The Betty Wilson case was very high profile meaning it attracted the news media nation wide. The only thing she did wrong was to have some "old dirty laundry" in her closet. She was tried by the "Kings of Crap", the ambitious news media and a corrupt political/judicial system.
Dr. Wilson in the hallway of his home. A violent attack was supposed to have occurred here. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
Dr. Jack Wilson was found in a pool of blood. There were a series of lacerations on his head. His skull, hyoid bone in his neck, his right shoulder and both arms were all fractured. He was also stabbed twice in the abdomen. THE WORK OF A HIRED KILLER? SOME EXPERTS HAVE SAID HE WAS KILLED "HOMOSEXUAL STYLE". What is homosexual style? Over-kill.
Dr. Jack Wilson was a 55 year old eye doctor, very successful, well-known and well loved in the community. The only person who had a motive to kill the doctor was a son from a former marriage who had been disinherited. This son was very violent and a known user of drugs.
It was Dr. Jack Wilson's custom to remove his shoes and place his wallet and KEYS inside them. WHERE WERE THE KEYS? The keys were found in the front seat of Betty's second vehicle, a Mercedes, which Dr. Wilson NEVER drove.
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Betty Wilson #171316 Tutwiler State Prison 8966 Hwy 231 D7 Wetumpka, AL 36092 |
The Betty Wilson Case |
The following is a transcription of the "Medical Detective" television show concerning, twin sisters, Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe, who supposedly hired James White to kill Betty's wealthy husband, Dr. Jack Wilson. Peggy Lowe was acquitted and Betty Wilson was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. This information presents a very good case that Betty Wilson is a victim of our corrupt justice system.
Narrator: On the night of May 22, 1992, Betty Wilson returned home immediately after her alcoholics anonymous meeting. She had some last minute packing to do for a vacation she was taking the next day with her husband. As she walked up the stairs headed for her bedroom she found her husband lying in a pool of blood. Clearly Jack Wilson had been murdered but how? Experts couldn't agree.
Betty Wilson: I was going up the steps then I rounded the top of the stairs with my head down and looking up to turn on the light I saw Jack lying on the floor."
Narrator: Betty Wilson immediately ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.
911 Operator: [Betty was hysterical and crying] Listen...this is the police department. Talk to me okay. Were you in the house or did you walk in the house?
Betty Wilson: I walked in.
911 Operator: Okay, you come home and you walk in the house and you saw this person lying on the floor. Who was this person to you?
Betty Wilson: My husband.
911 Operator: Okay. Do you know...do you know if the person that hurt him is still inside?
Betty Wilson: I don't know! I'm just afraid! I'm just...
911 Operator: Okay. You just go stand there. You don't go back to your house. Okay.
Betty Wilson: Okay.
911 Operator: And we've got an ambulance and we've got the police on the way.
Narrator: The Huntsville, Alabama, police arrived at the murder scene within minutes of the call.
Police Officer: Lying in the hallway was a white male who appeared to have been beaten and also stabbed. He was lying in a puddle of blood there in the hallway.
Narrator: Lying next to the body, the apparent murder weapon, a 34 inch long metal baseball bat covered with blood but police couldn't locate the weapon used to stab him. In Jack Wilson's bedroom the telephone line had been cut and a green sky mask was also found lying on top of the bed. They also found an opened pistol box with ammunition but no sign of the gun. There were no indications that the Wilson home had been explored for valuables. No drawers had been emptied. No closets searched. Jack Wilson's wallet was on the floor near his shoes. There was no cash inside but his credit cards were. If the motive wasn't burglary, why was Jack Wilson murdered? Wilson was a 55 year old eye doctor, very successful, well-known and well loved in the community.
Jerry McDaniel, Private Investigator: I would even hate to estimate how many people that Jack treated absolutely free because they needed medical help and they couldn't afford to pay.
Narrator: Jack and Betty Wilson had been married for about 14 years. Each had three children from previous marriages.
Betty Wilson: We were happy and satisfied with each other. He met every need that I, my children and my grandchildren had. He was a wonderful person.
Peggy Lowe: He was sincere. He was honest, straight forward. He was fun to be with.
Narrator: As police began searching for clues, homicide detectives learned a shocking piece of information. The county sheriff's office had received a tip just the day before. An informant in the small town of Vincent, Alabama, said she overheard a conversation that a man from Vincent had been hired to kill a doctor. That information lead police on a long convoluted journey from the backwoods of Alabama to one of its finest neighborhoods. It ended in a bitter courtroom dispute because of two conflicting interpretations of what happened during Jack Wilson's last moments alive.
