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The Anti-Defamation Leage and Leo Max Frank.
The ADL was founded in late September 1913 by B'nai B'rith, with Sigmund Livingston as its first leader. Its charter states,
"The immediate object of the League is to stop, by appeals to reason and conscience and, if necessary, by appeals to law, the defamation of the Jewish people. Its ultimate purpose is to secure justice and fair treatment to all citizens", alike and to put an end forever to unjust and unfair discrimination against and ridicule of any sect or body of citizens.
ADL headquarters are located in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The ADL has 25 regional offices in the United States, including a Government Relations Office in Washington, DC, as well as an office in Israel and staff in Europe. In its 2019 annual information Form 990, ADL reported total revenues of $92 million, the vast majority from contributions and grants. Its total operating revenue is reported at $80.9 million.
Initially, the league largely represented Midwestern and Southern Jews concerned with antagonistic portrayals of Jews in popular culture along with social and economic discrimination. In 1913, Atlanta B'nai B'rith President Leo Frank was convicted of the murder of a 13-year-old employee at a factory where he was superintendent; historians today generally consider Frank to have been innocent. Jewish leadership viewed Frank as having been wrongly prosecuted and convicted because of local antisemitism and agitation by some of the local press. The role that prejudice played in Frank's conviction was mentioned by Adolf Kraus when he announced the creation of the ADL. According to historians, ADL's early strategy would be to pressure newspapers, theaters, and other businesses seen as defaming or discriminating against Jews; proposed methods included boycotts and pressuring advertisers, and it also considered demanding prior reviews of theater productions for antisemitism. After Georgia's outgoing governor commuted Frank's death sentence to life imprisonment in 1915, a lynch mob abducted Frank from prison and killed him. Frank was granted a posthumous pardon from Georgia in 1986 after ADL requests.
In an early campaign, ADL and allied groups pressured the automaker Henry Ford, who had published virulently antisemitic propaganda. In the 1930s, ADL worked with the American Jewish Committee (AJC) to oppose pro-Nazi activity in the United States. It opposed McCarthyism during the Cold War and campaigned for major civil rights legislation in the 1960s. A pro-Israel group, ADL has sought to counter views that are critical of the occupation of the Palestinian territories and sympathetic towards the Palestinians, bringing it into conflict with activists, some of whom have argued that the ADL's new antisemitism concept conflates antisemitism with anti-Zionism. In the 1980s, it was reportedly involved in propaganda against Nelson Mandela of South Africa before embracing him the following decade. The ADL did not recognize the Armenian genocide until 2007, instead calling it a "massacre" and an "atrocity" in years prior.
In 1973, Nathan Perlmutter took the role of national director, serving until his death in 1987. Under the tenure of Perlmutter and his 1978–1983 co-director of interreligious affairs Yechiel Eckstein, the ADL shifted its approach to the evangelical Christian movement. Through the 60s and early 70s, the ADL conflicted with the American Jewish Congress over their collaborations with evangelicals. Perlmutter and Eckstein changed this orientation, increasing collaborations and developing long-lasting lines of communication between the ADL and evangelical groups. This collaboration continued under the Foxman administration.
Since the 1970s, the ADL has partnered with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field offices, sharing information learned from the monitoring of extremist groups.
ALT Leo Max Frank.
ALT ADL National Director Benjamin Epstein stands to the right of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy at a meeting at the White House on June 22, 1963.
ALT Google Trends for the Anti-Defamation Leage in the past 30 days.
He isn't a rocket scientist. But he does like to build models and fly them around in his bedroom during his spare time.
He has been known to send gift supplies to the neighboring countries more than often. The North Korean people believe it is medicine and food but are unsure exactly.
