WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:04.000 With Lucky Land Slots, you can get lucky just about anywhere. 2 00:00:04.200 --> 00:00:07.599 Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today. Has anyone seen 3 00:00:07.639 --> 00:00:08.439 the bride and groom? 4 00:00:08.960 --> 00:00:10.560 Mari, Sorry, we're here. 5 00:00:10.759 --> 00:00:12.679 We were getting lucky in the limo when we lost 6 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:13.199 track of time. 7 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:16.719 No Lucky Land casino with cash prizes that add up 8 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:17.960 quicker than a guess registered. 9 00:00:18.399 --> 00:00:21.920 In that case, I pronounce you Lucky Clay for free. 10 00:00:21.719 --> 00:00:25.160 At Lucky Landslots dot com. Daily bonuses are waiting. No 11 00:00:25.280 --> 00:00:27.800 purchase necessary board. We're prohibited by lock eight team plus 12 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:30.079 terms and conditions applying. See website for details. 13 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:32.759 Hello, it is Ryan and I was on a flight 14 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.000 the other day playing one of my favorite social spin 15 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:37.640 slot games on chumbacasino dot com. I looked over at 16 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:39.439 the person sitting next to me, and you know what 17 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:42.240 they were doing. They were also playing Chumba Casino. Coincidence, 18 00:00:42.359 --> 00:00:44.679 I think not everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumba 19 00:00:44.719 --> 00:00:47.159 Casino's home to hundreds at casino style games. You can 20 00:00:47.159 --> 00:00:51.079 play for free anytime, anywhere, even at thirty thousand feet. 21 00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:53.640 So sign up now at Chumbuckcasino dot com to claim 22 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.880 your free welcome bonus. That's Chumbuck Casino dot com and 23 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:58.079 Live the Chumba Lane. 24 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:01.119 No Necessary dvoid over hbity I lost, look at play. 25 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:03.280 Loop tell. 26 00:01:12.959 --> 00:01:16.359 You are now listening to True Murder, the most shocking 27 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:19.480 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 28 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:26.840 written about them Gasey, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker BTK. Every 29 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.560 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 30 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:35.200 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, 31 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:38.120 journalist and author Dan Zupanski. 32 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:51.719 It's a new year and you want to keep growing 33 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:54.799 your team, but you need the right tools to help 34 00:01:54.879 --> 00:01:59.640 you keep you stringlined and efficient. That's where ZipRecruiter dot 35 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:05.159 com slash Murder comes in. ZipRecruiter sends your job to 36 00:02:05.239 --> 00:02:08.360 over one hundred of the web's leading job boards, but 37 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:12.919 they don't stop there. With their powerful matching technology, ZipRecruiter 38 00:02:13.039 --> 00:02:16.120 scans thousands of resumes to find people with the right 39 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.479 experience and invite them to apply to your job. As 40 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:24.639 applications come in, ZipRecruiter analyzes each one and spotlights the 41 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:28.879 top candidates so you never miss a great match. And 42 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:33.080 right now, my listeners can try ZipRecruiter for free at 43 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:38.759 this exclusive web address ZipRecruiter dot com, slash murder, that's 44 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:46.319 ZipRecruiter dot com, slash m r d er ZipRecruiter dot com, 45 00:02:46.520 --> 00:02:53.960 slash murder, ZipRecruiter the smartest way to hire good evening. 46 00:02:55.560 --> 00:02:59.199 The Gwinnett County, Georgia Police Department was formed by tough, 47 00:02:59.360 --> 00:03:01.639 honorable men who were brought in to clean up the 48 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:06.479 county after the sheriff made moonshining his personal business. With 49 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:10.280 a low budget, officers had to buy their own uniforms, guns, 50 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:13.319 even bullets. The police had to take anyone with a 51 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.360 pulse who could stand upright, even with the odds against them. 52 00:03:17.759 --> 00:03:20.360 The police department grew into a force feared by the 53 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:25.719 criminals and respected by county citizens. Late one night in 54 00:03:25.800 --> 00:03:29.439 spring of nineteen sixty four, the police in Gwynett County 55 00:03:29.560 --> 00:03:32.680 and everywhere learned just how far that respect would go 56 00:03:32.840 --> 00:03:37.520 in saving their lives. In a tight spot. Officers Jesse Gravitt, 57 00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:41.840 Ralph Davis, and Jerry Everett responded to a report of 58 00:03:41.919 --> 00:03:47.080 suspicious