The body of Jack Wilson was transported to the state medical examiner in Birmingham for a routine autopsy. Dr. Joseph Embry noted a series of lacerations on Wilson's head and a fractured skull. Wilson had also suffered a fractured hyoid bone in his neck and a fractured right shoulder with a puncture wound clearly visible. Both arms were fractured. These were defensive type wounds indicating Wilson tried to fend off his attacker and there were two stab wounds in his abdomen. Officially the cause of death was listed as blunt force trauma to the head. Jack Wilson had been beaten to death. However, the baseball bat found lying next the Wilson's body was not sent to Dr. Embry for analysis. The Huntsville police serology lab identified the blood found on the bat to be the same blood type as Jack Wilson but they didn't find any fingerprints. Next police turned to the information they received before the murder.
James Jones, Shelby County Sheriff: We had a concerned citizen in the county that overheard a conversation that Mr. White was uh.. had stated that he was going to Huntsville over the weekend to kill someone.
Narrator: Huntsville police drove to Vincent, Alabama, about a hundred miles away, to interview James White. He lived in a trailer on the outskirts of town. James White was a handyman at the Vincent Elementary School were his children attended classes. Betty Wilson's twin sister, Peggy Lowe, taught first grade at the same school. White had a past criminal record, a history of drug and alcohol abuse and a dishonorable discharge from the military. Police interrogated White for 10 hours and he admitted being inside the Wilson home the night of the murder.
James White: ..had been drinking for the last three or four days, popping pills, drinking, smoking dope and all I knew is I wanted to get away. Uh...they said the man got beat with a baseball bat but I don't remember a baseball bat being around nowhere but I do remember that I hit the man and he turned me loose...
Narrator: Before police returned to Huntsville, they searched White's trailer. They found a pair of shoes with a blood stain which later matched Jack Wilson's blood type. In the abandoned house next door police discovered a revolver which was registered to Betty Wilson and in James White's truck a book of poetry from the Huntsville Public Library which had been signed out by Betty Wilson. Police arrested James White and charged him in the murder of Jack Wilson. Then a shocking disclosure, James White told police that Betty Wilson and her twin sister, Peggy Lowe, had hired him to kill Jack Wilson for $5,000.
Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe were immediately picked up for questioning. Both denied that they were involved in any way but based on White's accusations both were arrested. There was no forensic evidence linking them to the murder. Peggy Lowe told police she knew White since they both worked at the same school but the only link police had between White and Betty Wilson was the gun and the library book.
Betty Wilson: The police came. They jerked me around. They wouldn't even let me put my clothes on. They jerked my watch off my arm and threw it across the room saying, "You won't need this where you're going."
Narrator: As police looked for a motive, rumors surfaced about the unconventional relationship between Jack and Betty Wilson. They lived separate lives with separate bedrooms and not much of a sexual relationship. Betty admitted to police she had a number of affairs while married to Jack. Jack Wilson suffered from Crohn's disease and wore an ostomy bag which Betty admitted to friends she found repulsive and in the mind of police perhaps the strongest motive of all, Betty Wilson would receive the bulk of her husband's six million dollar estate. The star witness, James White, without whom there was no case against the sisters cut a deal with the prosecution and even had it in writing. He would implicate Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe in return for a reduced sentence. The sisters were tried separately. Betty Wilson went on trial first. According to James White's testimony and the prosecution's interpretation of the autopsy findings, James White entered the Wilson's home and waited in one of the upstairs bedrooms. Jack Wilson arrived home around 5:00 p.m. and neighbors saw him stepout to the front yard to hammer a campaign poster [Tim Morgan D.A.] into the lawn with a baseball bat. He then walked back inside the house and headed upstairs to his bedroom. White says he changed his mind and decided not to murder Wilson but as he was leaving encountered him in the hallway. The two struggled. White grabbed the baseball bat and struck Wilson in the head. He was then stabbed twice in the abdomen. White said Betty Wilson met him outside and drove him to his truck. However, police forensic experts found no evidence of White's hair, clothing fibers or even a fingerprint inside Betty Wilson's car. Lacking any strong physical evidence, the prosecution attacked Betty Wilson's character and they subpoenaed one of her ex-lovers [a black man] to testify about their adulterous relationship. The jury found Betty Wilson guilty of capital murder and she was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.
Charlie Hooper, Betty's Attorney: I think Mrs. Wilson was convicted on...on her personal conduct. She couldn't have been convicted on the evidence. The physical evidence was not there to support it.