COLLIN COUNTY, TX 1ST LEGAL DOUBLE HANGING. (1872)
After a few short prayers, of which the prisoner took no notice, the Sheriff advanced and announced that the prisoner had NOTHING TO SAY, he having positively declined to utter a single word. Ballew was then informed that the time had come when the penalty of the law had to be carried out, when he got down from the railing upon which he had been perched, advanced toward the Sheriff with a sneer, and, with such devil-tnay care indifference as has never before been read of in the antials of crime, he lowered his head in order to allow the sheriff to property adjust the rope. the black cap had been drawn over his head and all necessary arrangements having been made, the Sheriff knocked the prop from under the trup, and the heartless coundrel, Stephen Ballew, was swinging in mid-air, paying the penalty for the cold-blooded murder of James P. Golden. The fall FAILED TO BREAK HIS NECK. After
and it was discovered by the convulsive struggles of the dare-devil that something was wrong. After swinging for fifteen minutes, during which time the prisoner made desperate efforts to free himself, it was ascertained that it admit air into his lungs. Then came a trying time for the Sheriff and his posse. The assembled crowd were unanimously in favor A SECOND HANGING,
and were not slow in publicly demanding it. The voices of the cattle drovers and backwoodsman could be heard above the noise and confusion, shouting "Give the villain another dose!" "Shoot him, Cut his throat" and numerous other ejaculations of similar tenor. Women fainted and a scene of THE WILDENT CONFUSION ensned. Sheriff Bush regained the platform, and by a determined effort of his assistants the half hung man was raised, the noose tightened, and amid the shouts of the more hardened attendants Ballew was swung to the winds the second time, and in thirty minutes he was successfully hung and officially declared dead by the physician.
ALT 1872 photo of Stephen Ballew taken by McKinney photographer James Harman // courtesy historicmckinney.wordpress.com
ALT Collin County Sheriff and Plano resident William Nelson Bush // courtesy Findagrave.com
ALT First Christian Church Mckinney Texas. (The location used for the trial of Stephen Ballew, as the 2 room log courthouse at the time was too small)
Late in the spring of 1872, several of the men of Plano saddled up their horses and set out for McKinney, to witness the first legal hanging in Collin County.
News of the shocking murder made headlines across the nation. Posing as a rich buyer of horses and mules, Ballew had befriended the family of John Golden, a prosperous farmer in Quincy, Illinois. Ballew charmed them with his fancy clothing and his tales of his adventures as a Confederate soldier. He courted John’s daughter, Clara, plying her with “an ivory penknife, several bolts of fine silk, and wooly French poodle dog,” according to a book of vintage true crime stories. At the Golden family’s invitation, Ballew lived with them for months.
It seems no one could resist Ballew’s charms. Clara consented to marry him. John agreed to loan him several thousand dollars for a business venture in Texas. James decided to go along for the journey. The two young men left the Golden house with a horse and wagon and a large trunk, and eventually traveled to Collin County, where Ballew ostensibly planned to sell the livestock.
While camped about three miles outside of McKinney, Ballew shot young James Golden in back of the head and bludgeoned him with an axe. He buried Golden in a shallow grave.
Ballew then wrote a letter to the Golden family, claiming that the young Golden had stolen all the profits of the venture and disappeared. Mortified, the family welcomed Ballew when he returned to Illinois, alone and supposedly broke. Ballew married Clara in a quiet ceremony, wearing the boots he’d stolen from young James. The elder Golden felt responsible for the trip’s bad end and offered the young couple a farm as a wedding gift.
But then the Goldens began noticing clues that didn’t add up. Ballew was wearing a shirt that belonged to James. He began behaving oddly. As the older Mr. Golden testified:
“Whenever my absent son’s name was mentioned he would always let on he had taken a chill; seemed very nervous and excited whenever my son was mentioned; always wanted a light in his room at night; said he could not rest without a light in his room; would get up in the night and walk the floor and smoke. Before Ballew left with my son, he could rest as well as any of the family.”
Only one person had never succumbed to Ballew’s charms: William Ewing, the Golden family attorney and the county’s district attorney. Suspicious, Ewing did his own detective work. He concluded that James Golden had written his last letter from McKinney and wrote letters to law enforcement agencies in the area, including Sheriff Bush in Plano, asking for news that might shed light on Golden’s disappearance.
