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0:47

Oh,

0:48

hello, you show.

0:52

On a cool windy October day,

0:55

I met with Stoney Bert in Winder, Georgia.

0:58

right back where it all began.

1:01

Though we talk often, it

1:03

had been a while since I'd been to wander

1:05

or seen Stoney, and it felt

1:08

good to catch up. I turned

1:10

on my recorder and asked him what's

1:12

changed lately in his life.

1:14

Up

1:16

every moment

1:18

of every day with my family, with

1:20

life, with people.

1:23

My whole life has changed. It's

1:25

like a was half food

1:27

of a garbage can and somebody ebbed

1:29

me and watched me. That's half of you.

1:32

I've heard before I met you.

1:37

I

1:37

missed that. I've

1:39

really missed hanging out with this guy. They've

1:42

been through quite a bit together in the

1:44

three years or so since I first knocked on

1:46

his door and explained to him

1:48

what a podcast was. I

1:50

never get tired of hearing how his outlook

1:53

on life has changed for the better.

1:55

And unfortunately, not everything

1:58

in Sony's life has been perfect

1:59

lately.

2:01

No, sir. We've had our difficulties like

2:03

everybody. mainly the

2:05

distillery conflict, but other than that,

2:08

I can't report nothing bad.

2:10

The rock solid distillery that Stoney

2:12

and his son Stone opened at the end

2:15

of season one has been closed

2:17

since February of this year. I

2:19

asked him to tell me In a nutshell,

2:22

what was going on? The two minute

2:24

version. But, really,

2:26

what's I thinking? Because

2:28

Stoney can't tell any

2:30

story in only two minutes.

2:32

I told

2:34

her, I said, I know my apology. You

2:36

know my clothes had been

2:38

smiling. video, just like I

2:40

had the other three reasons. that the guy

2:42

was still in that basement so I can service

2:44

the forty four states. No. He

2:46

said you want get on the boat? It wasn't nine

2:48

hundred gallons of whiskey. Twenty

2:50

minutes later, this is basically

2:52

the gist of it. In season

2:54

one, Stoney told us that he and his

2:56

son's stone had made a deal

2:58

with the man who owns the building in which the

3:00

distillery sits. That deal

3:02

was essentially the birds would

3:04

put their sweat, money, and construction

3:07

skills into bringing the nearly dilapidated

3:10

building back to life. and

3:12

up to code in exchange for

3:14

signing a forty year lease on the building

3:16

and paying a small monthly rental fee.

3:19

If the distillery failed, they would

3:21

walk Clay, and the owner could do with the

3:23

building as he pleased. No hard

3:25

feelings. but that was before

3:27

the podcast brought people from

3:29

all over the country and world

3:32

to the distillery. Not long

3:34

after it was released, It seems

3:36

the property owner must have thought Stoney

3:38

was a rich man and coupled

3:40

with the rising real estate value of the

3:42

now usable building wanted to

3:44

back out of their deal, and wanted

3:46

Stoney and the distillery gone,

3:49

more wanted a lot more money. but

3:51

Stoney and his family weren't gonna

3:54

back down without a fight, and it

3:56

got pretty ugly.

3:59

For the next year, the men

4:02

had the women in that family. Right by

4:04

every day, sheep birds, cuss

4:06

customers. I mean, men that torture

4:08

us. there's over three hundred

4:10

Polish reports. They were called every

4:12

that it was a joke. So

4:15

we endured the next year of

4:17

that. And it went further

4:19

than just intimidation. There was

4:21

breaking and entering and theft involved,

4:24

and they actually had the utilities cut off

4:26

at the building. they cut the water

4:28

off. Broke in the building three times. These

4:30

time I called the police and said,

4:32

the water, we had to go send

4:34

to Dillard to get our water anyway.

4:36

you know, for our whiskey but the municipal that

4:39

we needed, you know, we had to get that

4:41

pumped into, but we carried

4:43

on. told it

4:45

that the government has lunch. I just

4:47

rigged up the drum systems using

4:49

my contractor skills and made it

4:51

work properly. And we carried on.

4:54

I

4:54

only know and know.

4:56

The harassment never stopped. It

4:59

was hell. So I've

5:01

never had deep that much call in my life. but

5:04

I had to endure that.