Narrator: The prosecution's next task was to try Betty's twin sister, Peggy Lowe, for the same crime. All the witnesses and evidence against her would be similar but what they hadn't bargained for was the testimony of a defense expert who would drop a forensic bomb shell....that Jack Wilson was not murdered in the way the prosecution said.
Eight months after Betty Wilson was convicted of murder for hire her twin sister, Peggy Lowe went on trial for the same crime. This time the prosecution couldn't attack the defendant's lifestyle. Peggy Lowe was a first grade school teacher. She and her husband were active in the local church and she was even the lead singer with the church choir. She had a long history of helping those in need.
Peggy Lowe: My friends did for me what I couldn't do for myself. When I could no longer cry, they cried for me. When I couldn't pray, they prayed for me.
Narrator: Peggy Lowe's attorneys had time to look for new evidence and to go over the testimony from her sister's trial. One of the things they noticed was that James White never admitted killing Jack Wilson.
James White: Detectives told me that I hit him with a baseball bat or I had hit him with something other heavy. Uh...and I think I told them that I kept reaching until I got something or other and I hit the man and he turned me loose and I left.
Narrator: That is just one of the things that bothered Peggy Lowe's defense team. The other was the crime scene.
Unidentified Speaker: After this man..uh beat this man so badly with a baseball bat that he broke his arms and stabbed him and beat his head terribly and there not be any blood splatter patterns.....
Narrator: The defense took the autopsy report and crime scene photos to Georgia and showed them to Atlanta's Deputy Medical Examiner.
Dr. Kris Sperry, Atlanta's Deputy Medical Examiner: ...and as someone is being struck with a blunt instrument to cause lacerations like this there's going to be a spray of blood that is not only spraying when the instrument strikes the head, strikes the arm but also when the instrument is raised back, there is going to be a spray pattern that will go upward on the wall and onto the ceiling and I was really struck by the fact that I could not really ascertain any significant spray pattern at all.
Narrator: Dr. Sperry agreed to testify at Peggy Lowe's trial. James White once again told his story but this time he was severely challenged by the defense.
David Cromwell Johnson, Peggy Lowe's Attorney: The whole case rested on a man's testimony. The man is a liar, a child molester, shot his own men in Viet Nam. He's been on psychedelic drugs. He's a drunk. He's a dope addict. He's a cocaine user....
Narrator: The other strong defense challenge came against the state medical examiner who did the autopsy.
David Cromwell Johnson, Peggy Lowe's Attorney: The story that the murder told didn't make sense. Uh..not only did they not make practical sense . They didn't make scientific sense and I believe that jury's like scientific evidence...
Narrator: But the most startling testimony was that of Dr. Kris Sperry.
Dr. Kris Sperry: When a blunt instrument of any sort is used to strike the head repeatedly, it is very, very common in fact that with repeated blows almost always you will have not only a transfer of blood from the laceration onto the instrument but hair as well and finding hair embedded in blood that's on...that's on the surface of the blunt instrument such as the bat would be very very significant.
Mickey Brantly, Homicide Investigator: There was no hair that I know of that was found on the bat .... I don't know of any but you know all they deal with is the blood typing on the bat.
Narrator: But Dr. Sperry went even further saying he doubted that the bat was the murder weapon at all and James White never admitted using the bat.
Dr. Kris Sperry: Looking at the injuries that Dr. Wilson had, I felt that the injury pattern, that is the lacerations and fractures beneath these lacerations were not of the type that would typically be caused by a baseball bat. Baseball bats cause crushing injuries of the head and will actually crush in the bones of the skull just like an egg was being crushed.
Narrator: The linear patterns of the wounds to Dr. Wilson scalp lead Dr. Sperry to conclude that it was more likely a fireplace poker that was used on Jack Wilson. This would also explain the puncture wound found on Dr. Wilson's shoulder.
Dr. Kris Sperry: This was rather unusual in and of itself but no one really had an explanation for that particular injury but when you think about a fireplace poker. Many of them are designed with a sort of hook or a point that sticks out at a 90 degree angle. Suddenly that also made sense and fit together with the whole pattern.
Narrator: The autopsy report indicated the Dr. Wilson's hyoid bone had been fractured. Sperry believed that Wilson had also been strangled.
David Cromwell Johnson, Peggy Lowe's attorney: That was just one terribly glaring point. Uh..If in..if in fact that he was strangled then either Mr. White had somebody else helping him or what he was telling about how the man died was not true.