When a farmer in McKinney found human remains in his field a few months later, Sheriff Bush answered Ewing’s letters. Sheriff Bush traveled to Illinois to bring Ballew back to Texas for trial. Collin County’s courthouse couldn’t hold all the spectators for the trial of the “Quincy Fiend,” so it was moved to the First Christian Church. The prosecuting attorney noted the cruelty of Ballew’s crime toward the family. “Because the family had been friends, tried and true, to this prisoner when he was left an orphan, friendless and homeless, we find them today grieving over their murdered son and brother—a distracted and miserable family,” he said. James Golden’s skull and bones were presented to the elder Golden in the courtroom, who identified them by bits of clothing still clinging to the bones.
Fifty years later, the McKinney Courier-Gazette published the reminisces of Josh Herndon, an eyewitness to the hanging. On the morning of the execution, Herndon recalled, Ballew ate a hearty breakfast and rode to the gallows on his coffin while smoking a cigar. He wore a nice suit of clothes, a big white hat and fine shoes he took pains not to muddy as he mounted the gallows. Ballew took off his hat and handed it to Sheriff Bush, saying, “Here, Captain, lay my hat over there.”
"A Border Patrol agent observed a sports utility vehicle circumvent a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint located on Interstate 10 approximately 23 miles west of Las Cruces, New Mexico, on April 2'nd, 2023, and began to follow. After a vehicle pursuit, the driver exited the vehicle and was confronted by Border Patrol agents. After walking for several minutes with the driver while attempting to persuade him to stop, an agent moved in to attempt to physically restrain the driver. The driver advanced to meet the agent, who fell to the ground, swinging a wooden club multiple times and striking the agent on the ground. The driver struck the agent a second time as he stood over him and was preparing to do so again when three other agents fired their service weapons, striking the driver.
This use of deadly force is being investigated by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility. OPR has referred initial investigative information to the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Mexico, which has not yet commented on this matter. As part of its investigation, OPR will assess compliance with our policies on the part of the Border Patrol agents involved in this incident. At the conclusion of these reviews, CBP’s National Use of Force Review Board will review the incident to determine whether the Border Patrol Agent followed CBP policy regarding the permissible use of force. The results of the review board’s proceedings will be released publicly on CBP’s website. A thorough investigation is important to us, our workforce and the public, and we will take action as determined appropriate by our review process."
On May 18, at approximately 9:04 p.m., the US Border Patrol Tucson Sector Tactical Operations Center advised the Ajo Border Patrol Station that the Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department was requesting assistance from Border Patrol agents to respond to a shots fired call west of the Menagers Dam Village. The police department requested agents meet at the local recreation center prior to responding to the location. The Ajo Border Patrol Station transmitted a request over service radio for any available units to respond at approximately 9:06 p.m. Several agents responded acknowledging the request for assistance at approximately 9:07 p.m. An agent transmitted over service radio that agents were responding with the police department at approximately 9:21 p.m.
Agents transmitted over service radio they had arrived at the recreation center with the police department at approximately 9:27 p.m. Agents coordinated with the police department officer at the recreation center and were provided additional information at approximately 9:31 p.m. The officer advised agents that initial reports indicated shots had been fired in the vicinity of a named individual’s residence west of their location.
The officer requested agents follow him to the location at approximately 9:32 p.m. Agents followed behind the officer in their government vehicles for approximately two minutes and seventeen seconds.
The officer and agents arrived and parked their vehicles near the individual’s residence at approximately 9:35 p.m. Responding agents and the police officer spread out while searching for the man.
Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility special agents reviewed video footage of the event. The officer and agents encountered an individual approximately 103 meters northwest of their parked vehicles, outside of a residence, at approximately 9:39 p.m. The individual threw an object toward the officer as they approached the structure which landed a few feet from the officer’s feet. Shortly after the individual threw the object, he abruptly extended his right arm away from his body and three agents fired their service weapons striking the individual several times. The individual fell to the ground, and the officer and agents slowly approached the man.