5:06

Things got so bad that Stoney

5:09

was arrested twice in one

5:11

day for defending his distillery

5:13

and his pride. And

5:16

it got worse. The newly

5:18

appointed city administrator for Winder

5:20

refused to renew the Bert's license to

5:22

produce alcohol because some of the

5:24

paperwork was incorrectly filled out.

5:27

bad locks were placed on the front doors

5:30

and the distillery was closed.

5:32

That was ten months ago. They've

5:35

been stuck in civil court ever

5:37

since. She refused to

5:39

offer well, I'm valid, raisin.

5:44

we applied again. She

5:46

refused it again. Why

5:48

the news asked her why

5:50

she'd give them a different reason. The Lammie

5:52

Journal asked why she gave them a dozen reasons.

5:55

Local newspapers picked up the story of

5:57

the feud between the two parties and

5:59

showcased it on the front page. causing

6:01

an outpouring of support for Stoney and

6:03

his family. The

6:05

people that's had bar none. All

6:07

law enforcement city can have been absolutely

6:11

good to us. It

6:13

is stripped of this new administrator.

6:17

All I want it's my son to get

6:19

his lives on that and not have one person happen

6:21

to stop it just because she It

6:24

really breaks my heart to hear this.

6:28

Knowing how hard this family has

6:30

worked for this dream of theirs, how

6:32

much Stoney loves meeting the people

6:34

that visit the distillery, and spinning

6:36

stories for them. And how much

6:38

his son's stone loves the

6:40

art of making whiskey. It

6:42

truly brings them joy. And

6:45

every time I've been there, the patrons

6:47

leave with a smile on their face

6:49

and a story or two to tell. Stoney

6:52

still greets people every week

6:54

who've traveled from far and wide to winder

6:56

just to meet him because he

6:58

doesn't want to let him down. He

7:01

shows them around town, gives

7:03

them rides in his Turino COBRA, and

7:05

recounts stories of his father's escapades.

7:09

So in this world showing

7:12

you do what you have to do to make a living.

7:15

Let's start and put a heads together. Construction's

7:17

always been good to this.

7:19

But meanwhile, I made the at

7:22

least ten and sometimes twenty five

7:24

families from out of town when they called me. at

7:26

the courthouse or the old jail or

7:28

some work, and I'll rather be showing the

7:30

sides and, you know, side of

7:32

the books and having the

7:35

same fun I did.

7:37

With any luck, it will all get

7:39

sorted out one way or the other, and

7:41

rock solid will reopen soon.

7:44

And when it does, I'll

7:46

be right there to

7:48

share a drink

7:49

with my

7:50

old friend, Stoney.

7:51

From

7:56

imperative entertainment, this

7:59

is season two of in the

8:02

red clay.

8:08

I was

8:10

outside waiting on my wife, the drink

8:12

is full of when I hear a bulletin,

8:15

how were the news that A

8:17

fifty year old pace in Durham saw

8:19

a bit of a sudden divert game.

8:21

That caught me here.

8:27

You've

8:27

heard many sides of Stoney, but

8:29

there's one that riles him up more than

8:31

anything. Someone speaking

8:33

negatively about his father,

8:36

especially when that's someone is

8:38

Billy Wayne Davis, Bert's

8:40

former friend and partner turned Informer.

8:42

When I turned on the TV and looked,

8:44

it

8:44

all come to me, some to the

8:47

effect that I retired GBI

8:49

agent talking to the son of Billy

8:51

Bird, who remembered his father talking about

8:53

being trapped in a snowstorm

8:55

connected back to the saying

8:57

what to the county if the people come see

8:59

me. And based on that, they want to

9:01

see Davis over a

9:03

period of 345 and two years.

9:05

I don't Immediately after hearing the

9:07

news of the Durham case, Stoney

9:09

says he took issue with how this all

9:11

came together. His father telling

9:13

his brother Shane about this murder

9:16

he had committed in North Carolina

9:18

so long ago. Because

9:20

my dad did not ever tell

9:23

nothing. I would ask you something sometimes myself all through

9:25

the years. He would say every time.

9:27

My damn son, I gotta buy you a bed

9:29

sheet for you news. He

9:31

didn't talk when he was a pastor. The

9:33

only time in his letter years,

9:36

twice, he told something, one

9:37

when his hand was shaking and it come out of

9:40

him. He said, Stone, you see the hand? If

9:42

you'll remember, this story Stoney

9:44

refers to is when Billy Burke was

9:46

paid to kill a man in Texas.

