Virginia, and because she had been missing since 303 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:54.880 the nineteen sixty eight, so there was a lot of 304 00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:59.559 years and years and years of speculation about where is she, 305 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:02.799 what is she doing, and why isn't she talking to 306 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:07.240 her family. So ultimately, you know, Alvin and his mother 307 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:09.799 kind of got the better of the state officials and 308 00:20:09.839 --> 00:20:14.759 they just kind of shrugged their shoulders and resigned from 309 00:20:14.839 --> 00:20:18.880 trying to find his mother now and I'm talking about 310 00:20:18.880 --> 00:20:23.440 his mother, Minie Ridley. So when Virginia died, it kind 311 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:26.720 of stirred up those memories from just four years before 312 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:30.720 of them trying to gain access to his mother. But 313 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:36.400 his mother was quite complicit in evading the Georgia authorities, 314 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:40.799 as evidence by her statements to the doctors in Chattanooga. 315 00:20:40.880 --> 00:20:44.160 You write about the difficulty in dealing with Alvin, but 316 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:46.920 one of the main things that you had issue with 317 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:51.079 is that you wanted to get inside the house and 318 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:55.759 examine things that he has allowed the authorities to do previous. 319 00:20:56.039 --> 00:20:58.039 Tell us about your frustration in this regard. 320 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:01.440 It could not be explained. From the day I got 321 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:04.279 him out of jail and he told me his story 322 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:07.720 that his wife just didn't want to get out. I 323 00:21:07.759 --> 00:21:10.720 told him, I said, I need to photograph this house. 324 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:13.720 And you have to understand this house has probably never 325 00:21:13.839 --> 00:21:18.839 been painted since the late nineteen forties when it was 326 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.680 built by his father, and it looks it but at 327 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.039 the same time, that means there's nothing covered up. There's 328 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:31.359 no bars on the windows, there's no hadlock latches or 329 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:34.799 any evidence of someone being held captive there. And I 330 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:37.640 wanted to capture that, sure, and I wanted to capture 331 00:21:37.720 --> 00:21:41.839 photos inside the house, you know, showing Virginia's things and 332 00:21:41.920 --> 00:21:45.519 things like that. He just simply would not let me. 333 00:21:45.680 --> 00:21:48.039 He would say, I'll think about it, and this went 334 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:51.400 on for over a year. Meanwhile, I reminded him that 335 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:54.839 he let every law enforcement officer that ever asked him 336 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:58.519 for access, he let them in. So from starting to 337 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:02.880 advise him on October verse six, nineteen ninety seven, until 338 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:08.000 November of nineteen ninety eight, I was denied access to 339 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:13.319 this house. At some point, I even purchased and installed 340 00:22:13.559 --> 00:22:17.480 a telephone for his house because since I had been 341 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:20.880 in the state legislature, my cell phone has been Atlanta based, 342 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:23.480 and I wanted him to be able to call me 343 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:26.079 and not have to go out to a phone booth 344 00:22:26.119 --> 00:22:29.160 on some noisy road to call me, where he inevitably 345 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:31.920 ended up being frustrated and yelling at me. So I 346 00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:35.000 was purchasing a phone for his house. Now I went 347 00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:39.559 there with the phone installer and my camera, excited about 348 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:44.480 getting in to his home, and Alvin realized that and decided, 349 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:46.440 oh no, we're just going to put the phone on 350 00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:51.440 the porch. So he had the phone installed on the 351 00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:58.720 porch and thwarting me again. So in November of nineteen 352 00:22:58.759 --> 00:23:02.039 ninety eight, on Thanksgiving Day, my new bride and I 353 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:05.079 went to visit her family in one part of the county, 354 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:08.319 and then we visited my family in Graysville in the 355 00:23:08.359 --> 00:23:11.720 northern part of the county, and on the way out, 356 00:23:11.839 --> 00:23:16.440 my parents handed me a lake of food covered up 357 00:23:16.440 --> 00:23:20.920 in foyle and several little margarine tubs full of other 358 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:25.519 parts of the meal, and they said, my father said, 359 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:28.079 I want you to take this to Alvin Ridley. He 360 00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:31.279 doesn't have anyone and that is the last place I 361 00:23:31.319 --> 00:23:35.359 wanted to be on Thanksgiving. The trial had been put 362 00:23:35.400 --> 00:23:39.799 off the month before, and I was so thankful of that. 363 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:45.720 But there was starting to be some evidence that was 364 00:23:45.960 --> 00:23:50.359 coming our way, I thought. For one, the autopsy of 365 00:23:50.519 --> 00:23:56.480 Virginia Ridley revealed that she was covered in these tiny 366 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:02.559 ruptured blood vessels called petite or particular hemorrhages, and the 367 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:07.119 State of Georgia was saying, that's indicative of asphyxiation death. 368 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:11.799 And so we had a great dean of our defense 369 00:24:11.960 --> 00:24:16.119 bar in close to my community, a man named Bobby 370 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:19.720 Lee Cook, who, if you'll do some research you'll learn 371 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.599 that the Matlock character was based on him. Well, he 372 00:24:23.720 --> 00:24:25.839 was just down the road and he had known me 373 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:29.039 since before I was a lawyer. And I went to 374 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:33.160 him because he has this beautiful library, and I said, 375 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:36.240 you know, I've got this case. I really want to 376 00:24:36.319 --> 00:24:40.359 see some books, some pathology books, because I've got this 377 00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:43.599 thing about particular hemorrhages and I want to see them. 378 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:47.920 And he gives me like four forensic pathology books and 379 00:24:47.960 --> 00:24:50.480 I said, well, please let me copy these, and he 380 00:24:50.519 --> 00:24:53.039 said no, no, no, just keep them. Just keep them 381 00:24:53.079 --> 00:24:55.599 as long as you need them. And I began to 382 00:24:55.680 --> 00:24:59.960 realize in my research that particular hemorrhaging was quite common 383 00:25:00.480 --> 00:25:03.599 even among the living of people after having a seizure 384 00:25:03.880 --> 00:25:09.240 or having a coughing fit, or in cases of asphyxiation 385 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:15.160 as well, but it did happen in non manual strangulation 386 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:20.160 or manual smothering deaths as well, and so I was 387 00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:24.519 very excited about that. But there was no real other 388 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:28.880 than in these books. I really wanted another death that 389 00:25:29.160 --> 00:25:35.960 was clearly a seizured related death, and amazingly and sadly 390 00:25:36.039 --> 00:25:40.680 and tragically one kind of landed in our Lapse. In 391 00:25:40.839 --> 00:25:47.279 September of nineteen ninety eight, the just heralded Olympic star 392 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:51.720 Florence Griffith Joyner passed away unexpectedly. She was known as 393 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.279 Flow Joe. She was the greatest female athlete of all time. 394 00:25:55.640 --> 00:25:59.599 But I didn't think anything of it until October, about 395 00:25:59.640 --> 00:26:02.720 the third week of October, when on the news one 396 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:06.720 night I heard that her autopsy had been released and 397 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:11.160 that they determined she died of a seizure disorder. So 398 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:15.480 I was on the phone with Orange County, California Medical 399 00:26:15.519 --> 00:26:20.480 Examiner the next business day right and talked to the 400 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:26.440 doctor that actually autopsied Florence Griffith Joiner and convinced them 401 00:26:26.519 --> 00:26:30.240