Dr. Kris Sperry I came to the conclusion that based upon that information that he had been murder elsewhere and that his body had been brought to that location and had been placed there. Uh..most probably the body had been wrapped in tarpaulin or plastic or something like that.
David Valesk, Prosecutor: It didn't make a damn how Dr. Wilson got killed. The question was who did it and James White admitted to doing it whether he stomped him, beat him with a bat, beat him with a stick but that's the type of bull that experts try and sell to juries.
Mickey Brantley, Homicide Investigator: He had a theory that there was..uh three people or two to three people brought the body back to the scene and dumped it there on the scene which was..uh.. utterly to me ridiculous.
David Valeska, Prosecutor: What killed Dr. Wilson was not the issue. The issue was did Betty Wilson and Peggy Lowe conspire with James White to kill Jack Wilson and Sperry brings in this photograph of something that happened in a book and shows the jury and says, "Oh, it couldn't have been a bat." What difference does it make? Dr. Wilson was beaten to death.
Narrator: But to convict Peggy Lowe, the jury would have to believe James White and if Dr. Sperry was correct the murder didn't happen the way James White said.
There were now two scenarios has to how Jack Wilson was murdered. Neighbors saw him on the front lawn around 5:00 p.m. hammering the political poster into the ground with a baseball bat. Using Dr. Sperry's interpretation he was then attacked by at least two individuals. During the struggle Wilson's hyoid bone is fractured. He was struck at least nine times in the head and at least once in the shoulder creating the puncture wound to the back of his neck. Then stabbed twice in the abdomen. The body was then place in the tarp and carried into the house, dropped onto the wooden floor and then turned 180 degrees. His head brushed against the doorway molding leaving a blood stain and a swirling blood pattern on the floor. They smeared blood onto the bat so it would look like the murder weapon. Took the fireplace poker and knife and fled.
The jury deliberated less than two hour.
Courtroom: Ladies and gentlemen have you arrived at a verdict? Yes. Will you read the verdict for me please. We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.
Betty Wilson: It was such a relief. I cried so hard. People thought she had gotten a guilty verdict but they were tears of joy and relief.
Narrator: But how could Doctors Sperry and Embry come to such different conclusions. We asked two board certified forensic pathologists to review the autopsy report as well as the crime scene photographs. They both agreed the autopsy Dr. Embry performed was flawless. It just wasn't enough.
Forensic science begins at the crime scene and the fact that police and the prosecution never showed Dr. Embry the bat or the crime scene photographs until just a few days before the first trial was a serious mistake. Both experts suggested that a thorough forensic examination of the crime scene might have revealed the cause of the puncture wound on Wilson's shoulder but the two experts disagreed about the bat. One was bothered by the lack of Jack Wilson's hair on it. The other wasn't. Dr. Walter Hofman feels the lack of a thorough forensic crime scene examination opened the door for the defense.
Dr. Walter Hofman: If the law enforcement agency doesn't ask for help and does it all on its own and they ship the body in for autopsy, a certain vital amount of information has been lost. You lose the ability to really evaluate the scene as it is found in a virginal state before anyone has walked around and done anything with it.
Narrator: Dr. Embry who performed the autopsy on Jack Wilson didn't visit the crime scene. Although Dr. Embry continues to standby his findings, he declined the opportunity to defend those findings for this program.
After Peggy Lowe's acquittal, James White recanted his confession. In a signed affidavit he said he never met or even spoke with Betty Wilson that he was never propositioned by Peggy Lowe to murder Dr. Jack Wilson and that he made it all up but he now says he was coerced into signing that statement and has gone back to his original version. He remains in an Alabama prison eligible for parole in just a few years.
James White: I plead guilty to the case but I didn't kill the man but I knew about the situation. So in a sense I feel that I'm here for the right reason.
Jerry McDaniel, Private Investigator: James Dennison White would have sold his soul to get a good deal and avoid the electric chair. I believe that is exactly what he did.
Narrator: Two sisters. Two trials. The same forensic evidence. Yet two different verdicts. Betty Wilson has been in prison for the last four years (now six years) serving a life sentence with no chance for parole. Her first appeal was turned down. Another is pending. [but continually postponed] Peggy Lowe hopes for the day her sister will get a new trial.
Peggy Lowe: There is nobody there who cares anything about her. There's nobody to put their arms around her. There is no where for her to cry. There's no privacy. And the more things like that, I realize the more pain I feel for her.
Betty Wilson: It was a nightmare and it hasn't ended yet. I don't know that it will ever end. Not for me. Not for my children or for our precious grandchildren or my mother. It will never end. Never.