activity on a desolate County road named ARC. What 59 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:49.759 they found was a kind of criminal. They were completely 60 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:53.639 unprepared for a psychopath that would do anything to avoid 61 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:57.879 the consequences of his actions, including the cold blooded killing 62 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:02.120 of three county police officers. This began one of the 63 00:04:02.159 --> 00:04:06.800 most intense murder investigations that Georgia had ever seen. ARC 64 00:04:06.919 --> 00:04:10.840 Road is the story of those officers. That investigation and 65 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:14.599 the followed from those horrific murders that charged changed the 66 00:04:14.680 --> 00:04:19.399 way law enforcement officers are trained. ARC Road the horrific 67 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:22.920 murders of three police officers in Gwinnett County, Georgia that 68 00:04:23.160 --> 00:04:28.040 changed law enforcement forever. With my special guest, journalist and 69 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:30.920 author Tony Tiffin. Welcome to the program, and thank you 70 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:33.920 very much for this interview Tony Tiffin. 71 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.800 Dan, it's my pleasure. Greetings from the Deep South, though 72 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:40.120 it's a bit cold here today. 73 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:42.920 Ah, Yes, from Georgia. 74 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:47.040 From Georgia, I mean the land of Georgia. Dan, let 75 00:04:47.160 --> 00:04:52.000 me inform you and your readers there, it's okay to chuckle. 76 00:04:52.639 --> 00:04:56.279 The reason is this story and all of this horror 77 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:02.040 is laughable in certain areas now still. But not to worry, 78 00:05:02.199 --> 00:05:04.959 we're all cried out down here. That story, fifty five 79 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:08.920 years later, is still causing a sadness that has broken 80 00:05:09.040 --> 00:05:14.279 Gwinnett County's heart and will always be a dark chapter. 81 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:18.040 In fact, they call the weekend of the murders and 82 00:05:18.160 --> 00:05:22.199 their funerals as the dark Days of Gwenette County. It 83 00:05:22.399 --> 00:05:25.519 still holds over as probably always will. 84 00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:31.879 Tell us about Gwinnett County and your connection to this 85 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:35.680 area of the Old South in Georgia. Tell us about 86 00:05:35.680 --> 00:05:39.920 about the early sixties before preceding nineteen sixty four in 87 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:44.000 April when this occurred. Tell us a little bit about 88 00:05:44.040 --> 00:05:47.879 Gwinnett County, Georgia and the surrounding little towns around it. 89 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:50.839 Tell us what it was like and where it's proximity two. 90 00:05:51.959 --> 00:05:55.600 Gwinnette County is just north and in the five metro 91 00:05:55.759 --> 00:06:00.680 county metropolis of Atlanta, Georgia. Were just northeast of Atlanta. 92 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:06.240 In the early sixties, Gwinette County was fourth in population 93 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:09.720 in the metro area, and it was number one in 94 00:06:10.199 --> 00:06:13.199 land mass. Thereabouts four hundred and seventy square miles of 95 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:18.920 chicken farms, dirt roads, and cotton fields. It was agriculture. 96 00:06:19.000 --> 00:06:22.920 It was some ranching going on, but mostly chickens. And 97 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:29.040 it was still a very quiet deep South traditional county 98 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:33.160 where not much had grabbed hole. But like all of Atlanta, 99 00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.439 that was soon to change, but Gwinette County was farmers 100 00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:40.519 desolate in many ways. But the dirt roads were like 101 00:06:40.639 --> 00:06:44.439 spiderwebs went throughout the county and as a result, folks 102 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.639 kind of lived on their own. In the case of 103 00:06:47.879 --> 00:06:52.079 Arc Road in the early sixties, Arc Road was two 104 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.600 mile long stretch of road, but only two residents were 105 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:58.839 along the entire two mile stretch. So we were desolate 106 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:02.000 and we were kind of quiet. Yet we could get 107 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:07.120 to Atlanta, downtown Atlanta within generally an hour's drive. Until 108 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:09.279 the road started improving, then we can get down there 109 00:07:09.279 --> 00:07:12.360 in twenty minutes. But until then we were a county 110 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:17.439 all to ourselves, formed really as little Indian reservations which 111 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:20.120 had sprung up along the Chattahoochee River, and from there 112 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:26.079 we grew into a little small towns and have had 113 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:30.480 at that time and have always had an Indian kind 114 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:34.000 of a tradition about us. We still celebrate Indian holidays 115 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:36.759 and things of that nature. But it was a mixture. 