9:48

When he arrived, he found that the

9:50

man was elderly and had

9:52

Parkinson's disease and his hands were

9:54

shaking terribly. Billy said

9:56

that he didn't want to kill the man. and

9:58

felt sorry for him, but he'd been paid to

10:00

do the job. Besides at

10:03

that point, the man

10:05

had already seen his face he even told

10:07

the story about the man he killed in Texas. He

10:09

was shaking, this is bad, and that had been on him

10:11

all these years. And then he thought

10:13

about that man every morning, every night.

10:15

he'd give us all the lessons, what what

10:17

you do come back to you. Later

10:19

in life, Bert would develop Parkinson's

10:22

himself. and looking

10:24

down at his own shaking hands was

10:26

a constant reminder of the man he

10:28

had killed. He

10:30

felt this was God's way of

10:32

making him pay for his sins. You

10:34

reap what you sow.

10:36

And just before we

10:39

die, he let him

10:40

ask you one question. And that was about a local

10:42

insurance man here who didn't pay off when he

10:44

read that Tory no racing arrow.

10:46

Tom Locke

10:47

was a local insurance agent who refused

10:49

to pay out a claim on Billy

10:51

Bird's car after an accident. It

10:54

proved to be a fatal error in

10:56

judgment for the man. He blow

10:58

state

10:58

for a month to month, but he rebuilt, loathed

11:01

in the first day time lock was in

11:03

his desk. They finish up three times through the

11:05

suicide. Now that's the

11:07

only time he's ever talked

11:09

about in-depth murder. Other than the lock

11:11

went like Jim West and all

11:13

that and you about anyway. I

11:15

figured it out. He could not keep it

11:17

from me. The only thing he told

11:19

me outright was

11:21

if I got something wrong. As

11:23

far as talking about a murder out of

11:26

state, no. He

11:28

would not dare if not my

11:30

baby brother who he took on his

11:32

self, such guilt, but have to lead

11:34

him to h two. You

11:36

might wanna say my father three times in

11:38

the last eighteen years, he lived in.

11:40

And the last thing I did would do was tell

11:42

him was his youngest son.

11:44

about a damper. Stoney

11:46

felt that his father only shared

11:48

the things he did with him because

11:50

Billy saw young Stoney following in

11:52

his footsteps and tried at all

11:54

costs to prevent that. The things he

11:56

told were used as lessons of

11:58

what not to do.

11:59

it was an inability to discuss his

12:02

crimes otherwise. That's why I called

12:04

it rocks all at the boot. Everybody

12:06

associated with him died and not to call it the

12:08

old age. He never taught. never

12:11

taught much less to tell my brother,

12:13

and mess

12:13

up his young mind. I mean,

12:15

what father's gonna tell his young son

12:18

that he so so

12:20

eat up or self guilt by having to

12:22

leave, something horrible.

12:24

Stoney

12:24

tells me that with his brother, Shane,

12:26

things were different. Shane

12:29

wasn't old enough to idolize their

12:31

father the way that Stoney did at the time

12:33

of Billy's arrest because we'll

12:35

be the point. It wasn't

12:36

like when he told a stone, one of his hand

12:39

shaking, he he regretted killing that

12:41

man. If he had told shamed

12:43

that, It would have been no point

12:45

of bragging in possibility.

12:48

From

12:48

everything I do know about Billy

12:51

Bird, Stoney is right. He

12:53

was tight lipped, a true gangster

12:55

to the very end. By his own

12:57

admission to Stoney, Bert killed

12:59

over one hundred people. with law

13:01

enforcement being able to tie fifty

13:03

six of those to him, but he never

13:05

gave details of those murders

13:07

to anyone. or confessed

13:09

anything specific. Not to Bob

13:11

Ingram, the GBI agent involved

13:13

in the murder case he was eventually

13:15

sentenced to death for. Not to

13:17

Jim West, his greatest adversary

13:19

in law and not even

13:21

to share of Earl Lee who,

13:24

ironically, became his closest friend later

13:26

in life. taking him off of

13:28

death row to be baptized in a

13:30

public church. But

13:32

I

13:32

didn't know what that time Shane had been to

13:35

Bob Ingram. trained

13:37

to get him to help

13:39

him write a book

13:41

for my mother building her

13:43

up to be the true hero of

13:45

the family as far as us being raised,

13:47

money they're working four jobs and

13:49

getting married when she's twailed all of that

13:51

crap. I didn't know that.