Agents broadcasted over service radio that shots had been fired at approximately 9:40 p.m. Agents continued to approach the individual and secured him. Agents checked for a pulse, began medically assessing the man’s condition and requested emergency medical services at approximately 9:41 p.m.
Agents began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation at approximately 9:45 p.m. after they were unable to detect a pulse from the individual. Agents requested air life medical evacuation for the man at approximately 9:46 p.m. Agents were advised there was no air life evacuation available due to inclement weather at approximately 9:48 p.m. Agents continued CPR until a Border Patrol emergency medical technician on scene telephonically contacted a physician at St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson, Arizona. An agent transmitted over the service radio that the individual had no pulse at approximately 9:52 p.m. and agents continued to administer CPR.
The physician at St. Mary’s Hospital pronounced the man deceased at 10:06 p.m. The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office assumed custody of the man’s remains pending an autopsy.
The decedent was identified as an adult male citizen of the United States. The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on May 19 and further information on the cause and manner of death will be released by that office at the conclusion of their review.
The agents involved in the incident are on administrative leave, pursuant to standard practice at this point in an investigation following a use of deadly force. All three agents who discharged their weapons and seven additional agents activated their body worn cameras during the incident. CBP is committed to expeditious release of the body worn camera footage of this incident as soon as is appropriate to do so without impacting the ongoing law enforcement investigation, in line with the May 25th, 2022, Executive Order on Advancing Effective Accountable Policing and Criminal Justice Practices to Enhance Public Trust and Public Safety.
Leo Max Frank (April 17, 1884 – August 17, 1915) was an American factory superintendent who was convicted in 1913 of the murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan, in Atlanta, Georgia. His trial, conviction, and appeals attracted national attention. His kidnapping from prison and lynching two years later, in response to the commutation of his death sentence, became the focus of social, regional, political, and racial concerns, particularly regarding antisemitism and racism. Today, the consensus of researchers is that Frank was wrongly convicted and Jim Conley was likely the actual murderer.
Born to a Jewish-American family in Texas, Frank was raised in New York and earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University before moving to Atlanta in 1908. Marrying in 1910, he involved himself with the city's Jewish community and was elected president of the Atlanta chapter of the B'nai B'rith, a Jewish fraternal organization, in 1912. At that time, there were growing concerns regarding child labor at factories. One of these children was Mary Phagan, who worked at the National Pencil Company where Frank was director. The girl was strangled on April 26, 1913, and found dead in the factory's cellar the next morning. Two notes, made to look as if she had written them, were found beside her body. Based on the mention of a "night witch", they implicated the night watchman, Newt Lee. Over the course of their investigations, the police arrested several men, including Lee, Frank, and Jim Conley, a janitor at the factory.
On May 24, 1913, Frank was indicted on a charge of murder and the case opened at Fulton County Superior Court, on July 28. The prosecution relied heavily on the testimony of Conley, who described himself as an accomplice in the aftermath of the murder, and who the defense at the trial argued was, in fact, the perpetrator of the murder. A guilty verdict was announced on August 25. Frank and his lawyers made a series of unsuccessful appeals; their final appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States failed in April 1915. Considering arguments from both sides as well as evidence not available at trial, Governor John M. Slaton commuted Frank's sentence from capital punishment to life imprisonment.
The case attracted national press attention and many reporters deemed the conviction a travesty. Within Georgia, this outside criticism fueled antisemitism and hatred toward Frank. On August 16, 1915, he was kidnapped from prison by a group of armed men, and lynched at Marietta, Mary Phagan's hometown, the next morning. The new governor vowed to punish the lynchers, who included prominent Marietta citizens, but nobody was charged. In 1986, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a pardon in recognition of the state's failures—including to protect Frank and preserve his opportunity to appeal—but took no stance on Frank's guilt or innocence. The case has inspired books, movies, a play, a musical, and a TV miniseries.