116 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:38.839 It was the Deep South, it was the Old South, 117 00:07:39.000 --> 00:07:42.639 and not a whole lot went on outside of your 118 00:07:42.680 --> 00:07:46.560 little neighborhood. So we were self sufficient people that usually 119 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:49.800 had our own little gardens and our own little plots 120 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:53.120 and so on and so forth. We're all saying back then, 121 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.279 if you wanted to eat, you either had to grow 122 00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.079 it or slaughter at one to get food on your table. 123 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:00.959 And that's pretty much the way we live. Food was 124 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:04.600 a priority, Shelter was a priority. Family and God were 125 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:06.959 right up there at the top of the list, in 126 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:09.639 no specific order, each having equal measure. 127 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:15.920 You talk about the history also of the liquor stills, 128 00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:20.319 and also that it became a political issue and leading 129 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:25.279 to their a desire to form a proper police department. 130 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:28.079 So tell us about this a little bit about this 131 00:08:28.639 --> 00:08:33.399 liquor history and the politics behind the move for a 132 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:34.360 new police department. 133 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:38.759 Well, sure, it's I mean, your listeners know it's moonshine 134 00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:43.799 because it traveled in tanks hidden under old Ford coops 135 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:46.480 by the light of the moon back in that day. 136 00:08:46.679 --> 00:08:50.559 So we were that was just the culture of the 137 00:08:51.080 --> 00:08:54.559 Deep South. Dan, that's what we did in our own 138 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:58.879 kind of way. You have to try and put yourself 139 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:01.960 back in the early sixties and just prior, but throughout 140 00:09:02.039 --> 00:09:05.799 the mid sixties as well, when you wanted something from 141 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.000 your general store, and that's what it was. A general 142 00:09:08.080 --> 00:09:10.600 store generally a two mile hike to get to it. 143 00:09:11.559 --> 00:09:14.440 Trading was okay with folks. We would take a chicken 144 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:17.159 down there, and usually a live chicken would get you 145 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.559 a bag of candy, a Coca Cola and a pack 146 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:26.639 of cigarettes. We just did buy our own resources and 147 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:29.879 Moonshining was just an old traditional thing that the boys 148 00:09:30.000 --> 00:09:34.039 up in the hills, better known as hillbillies. That's what 149 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:38.080 they did. But we didn't see any harm in it. Though. 150 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:41.039 It was one of those major platforms or major stumps 151 00:09:41.039 --> 00:09:43.639 that the politicians would come through here and throw at us, 152 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:46.840 as if we were appreciating what they were saying. Well, 153 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:49.559 we didn't appreciate it at all. That's why in nineteen 154 00:09:49.679 --> 00:09:54.120 sixty we hired the biggest still owner and elected him 155 00:09:54.159 --> 00:09:57.799 as our new high sheriff. So we did. We were 156 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:00.679 tired of empty promises and things of that nature. The 157 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:02.679 old saying was you could drive a car at the 158 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:05.039 speed limit down a dirt road, throw a rock out 159 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:07.639 of the driver's window, and chances are it would clank 160 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:10.519 when it would hit the ground because it would hit us. Still, 161 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:14.360 it wasn't that prevalent, but it was a loose kind 162 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:18.039 of society where gambling parlors. Keeping in mind, though the 163 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:22.000 irony of it all was Gwinnett was a dry county 164 00:10:22.120 --> 00:10:25.159 at the time. If you wanted to buy a liquor 165 00:10:25.200 --> 00:10:27.000 by a drink, you'd have to go into the city 166 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:30.519 of Atlanta. So we just did what we wanted to 167 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:33.960 do and got around. And it was people used Gwinnett 168 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:38.559 County to satisfy desires one way or another, and so 169 00:10:38.679 --> 00:10:42.360 we had the gambling parlors, the shothouses of the moonshine. 