13:53

The

13:53

few times he did admit to anything was

13:56

at his murder trial for the nineteen

13:58

seventy three deaths of Reed and

14:00

Lois Fleming, when he confessed

14:02

to the murders of Warren and Rosina

14:05

Matthews. Even then, that was

14:07

purely done to implicate and

14:09

take down his former partner in

14:11

crime, Billy Wayne Davis. he

14:13

told very little even to

14:15

Stoney. So does it

14:17

make sense that he would just blurt this

14:19

out to his youngest son Shane,

14:21

who was only two at a time his

14:23

arrest that he had committed a

14:25

triple homicide. What would be the

14:27

benefit in that for Billy

14:29

or for Shane? I've reached out

14:31

to Shane and have not heard back from him

14:33

yet. For Stoney, this

14:35

goes much deeper. Not only

14:37

does he not believe his father

14:39

ever told this story to his brother,

14:41

he also doesn't believe his father

14:43

was even at the Durham House.

14:46

Billy Sunday Bert had a way of doing

14:48

things. This just didn't

14:50

fit.

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what exactly is an

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Elizabeth Taylor.

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I know she was loud. I know she

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She was starting to try and

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Katie Perry, and Elizabeth Taylor

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has fascinated, inspired, and

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is the story of the original influencer.

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This is Elizabeth the

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first.

16:59

I heard

17:05

something that to put

17:07

bill of burst name on it is a

17:09

joke.

17:09

And

17:12

what Stoney means by this is

17:14

that his father wasn't as sloppy

17:16

in his work as what the Durham crime scene

17:18

would suggest. If the motive of the murder

17:20

was money, why would a bag of money be

17:23

left behind? Why

17:25

take silverware only to leave it in

17:27

the getaway car? By this

17:29

point in his criminal career, Bert would

17:31

not have been nervous committing this

17:34

crime. as would an amateur. And if they were almost

17:36

caught in the act, I have a feeling

17:38

that Billy Burke would have handled this situation

17:41

accordingly, leaving no witnesses.

17:43

I heard that they left a bag of money

17:45

in the house. I heard

17:47

that there was nothing

17:49

of any they

17:51

never found what got taken if

17:53

it was anything. I heard they

17:55

found silverware in the car, so that

17:57

told me unprofessionals.

18:00

Everything I

18:02

heard pointed to, it hit

18:04

by somebody, and the

18:07

dumbness had done it, got a silverware

18:09

and left them money. That wouldn't bill the

18:11

burt.

18:11

That wouldn't bill

18:13

the burt worked. He didn't mess with

18:15

him. So

18:15

he wouldn't even take jury off a person.

18:19

No.

18:19

no No. Bill

18:20

Herbert was a good what he does. So

18:22

I'm not bragging about that. Let's face it.

18:24

The man killed for fifteen years and they

18:26

couldn't touch him over a hundred people. he don't

18:28

still silver and he does not spend the

18:31

time to drown three

18:33

people when he just kill them. By

18:35

nineteen

18:35

seventy two, Billy Sunday

18:38

Burt was a killing machine. Cold,

18:41

whole calculated

18:42

methodical. that's an article He

18:44

was a professional hitman with one

18:46

hell of

18:47

a resume. He was

18:48

extremely good at his job,

18:51

There was a bag of

18:53

money laying in plain sight. Yet, the

18:56

intruders opted for the small amount of

18:58

money in the Durham's wallets and

19:00

a few pieces of silverware, which

19:02

again were left in the getaway

19:04

car anyway. That doesn't sound like

19:06

Bert, And why were the Durham's bodies

19:09

placed almost strategically in

19:11

the bathroom leaning on one

19:13

another almost as if placed like

19:15

that intentionally? Virginia

19:18

died by strangulation, yet

19:20

she was placed leaning over the

19:22

bathtub as if she were drowned

19:24

as Bryce and Bobby were it feels more

19:26

personal than professional to

19:28

me. As I've reviewed

19:30

the crime scene photos and reports,

19:33

This really does not appear to have

19:35

been done by professional contract

19:39

killers. People who'd been doing this

19:41

for years And while the

19:43

brutality of this crime does

19:45

bear a strong resemblance to the Fleming

19:47

murders in RINs, Georgia, for which

19:49

Bert was convicted, Bert denied

19:51

taking any part in that, claiming it was

19:53

Davis along with Dixie mafia

19:55

members Bobby Gene Gattice and

19:57

Charlie Reid, who were responsible. And

20:00

another big question. Stoney takes aim

20:02

at Davis's claim that he was

20:04

the driver in the Durham

20:07

hit. Say in

20:08

that Davis, as a driver

20:10

of anything. As as as as as

20:13

as saying, Billie Burton was a

20:15

driver. Did the contrary

20:17

show nobody ever killed

20:19

in that whole group, nobody answered my father.