The African American press condemned the lynching, but many African Americans also opposed Frank and his supporters over what historian Nancy MacLean described as a "virulently racist" characterization of Jim Conley, who was Black.
His case spurred the creation of the Anti-Defamation League and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan.
Daedalus and Icarus: The Myth
The story of Daedalus and Icarus begins way before the birth of Icarus. Daedalus, as the myth goes, was an unparalleled sculptor. In one of Plato’s dialogues, Socrates mentions a legend that Daedalus’ sculptures had to be tied down, otherwise they would run away. Daedalus’ art was so lifelike that it ended up coming to life. It is no coincidence that many ancient wooden cult images in multiple Greek temples were said to be his works. Pausanias, the travel writer of the second CE century, saw quite a few of these images that were believed to belong to the legendary sculptor and wrote that they captured a sense of the divine.
But Daedalus was more than a skillful artist. He was also an inventor. The ancients attributed a series of inventions to him, the most important being carpentry. In a sense, Daedalus was the mythical equivalent of a Renaissance man.
However, there was a darker side of Daedalus. The inventor was the greatest of his era, but there was a brief time when he faced serious competition. According to Ovid (Metamorphoses VIII.236-259), Daedalus was born in Athens (other sources claim he was Cretan) and had quickly become a respectable citizen due to his skill and intellect. His sister believed that her son, Talos (in other sources, he can also be found as Calos or Perdix), could greatly benefit by studying next to his uncle in Athens. Little did she know.
Daedalus took Talos and taught him everything he knew. The boy was young and quite witty. He quickly took in all the knowledge and began applying it to the world around him. Daedalus soon realized that the boy was not simply smart. It was smarter than him. If Talos continued this way, Daedalus would be completely overshadowed by him. So, he threw Talos off the cliff of the Acropolis. The goddess Athena saved Talos by transforming him into a bird that received his mother’s name, Perdix. Still, Daedalus was tried for this act and banished from Athens.
After his expulsion from Athens, Daedalus found refuge in the court of King Minos, the mythical king of Crete. Minos ruled the seas with a mighty fleet that had no equal. With Daedalus in his court, he became an unstoppable force.
During his time in the court of Minos, Daedalus had the chance to start over. It was there that he got a son of his own by a slave called Naukrate. The boy’s name was Icarus. There is absolutely no information about Icarus’ early life nor his relationship with his father.
Daedalus could have lived peacefully in Crete. However, one day, he was suddenly asked to offer his assistance to Pasiphae, Minos’ wife. Pasiphae wanted to accomplish one of the most despicable acts imaginable; mate with an animal, and more specifically, a bull. Everything had begun when Minos had asked Poseidon to send him a sign of divine favor in the form of a beautiful bull. The king promised that he would return the animal in the form of a sacrifice. The god granted Minos’ wish, and a uniquely beautiful bull appeared from the sea.
Minos was glad to see that Poseidon favored him but was not keen on sacrificing the animal. Instead, he decided to keep the bull and sacrifice another one in his place. Poseidon had honored his side of the deal, but Minos had not. Punishment was imminent and arrived in the form of a divine madness that took over Pasiphae. Minos’ wife became unable to control an impulse to mate with the bull that Poseidon had sent. Unable to perform the act as the bull had also turned disobedient, she asked for Daedalus’ help.