170 00:10:42.759 --> 00:10:44.840 But a lot of the moonshine that was made around 171 00:10:44.919 --> 00:10:47.360 here was either for self consumption or they'd pack it 172 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:49.320 into the back of that old ford and send it 173 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:53.279 down to Atlanta and points actually further, because here in 174 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:57.480 the North Georgia area where Arc Road took place is 175 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:02.240 hills and woods and streams, perfect ingredient for hauling a 176 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:04.679 couple of old drums up into the woods and start 177 00:11:04.759 --> 00:11:08.120 of fire, and are all saying was back then, good 178 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:11.600 liquor comes starts with a blue flame. So we just 179 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:15.360 had a good time doing that and using our own 180 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:19.000 resources to make moonshine. But it was not like everybody 181 00:11:19.120 --> 00:11:21.919 was falling over drunk on illegal liquor. That didn't happen 182 00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:22.240 at all. 183 00:11:24.200 --> 00:11:27.679 Let's get to the police commissioner and who he heads 184 00:11:27.799 --> 00:11:32.600 up in his new department. Tell us about this personnel 185 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:35.720 that he assembles to be able to clean up this area. 186 00:11:37.320 --> 00:11:40.679 Well, the police department the sheriff's department were totally different departments. 187 00:11:40.799 --> 00:11:44.960 The police department came on because the commissioners decided, we 188 00:11:45.919 --> 00:11:48.679 got ourselves into a mess here, We've gotten a history 189 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.840 and now one of the biggest culprits of all time 190 00:11:51.960 --> 00:11:56.519 elected as our sheriff, so we need The commissioners came 191 00:11:56.600 --> 00:12:00.159 about saying we need to not elect but rather of 192 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:04.440 points a chief of police and start a new police 193 00:12:04.480 --> 00:12:08.039 department independent of that bunch over there in the sheriff's department. 194 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:11.000 The sheriff had come in, as I said, the biggest 195 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:14.039 still owner in the county, so it didn't take Also 196 00:12:14.200 --> 00:12:16.080 keep in mind, Dan, before I get too far ahead 197 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.559 of myself, that the police department started with only two 198 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:24.600 patrol officers. The sheriff's department never had much more than 199 00:12:24.639 --> 00:12:29.360 about six or eight deputies. But they were of our 200 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.159 new high Sheriff's making. They did what he said to do, 201 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:35.080 and when they couldn't get paid or anything for that 202 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:37.279 he explained, well, you make your money out there on 203 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:42.799 those roads. The police commissioner came in to attempt at 204 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:46.039 bringing about law and order into the county with the 205 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:49.320 new police department and the integrity of those he first 206 00:12:49.399 --> 00:12:55.120 brought into, such as Chief Police Jobell MJ. Pucket. Those 207 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:59.840 assistant chief of police were honorable men. They were upstanding characters. 208 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:04.320 They believed in one thing, and that was the peace 209 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:08.080 and quality and the growth of Gwinnett County in their 210 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:11.080 own way, and they went on to hire up a 211 00:13:11.159 --> 00:13:14.960 few more boys. But the police department was not a 212 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:18.200 glamorous job by any means. They would go for it 213 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.759 to be glamorous, but they only paid the patrol officers 214 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:25.159 two hundred dollars a month. They didn't give them any 215 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.919 of their own equipment. They didn't provide them anything that 216 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:31.799 they needed. So the police officer, if he joined the force, 217 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:34.759 and not a whole lot, came busting down the old 218 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.720 jail house door to get onto the force. They had 219 00:13:38.759 --> 00:13:41.639 to buy their own uniforms, their own guns, their own boots, 220 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:45.600 their own bullets, and it was a very tough beginning. 221 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:48.080 In fact, it was not the first time that the 222 00:13:48.159 --> 00:13:51.720 police had the County had tried a police department. It 223 00:13:51.840 --> 00:13:54.759 was rather the second time. The first time had failed. 224 00:13:55.320 --> 00:13:57.440 They just couldn't get any officers to do the trip. 225 00:14:00.120 --> 00:14:03.360 You talk about that, you introduce characters that they hire 226 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:07.759 in this small force. Leonard Bowen, they call him the Bull. 227 00:14:08.600 --> 00:14:12.600 They also get a guy named another tough guy named 228 00:14:13.000 --> 00:14:17.240 Jerry Everett. A little bit later, they're looking around, I mean, 229 00:14:17.320 --> 00:14:20.200 like you say, nobody's really dying to be a police 230 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:23.559 officer there. But they find a guy that actually had 231 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.600 a self defense manslaughter charge and the prison term. This 232 00:14:26.759 --> 00:14:30.799 Ralph Davis, and then Carl Gravitt and his brother Jesse applied. 