20:21

He'd done the killing. He knew

20:23

how to do it. He made it short,

20:25

sweet to the poor. and Davis. But

20:27

Davis wasn't part of the group. Then

20:30

Davis

20:30

was his distance. I mean, he

20:32

did do the rent case. He even probably gave

20:34

us did something a bit with

20:36

this. and he was very tight that would

20:38

do that dural

20:40

thing, that kind of thing. But

20:42

the state

20:42

papers drove a car in any crime, if

20:45

he was here, it pisses him

20:47

all because that would

20:49

mean he wouldn't j said James. He was a

20:51

flunky. What

20:52

Stoney is saying is why would

20:54

someone of Billy Wayne Davis's intellect be

20:57

reduced to the role of driver?

20:59

Only the dumbass who drove cars,

21:01

lot by bigetis. surely

21:03

his skills would be far better served

21:06

inside the Durham's home where every

21:08

second and every move that

21:10

was made counted.

21:11

No. Davis considered himself

21:14

equal my father in all ways. He admired

21:16

my father because my father put together

21:18

such a team. they just didn't have

21:20

no teeth yet himself. What he did

21:23

have was financial backing.

21:25

He had a razing. He didn't come up real. He

21:27

had a influential he

21:29

was in touch with all lawyers. You know,

21:31

money is a common denominator

21:34

to friendship.

21:36

So what Davis had my father did was money from

21:38

the get go and influence family. And

21:42

what they sent each other, he recognized him

21:44

my father or somebody that could do things, he

21:46

couldn't, not

21:47

only only

21:48

athletically impossible to

21:52

other people, but the set of for lack of

21:54

letter word balls that he'd never seen

21:56

before. He not

21:57

only met his match, he met his better.

21:59

Him and my father were

22:01

partners on something, but he was never involved in

22:03

my dead with the boys, their

22:05

thing. Never. Stoney is

22:08

convinced Davis was never

22:10

even there.

22:11

No. I don't think

22:12

he was, and I

22:15

would

22:15

bet hard on

22:16

Monday ten to one he was not.

22:19

simply because

22:22

Davis

22:22

never tailgated nothing.

22:24

Davis

22:25

is always

22:27

the want to

22:27

set it up from information

22:30

that people that my dad could not

22:32

get. And I say that for

22:34

professionals, lawyers, and politicians. are

22:37

high of the letter information

22:39

from other criminals.

22:40

So who hired the alleged

22:43

hit on the Durham family? The

22:45

case was closed without that question

22:47

being answered by law

22:49

enforcement, and Davis did not provide

22:51

that answer in his confession. We

22:53

don't know if it was orchestrated by

22:55

information coming from someone of higher

22:57

social standing, maybe over

22:59

a business deal gone wrong with

23:01

the Durham's, or a common thug simply

23:04

looking for an easy payday. Stoney

23:06

thinks

23:07

Davis cut a deal for his

23:09

confession. what

23:09

I'll tell you a bit to

23:12

how you see it and how that

23:14

anybody else sees it. But to me, it's

23:16

absolute

23:17

fruit. When

23:20

I

23:20

first looked into Billy Wayne Davis

23:22

in season one, I tried to contact

23:24

him with the intent of interviewing him.

23:27

I wrote him a letter, sent it to the Central

23:29

State Prison in Georgia where he was serving

23:31

out his life sentence. I

23:34

never heard response. Months later,

23:37

I worked with retired Barrow County Sheriff

23:39

Joe Robinson and Walton County

23:41

Sheriff Joe Chapman, and they

23:43

went to interview regarding the Fleming murder case.

23:46

Before they met with Davis, Stoney

23:48

had asked if they'd present him with one

23:50

of the books he'd written. Stoney

23:52

included a letter saying, he had

23:54

forgiven Davis for turning on his father and that

23:56

there were no hard feelings. Davis

23:59

refused the peace offering out

24:01

of fear that having the book could get him

24:03

killed. Somewhere in the they get made a deal

24:05

with Davis to say, okay, I was driving.