To solve Pasiphae’s problem, Daedalus carved a wooden cow on wheels. He then “took it, hollowed it out inside, sewed it up in the hide of a cow which he had skinned, and set it in the meadow in which the bull used to graze.” Pasiphae got inside the wooden effigy, which tricked the bull. The woman finally got what she wanted. From the union of human and animal, the Minotaur was born, half man and half bull. – at McKinney, TX
ALT Perdix, thrown off a tower by Daedalus, William Walker, after Charles Eisen, 1774-1778, British Museum, London
When Minos saw the terrible creature, he asked Daedalus to construct the Labyrinth in order to hide it there. Minos later used the Minotaur to maintain a reign of terror over Athens by asking for seven young women and seven young men from the city to be fed to the beast as tribute. Eventually, Theseus, an Athenian hero, came to Crete and slew the Minotaur with the help of Ariadne, Minos’ daughter. Some ancient writers even claim that Daedalus played a role and helped the couple in their quest for the Minotaur’s head.
According to Ovid, at some point, Daedalus grew to hate Crete and decided to return to his home. However, Minos was determined to keep the inventor near him, even if that meant imprisoning him. Other writers claim that Minos threw Daedalus in a cell after learning about his role in Pasiphae’s sin, Theseus’ escape, or simply to keep the mysteries of the Labyrinth a secret.
Life in prison was not easy, but at least Daedalus was not alone; his dear son Icarus was there with him. Still, Daedalus was desperate to escape from Crete.
“He [Minos] may thwart our escape by land or sea but the sky is surely open to us: we will go that way: Minos rules everything but he does not rule the heavens’.” (Ovid, VIII.183)
And so, Daedalus did what he knew best; he thought out of the box. The result of his creative fever would be an invention that would haunt the imagination of the western world for millennia until humanity conquered the sky. Daedalus studied the movements of birds and built a device mimicking them. He then laid down multiple feathers in a row from shortest to longest and tied them together using beeswax and thread. All this time, Icarus was playing with the feathers, laughing without realizing that he was touching what would bring about his tragic end.
When Daedalus finished, he wore the wings. Daedalus and Icarus stared at each other as the father flew in front of his son. He looked at Icarus and explained to him how he should use the wings and what he should avoid:
“Let me warn you, Icarus, to take the middle way, in case the moisture weighs down your wings, if you fly too low, or if you go too high, the sun scorches them. Travel between the extremes. And I order you not to aim towards Bootes, the Herdsman, or Helice, the Great Bear, or towards the drawn sword of Orion: take the course I show you!” (Ovid, VIII.183-235)
Daedalus’ warnings and instructions had a dramatic tone to them. He understood that this was no game but a trip that could end badly. The fear for his son’s life was overtaking him. Tears were leaving his eyes and his hands were shaking. Icarus’ reactions showed that he did not recognize the dangers of the flight. Yet, there was no other choice. Daedalus approached Icarus and gave him a kiss. Then he took to the sky again, leading the way, while teaching Icarus how to use his wings properly.
Daedalus and Icarus flew and left Crete behind them. Now they were out of Minos’ reach, but not safe. As they were approaching the island of Samos, Icarus turned arrogant. He felt an unconquerable urge to fly towards heaven, as close to the sun as he could. Ignoring his father’s warnings, he flew higher and higher, until the wax that held the wings together melted and he began falling at speed. Icarus tried to fly but his hands were now naked. The only thing left to him was to scream his father’s name.
“Father!”
“Icarus, Icarus where are you? Which way should I be looking, to see you?”, screamed Daedalus, but Icarus had already drowned into the dark sea, which would become known as the Icarian Sea.
“Icarus!”, he screamed again, but received no reply.
Finally, Daedalus found the body of his son floating amidst feathers. Cursing his inventions, he took the body to the nearest island and buried it there. The island where Icarus was buried was named Icaria.
Daedalus had just buried his son when a little bird flew next to his head. It was his nephew Talos, now called Perdix, who had returned to enjoy.
On June 20, 1992, four people were shot and killed during a drug deal at a residence on Brownstone Lane in Houston, Texas. Marion Dudley, Arthur Brown Jr., and Tony Dunson had gone to the home of Jose and Rachel Tovar to buy three kilograms of cocaine when they decided to rob them of their drugs and money. Six people were bound and shot by the trio inside the home. By the time police arrived, three victims were dead: Jose Tovar, Jessica Quiñones (seven months pregnant), and Frank Farias. Of the three survivors, one, Audrey Brown, later died in a hospital, making the total number of murder victims four. The remaining two survivors identified Marion Dudley, Arthur Brown Jr., and Tony Dunson as their attackers.
