Jeremy Borden wrote in today’s Daily Progress about the arrest of Alvin Lee “Butch” Morris for the 1988 murder of Roger L. Shifflett. It sounded like a pretty straightforward story: Shifflett was found shot dead in his Southwind Gas and Grocery Store one morning, his till cleared of $135, and now the 67-year-old Morris has been charged with it. The only question was how Morris was caught. But now comes the bizarre twist, explained by Lisa Provence in The Hook: the accused murderer is married to the victim’s widow, having helped to raise three of the victim’s children.
Morris left his wife just weeks after the murder. In a small-town twist, former county sheriff Terry Hawkins’ sister was Morris’ first wife, and Hawkins says that Morris was a suspect from the very start. The Hook has labeled this the “replacement husband” case and, for lack of a better phrase, I’m sticking with it.
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