24:09

that

24:09

he got a lot. If

24:11

you consider a nice bed, better

24:13

food it a lot, which is a big

24:16

deal. You

24:19

remember how scared he was in the making state

24:21

prison during the interview, the two sheriff's don't mean

24:23

you don't park it. He wouldn't even take the booth.

24:25

fear of a a conflict with it and killed

24:28

him. He wouldn't even

24:28

let him leave the book with a warrant because he did

24:30

trust that sum of this. Those are his words.

24:33

Even as an elderly seventy eight year

24:35

old inmate, Davis was still

24:37

living in fear for his safety

24:40

and his life. I guess it's true

24:43

what they say. In

24:45

prison, no one likes a

24:47

snitch. But right around the time of

24:49

his confession, Davis was moved to a

24:51

medical prison in Augusta,

24:53

Georgia. It's safer, better

24:56

conditions, better care, and

24:58

better food. Stoney

25:00

thinks Davis made a deal to get into

25:02

a prison with better living conditions

25:04

since he really has no hope

25:06

of getting out. If you've been

25:09

in a state prison for decades eating

25:11

low grade prison food,

25:13

a comfortable bed and good hot might

25:16

go a long way to sway you into

25:18

cooperating. As part of his

25:20

confession, Davis was not

25:22

charged for the role he played in

25:24

the Durham murders. So for

25:26

him saying, he done the getaway, drove

25:29

the getaway call. My daddy and

25:31

Bobby Geddes and Charlie done

25:33

the murder. is obvious

25:35

to

25:35

anybody in any common sense. I

25:38

do a deal for him for what

25:40

he got. Stoney's reasoning as

25:42

to why he believes Davis would enter

25:44

into a deal with authorities because

25:46

Davis has done it before.

25:49

Flash back to nineteen seventy

25:52

four when Billy Bird had just been

25:54

convicted of bankruptcy and other

25:56

crimes because Davis flipped on

25:58

him. Davis made a deal with sheriff Earl Lee

26:00

and ATF special agent

26:02

Jim West that would allow him to be

26:04

paroled within months of the end of

26:06

the trial. Bert, on the other

26:08

hand, would be sentenced to two hundred

26:10

twenty five years in prison. But

26:11

because the judge ordered his sentence to be

26:14

run concurrently, He

26:16

ended up with a twenty five year

26:18

sentence in the end. He would be

26:20

eligible for parole in just seven or

26:22

eight years. and likely be out in

26:24

less than a decade, at which

26:26

time he surely would have sought

26:28

revenge on Davis, among others like

26:30

Jim West.

26:31

So Jim West

26:33

goes

26:33

the date, and he says, son, Miller Bird

26:35

had just got overturned.

26:38

I don't know

26:39

who's saying that he's going to kill first of many

26:42

years. You better come up with something

26:44

fast. And Davis did come up with

26:46

something to keep Billy Bird in

26:48

prison. for the rest of his life.

26:50

But

26:50

he made the deal with Davis right

26:53

there. If he would

26:55

tell everything and leave out

26:57

nothing, Every murder, they had any

27:00

knowledge. And every murder

27:02

the bill of murder done and was willing to testify

27:05

that fact. clear

27:07

himself of all of his murders.

27:09

He

27:09

would get complete immunity.

27:11

They made the deal.

27:13

He testified against my

27:16

father. It rins. It went down.

27:18

Burt, Bobby Jean Gattice and

27:20

Charlie Reed were convicted of the Fleming Murders

27:22

in nineteen seventy five, for

27:25

which Burt received the death

27:27

penalty. The idea of Davis

27:29

making a deal with Jim West, though, up

27:31

to this point, has not been backed

27:33

up with any proof. until

27:36

now. Stoney

27:38

has agreed to provide me with proof

27:40

that Davis made a deal with authorities.

27:43

a deal that sent Billy Bert to

27:45

death row. He has

27:47

never shared this with anyone before

27:50

now. I have the original transcript

27:52

of Jim West making the

27:54

deal with Davis Remington to

27:56

kill eighteen murders on half of which he

27:58

was under that one. only if

28:00

he complained and didn't leave out one

28:02

on himself

28:03

and ended the

28:05

billet burning as long as he would testify billet

28:08

burning. That

28:08

list is over fifty six long that

28:11

they just knew of. And

28:12

I don't even say that he left that out of this,

28:14

but he give Jim West a

28:16

list of his own. take care. And they took care of them

28:19

god. But the fifty six that he told

28:21

us that he knew my dad

28:23

don't was involved in. If

28:25

he left that one, that immunity went

28:27

away. I've got it. The

28:29

document, the deal, everything.