After the murders, the perpetrators fled the area. When they learned they were suspects in the murders and wanted by the police; they fled town. The trio bought a Jeep Cherokee and convinced two women to drive them from Birmingham, Alabama, to Louisville, Kentucky. Once there, they purchased plane tickets to Ohio under assumed names. They then left Columbus and headed north. Police found a sports vehicle they believed belonged to Dudley, but it offered them no new leads. The mothers of Dudley, Brown, and Dunson asked them to turn themselves in but believed they were innocent.
On July 8, 1992, Dudley and Dunson were captured at a mobile home in Fayetteville, North Carolina. On October 23, 1992, Brown was captured by members of the Tuscaloosa County Metro Homicide Unit at an apartment in Northport, Alabama.
Arthur Brown Jr. was executed in Texas on March 9th, 2023.
Marion Butler Dudley was executed in Texas on January 25th, 2006.
Arthur Brown Jr's last statement: "What is occurring here tonight is not justice, it’s murder of an innocent man for a murder that occurred in 1992. For the last 30 years I’ve proven my innocence to the courts, but the courts blocked me and then refused me access to the ballistics for 20 years; I’ve proven facts and ballistics to be false. It’s been 30 years now, the state refused to turn over evidence. Nine of the ten trial motions were filled for discovery of evidence, but each were denied each time. I asked for DNA, and I was denied DNA. My co-defendant was executed in 2006, and if I’m innocent, he was innocent, and they killed an innocent man, and the state doesn’t want the truth to come out. They won’t allow me DNA. The victim’s son identified on audio tape it wasn’t me or the co-defendant. The state hid the evidence so long and good that my own attorneys couldn’t find it. Tonight, Texas will kill a second innocent man for a murder that occurred in 1992. I have no further words. "
The murder of Gail Spencer took place in October 2012. Spencer worked for Bibb County law office Calder Pinkston & Associates in Macon. She was authorized to make wire transfers from the firm’s accounts.
Tracy Jones, a secretary at Calder Pinkston & Associates, devised a plan to hold Spencer hostage in her home while Jones transferred funds to her account in Spencer’s place.
Keith Dozier, Tracy Jones, and Brett Kelly drove to Spencer’s home. Jones created a diversion by asking Spencer if she could enter to use the bathroom, get something to drink, and use the phone. Dozier and Kelly entered the house and held Spencer hostage while Courtney Kelly picked Jones up and drove her to work.
Jones transferred about $885,000 from Pinkston’s escrow account into three of Courtney Kelly’s accounts.
Brett Kelly and Dozier were left at the home with Spencer.
Brett Kelly sexually assaulted and suffocated Spencer while Dozier stood and watched.
Spencer’s body was discovered the next day after neighbors called the police after noticing their dog, who Spencer was supposed to let inside, was found outside.
A medical examination of Spencer’s body found that she had been smothered, strangled, and sexually assaulted.
Courtney Kelly fled after receiving the money in her accounts.
Jones waited over a holiday weekend until Tuesday to wire transfers for $245,000 and $163,000 so that she, Dozier, and Brett Kelly could split the money.
Dozier never received any share of the nearly $1.5 million before the four were taken into custody.
Dozier, Jones, Brett Kelly, and Courtney Kelly were indicted for malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, burglary, false imprisonment, theft by taking, and aggravated sodomy.
Keith Dozier admitted to being a willing participant in the burglary and false imprisonment and was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole plus 20 years in prison.
Michael Brett Kelly is currently 29 years old, serving life without parole in the Georgia Department of Corrections.
GDC ID: 1001202074
ALT Michael Brett Kelly (2023)
ALT Keith Dozier
ALT Tracy Jones (current)