233 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:34.480 So this is where we are introduced to Ralph Davis, 234 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:42.200 Jesse Gravitt, and Jerry Everett in this new police force. 235 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:45.080 Let me get ahead of you a little bit. The 236 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.120 whole point of arc road is never forgetting those names. 237 00:14:48.159 --> 00:14:51.360 So I appreciate very much you bringing their names up. 238 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:56.159 The new police force was well, you mentioned it earlier, 239 00:14:57.559 --> 00:15:00.799 mister Bowen. The tough guys you called you addressed a 240 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:05.799 mister mister Bowen, As I say, best not mess with 241 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:09.879 the old Georgia boy goes with the nickname Bull. He 242 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:12.600 got the job done whenever he needed to. Jerry Everett 243 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.759 was a smart came from a family of police officers, 244 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:19.320 was a smart officer, started at a young age, and 245 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.600 by the time he was twenty eight years of age 246 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.480 in nineteen sixty four, he had already gone through just 247 00:15:25.519 --> 00:15:29.399 about anything a Gwinnett cop could go through that day 248 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:32.720 in time. There were no radios that the almost line 249 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:37.519 of sight, if you will, There was no backup police officer. 250 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:40.360 Whatever he got into he had to get himself out 251 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:44.279 of and it was up to him. Gwinnette, when they 252 00:15:44.360 --> 00:15:47.240 fir first started the police department, they did partner up 253 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.039 so they had two patrol car with a total of 254 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:54.240 eight patrol officers and in four cars. But if you 255 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:57.799 got yourself into trouble, and believe me, in North Georgia, 256 00:15:58.279 --> 00:16:02.600 especially Gwinett County, could easily get yourself in trouble. There 257 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:05.279 were those out there that just did not have any 258 00:16:05.360 --> 00:16:09.840 respect for lawman. A police officer was not a friendly guy. 259 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:12.720 So you had a mixture of characters in the county. 260 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:16.120 Those that never interacted with the police, those that from 261 00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:18.519 time to time would get a ticket, and those that 262 00:16:18.679 --> 00:16:21.080 were out to do anything against the police that they 263 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:24.720 possibly could, but back in those days, they had no training, 264 00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:27.759 they had nothing to go along with, So it was 265 00:16:27.799 --> 00:16:32.320 a personal reward that the police officers got. But you 266 00:16:32.519 --> 00:16:37.000 mentioned their names. They're very real those people. The names 267 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.120 are not changed in this book. Those are real characters 268 00:16:40.200 --> 00:16:42.720 from Gwinett County back in the sixties. 269 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:47.480 Now you set the stage here that it's a little humble, 270 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:50.559 little force that's been together for a few years, that's 271 00:16:50.600 --> 00:16:54.159 been assembled. They're tough guys in a tough area and 272 00:16:54.360 --> 00:16:58.879 people interacting and I sort of people look the other 273 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:03.200 way for many what some people would say victimless crimes, 274 00:17:03.240 --> 00:17:05.759 but at least crimes are looked the other way. So 275 00:17:06.279 --> 00:17:09.440 the police have their hands full and they're in an 276 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:15.599 unthankful position. Tell us about what ARC Road is, and 277 00:17:16.200 --> 00:17:18.480 tell us about the call that comes in and why 278 00:17:19.000 --> 00:17:23.279 and and and how Davis and Everett's car is sent 279 00:17:23.960 --> 00:17:24.559 on this call. 280 00:17:26.640 --> 00:17:32.079 ARC Road is the culmination of what law enforcement was 281 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:36.519 in the country at that time. Certainly throughout George, Atlanta 282 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:40.119 and Fulton County they had a much larger force, but 283 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:44.519 Gwennette County being again that it was so rural that 284 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:48.839 it was just experimenting with this new force. I think 285 00:17:48.960 --> 00:17:51.279 day to day. They were probably hoping that it would 286 00:17:51.680 --> 00:17:54.359 that they would wake up and still have jobs tomorrow morning. 