28:36

Influencer. It's a word that gets

28:38

tossed around a lot these days. There

28:40

is a woman who went the distance.

28:42

who broke ground as the first

28:45

true influencer by

28:47

living a remarkable life. Her

28:49

name, Elizabeth Taylor. I'm

28:52

Katie

28:52

Perry. This is

28:54

the story of the original

28:57

influencer. This is

28:59

Elizabeth the

29:00

first. Elizabeth the first,

29:02

the podcast, wherever

29:05

you listen.

29:06

Davis

29:12

revealed

29:12

details of fifty six murders

29:14

that Billy Bird had committed all

29:16

over the south, and Davis

29:18

himself admitted to eight teen

29:20

murders he had committed in order to receive immunity.

29:23

Stoney showed me the documents and

29:25

it is a disturbingly detailed

29:28

account by Davis.

29:31

So here they are. The

29:34

murders. The

29:35

aged yellow paper, Stoney, pulls

29:38

out is clearly from the seventies.

29:41

It's old and worn. The edges are

29:43

slightly frayed as you'd expect

29:45

from a fifty year old piece of paper. The

29:47

audio you're about to hear is Stoney

29:49

showing this document to me for the

29:51

first time. Out of respect for

29:54

the dead, I have censored the names to protect their

29:56

identities. Number one.

29:57

Number one. Nineteen

29:59

fifty seven, Dublin, Georgia,

30:01

Killamaine

30:02

with a x. is

30:04

verified. Number two, seventy

30:07

one, nothing now. Seventy

30:09

one. Now this is David.

30:11

What do you know? This is Davis.

30:13

Uh-huh. This was in here. I've I've narrowed

30:16

it. My girl named Sandra

30:18

Wailey Moon. We're

30:20

seven

30:20

years old. She was killed

30:22

because supposedly, David, she was gonna

30:24

tell my mother about

30:26

dating. We're 345

30:29

the

30:30

other women that had formed

30:33

thirty five, thirty six,

30:35

the verse six, five

30:37

twelve seventy one. Where's that? I

30:41

recall that name SFM November eight.

30:43

Yes. Was the security guard you

30:45

remember that? Was that the head of the materne.

30:48

Definitely. I won't call that family because that's

30:50

a truthful thing, and that's

30:52

for a later time.

30:53

Stoney reads

30:56

off names on this list

30:58

and it begins to really

31:01

sink in. these are all

31:03

people murdered

31:04

by Bert. The

31:06

list seems to go on

31:09

and on. This official

31:11

transcript shows that ATF special

31:13

agents Jim West and Jack Barry,

31:16

along with Douglasville's share of

31:18

Earl Lee, were

31:20

present in the meeting that resulted in

31:22

this document. There

31:24

were a few notable

31:26

names missing from that list

31:28

though. The

31:29

deer was on list. Why would

31:32

he leave that out? Especially, he

31:34

knew his driving. He'd been first he told.

31:38

talk about it. His immune dependent on it. He told

31:40

some gruesome stuff. At

31:43

the time

31:43

this deal was struck,

31:45

The Durham case was only about two or three

31:47

years old. That case, being a

31:49

triple homicide, was a

31:52

big deal.

31:56

Why would Davis not include it as part of

31:58

his immunity? Or tell about

31:59

it to further condemn Billy

32:02

Bird? When instead, he

32:04

told of murders that had happened up to ten

32:06

or more years prior.

32:10

And while I don't necessarily see

32:12

this as firm proof that Bert took

32:14

no part in the Durham murders. It

32:16

does seem odd.

32:18

Davis, as

32:20

a bill of burden to his self. The

32:23

man

32:23

had killed over thirty people when

32:25

my dad met him.

32:28

and he

32:28

served nobody. He served

32:30

Davis.

32:32

So here's

32:33

these people power. Here's

32:37

Davis.

32:38

being

32:39

coerced or taught them to,

32:42

making them burn a dumping ground.

32:45

Billie Bird

32:48

has done enough murders

32:49

and enough crime and enough

32:52

awful things that the

32:54

truth

32:54

is bad enough. It don't need

32:56

any help. And that's

32:59

what he's been allowed to do.