287 00:17:55.279 --> 00:18:01.279 Arc Road came about as an area. It was just 288 00:18:01.480 --> 00:18:05.880 a thorough road from Beaver Ruin to Pleasant Hill. It 289 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:09.400 was a two mile long stretch of a dirt road 290 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.759 and it wasn't very well maintained, so it was a 291 00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:16.400 tough road to get across. In fact, I've had many 292 00:18:16.440 --> 00:18:18.759 people tell me back in the Ark Road day they 293 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:22.160 could not drive their passioner car the full length of 294 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.119 Arc Road. It was just too ruddy and too narrow 295 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:29.880 and just unimproved to say the least. But it is 296 00:18:30.119 --> 00:18:34.559 the story about in that day, Dan, you have to 297 00:18:34.799 --> 00:18:37.559 understand also, and these are tough things to do because 298 00:18:37.559 --> 00:18:40.960 we're talking over half a century ago. But the police 299 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:45.599 officers in that day, with no training, they really weren't emphasized. 300 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:48.599 It wasn't emphasized upon the citizens that we had a 301 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:52.759 police force to answer to the call to the bad guys, 302 00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:56.799 because there weren't that many bad guys there. Today, it's 303 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:59.599 a different world. If you open up the newspapers, you're 304 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:03.839 going to murders, and you're going to see robbery and 305 00:19:04.119 --> 00:19:06.319 id theft and you know, well, there wasn't any of 306 00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:09.319 that in Gwenett County hardly back in there, so our 307 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:14.480 police officers didn't have to go around investigating crimes of murder. 308 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:18.880 In fact, it was because of this inexperience that brought 309 00:19:18.920 --> 00:19:23.519 in outside forces when this happened. But even in today's 310 00:19:23.559 --> 00:19:26.519 time we hear about police officers being murdered all the time. 311 00:19:27.079 --> 00:19:30.440 But even today it would be a shocker. I dare 312 00:19:30.519 --> 00:19:33.039 say someone was to wake up and read the headline 313 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.599 that three county police officers were marched into the woods, 314 00:19:38.119 --> 00:19:42.599 handcuffed the three of them together and shot the guns 315 00:19:42.759 --> 00:19:46.920 there three guns used to kill them, with sixteen rounds 316 00:19:47.000 --> 00:19:51.119 finding their mark in the officers' heads. That would be 317 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:55.400 an alarm even today's time. So imagine the ripple. First 318 00:19:55.440 --> 00:19:58.799 of all, the lightning bolt that penetrated everybody in this 319 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:03.720 county because we knew those three police officers. But then 320 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.599 the ripple effect it had not just in Georgia, but 321 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:11.480 there were people in Stockholm reading the headlines the next 322 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:15.759 day in their newspaper. Locally here or I should say, 323 00:20:16.400 --> 00:20:19.960 in the States, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, all heard 324 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:22.599 about it that night, All three that at that time. 325 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:28.279 There were three networks on TV, the Walter Cronkites, the Brinkleys, 326 00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:32.200 so on and so forth that reported it that evening 327 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:37.240 April seventeenth, nineteen sixty four, and it led their televised news. 328 00:20:38.119 --> 00:20:41.759 Of course, here in Atlanta, it was just unbelievable. We 329 00:20:42.160 --> 00:20:46.400 just couldn't believe I came about in this story. My 330 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:50.839 dad was a military police officer who died while active duty, 331 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.400 and that was in Massachusetts. We followed the casket down 332 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:56.720 here to Atlanta. And next thing I know is I'm 333 00:20:56.759 --> 00:20:59.640 living as a ten year old kid here in Atlanta 334 00:20:59.680 --> 00:21:03.440 for so years when this incident took place, and it 335 00:21:03.599 --> 00:21:06.400 reminded me. It reeled me back to my dad saying, 336 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:09.559 if you're ever in trouble or you need help, seek 337 00:21:09.599 --> 00:21:13.599 out the nearest police officer. So when I read those headlines, 338 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:15.880 and of course on the Atlanta news it was everywhere, 339 00:21:16.680 --> 00:21:19.640 I could not believe that someone would not just hurt 340 00:21:19.640 --> 00:21:22.680 a police officer, but murder a police officer, and not 341 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:28.039 just one, but three together. So on April the seventeenth, 342 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:31.720 early in the morning, they were found off of Arc Road, 343 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:34.960 to the side in a stretch of woods that they 344 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:38.839 could not see from the little road itself until they 345 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:41.839 started walking around the woods, and then they finally saw 346 00:21:42.759 --> 00:21:46.319 the three corpses lying on the ground in the woods, 347 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:51.119 handcuffed together and virtually a pool of blood. Floating in 348 00:21:51.160 --> 00:21:51.960 a pool of blood. 349 00:21:54.359 --> 00:21:58.039 You mentioned that a man named A. C. Mills. Virtually 350 00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:04.839 there's no houses on this growth, but somebody again very timely, 351 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:08.279 had the dog barking, and so the Sacy Mills, an 352 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:12.960 old man, calls the police and says, there's some boys 353 00:22:13.079 --> 00:22:15.160 up here. They shouldn't be up here. It's one thirty 354 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:18.319 in the morning and there shouldn't be anybody here and 355 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:25.119 maybe come up and investigate. So they send a dispatcher 356 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:30.599 named Pruitt, sends Davis an Everett's car. So, and what 357 00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:36.319 do police know? After they find this horror scene, they 358 00:22:36.359 --> 00:22:39.720 also find a smoldering sixty three oldsmobile. Tell us about that? 359 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:43.400 What do police know? And how do they proceed from there? 360 00:22:44.160 --> 00:22:48.000 Of course, they're outraged. They want they want to capture 361 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:50.039 these criminals. What do they do? 362 00:22:51.960 --> 00:22:56.799 The night before or late at night on April the sixteenth, 363 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:01.599 before it turned the midnight onto Friday, the stars were 364 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:07.839 all aligned for the heavens to fall apart. The radio 365 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:13.079 operator Prewit was only thereby happenstance. He normally had left 366 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:16.920 the jailhouse and his radio position much earlier than that. 367 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:21.240 Jesse Gravitt was on the side of the expressway with 368 00:23:21.400 --> 00:23:25.880 Bull Bowen. They were investigating a car fire, and he 369 00:23:26.200 --> 00:23:30.160 had asked or requested that Car twenty nine, Jerry Everett 370 00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:33.200 and Ralph Davis come pick him up and take him 371 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:36.599 to his home. They had not yet gotten in this 372 00:23:36.880 --> 00:23:40.920 radio call from Prewitt, nor had Ac Mills called Pruit 373 00:23:41.079 --> 00:23:44.720 to complain. There's two people out on my road, two cars. 374 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:47.599 They look like they're smoking cigarettes, they look like they're talking. 375 00:23:47.640 --> 00:23:49.599 They're right up the street from me, and there's not 376 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:52.279 supposed to be anybody out here that time of night. 377 00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:56.960 He was correct. Ark Road was not passable at night. 378 00:23:57.640 --> 00:24:00.720 There were no lights, street lights, there was nothing there. 379 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:04.240 It was contingent on the mount of light put out 380 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:08.400 by the moon and stars, as always was in this case. 381 00:24:09.400 --> 00:24:11.920 They didn't know where Arc Road was. There was no 382 00:24:12.119 --> 00:24:14.640 GPS on the car. So as they were taking mister 383 00:24:14.759 --> 00:24:19.519 Gravit home that night, Jerry Everett, driving Car twenty nine, 384 00:24:19.640 --> 00:24:22.400 happened to see an old wooden sign that had inscribed 385 00:24:22.440 --> 00:24:25.960 on it Arc and so he turned down that from 386 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:28.200 the other side from which the bad guys and mister 387 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:32.920 Mills came came in. Mister Mills lived on what we 388 00:24:33.079 --> 00:24:35.720 call the south end of the road. It is divided 389 00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:38.279 by a creek, and then there's the north end of 390 00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:40.319 the road, and at the time that creek had a 391 00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:44.519 small rickety bridge crossing it. Patrol Car twenty nine came 392 00:24:44.599 --> 00:24:47.559 from the north entrance and as they came up over 393 00:24:47.640 --> 00:24:50.960 the hill on Arc Road, almost to the completion of 394 00:24:51.119 --> 00:24:53.880 Arc Road, there they saw them. If it was ten 395 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:59.759 minutes either way, perhaps they wouldn't have the Truett, Williams 396 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:03.480 and Evans, the bad guys would have been gone in 397 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:06.519 ten minutes and none of this would have happened. But 398 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:10.880 it just continued. All the things that would occur. Also, 399 00:25:11.640 --> 00:25:15.279 just more irony happened. Jerry Everett had just bought what 400 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:18.599 is now described as a bug a backup gun, and 401 00:25:18.680 --> 00:25:21.720