33:01

If you take that, let's look at him. He's

33:03

a stand up guy. He is.

33:06

That's

33:06

about this. He knows

33:08

as many people, probably

33:11

my father. he was

33:11

the common denominator of

33:13

that group of influence.

33:16

This is my father who was common

33:18

denominator of

33:19

what we deem to be George's Dixon

33:22

mafia. Stoney clings

33:24

to every last threat of dignity he

33:26

can for his father. regardless of

33:28

the crimes he's guilty of.

33:31

Really, that's what unconditional love

33:33

between a father and son is.

33:36

Davis and Billy Bird had it out for

33:38

each other from the time they both went to

33:40

prison, turning on one

33:42

another and telling of murders that

33:44

were committed for the sole purpose of making sure the other

33:46

would stay in prison for

33:48

life. Could this new confession

33:50

be Davis simply getting the last

33:53

word in? the final

33:55

stake in the heart of Billy

33:57

Sunday Bird. Today,

33:59

so many years later, There's

34:01

no one left alive to call Davis a liar. Other

34:04

than, of course, Stoney.

34:11

I'm

34:11

not here to defend

34:14

the

34:14

honor of Billy's

34:15

son of

34:17

Bert, my father. that

34:19

was all the way

34:22

through

34:22

oh boy through the first

34:24

season. was

34:26

a emotional ride from me. I mean, I was holding on like

34:29

a like a kid in the tornado. I

34:31

didn't know what was happening

34:34

to me. if that come out being spontaneous

34:36

and I had no idea

34:38

he was going to change my life where

34:40

it has. this

34:43

thing you're doing right now,

34:46

we're doing, I'm a part of

34:48

I'm not

34:49

out to belittle law enforcement.

34:51

I'm not out to staying the career above income,

34:53

I'm not out to you. Take away

34:55

from the hard work of

34:58

municipalities. And I said, again, I'm not out to

35:00

defend the

35:02

honor. of my father because we all

35:04

know by now that he is perfectly capable of

35:06

this or any other crap beef.

35:09

dained worthy of his time, effort,

35:12

money, whatever. This is

35:14

a stark reminder of who Billy

35:16

Burke really was and what he

35:18

was capable of No amount of love

35:20

from his son could change that. As I've

35:23

heard what I spoke for himself, we

35:25

all know that he

35:27

would key for that nickel. He would key if

35:29

he if assisted him.

35:32

I'm simply here

35:36

putting

35:36

my So back out there

35:38

again, wide open for anybody to

35:40

take a

35:41

punch at me. They

35:44

call it just don't damn paste you

35:46

the way they've done it again.

35:53

They have they have circumvented jury,

35:55

grand jury, judge, trial, the

35:57

whole shebang

36:01

took him. exceptionally awful

36:04

taste has

36:05

allowed Davis to once

36:07

again without a

36:10

polygraph without anything.

36:12

So, okay. Yeah.

36:14

If that's the deal, I

36:18

was driving

36:18

i was driving same three that

36:20

I said, kill the ring. It's done it.

36:22

Now, send me to a

36:24

better place and figure me or whatever his

36:26

deal was, man, you'll let him know.

36:29

It ain't

36:32

intended me to sit back and

36:34

allow that to become history without a

36:37

rebuttal. the

36:38

facts of

36:39

this case that I have read

36:42

from reports,

36:44

I've seen and I lived with

36:45

him and ignored my father the way I did for

36:47

the last forty five years of

36:49

the life. I mean, I entered into

36:51

a new life

36:52

I could finish his sentence

36:54

on some things. Stoney's

36:57

intimate knowledge of his father is what

36:59

he ultimately relies on. When

37:02

he says, Billie Bird

37:04

had no part in the Durham

37:06

murders. My soul murdered

37:08

and even talking about

37:10

this case. knowing that it's

37:12

gonna be out there for that

37:14

family. Everybody that

37:14

I say, the word

37:18

I say. and that might see this me sticking my nose into

37:20

it. But my soul

37:22

boating is because my father has

37:24

no one

37:26

defend

37:26

him as that man.

37:42

In the red clay is

37:43

a production of imperative entertainment.

37:46

It was created written and reported by me, Sean Kite,

37:48

and I wrote and recorded the original

37:50

music score. Executive producers

37:52

are Jason Hoke and Gino falsetto.

37:56

story editor is Jason Hoke. Sound designed by

37:58

Shane Freeman, cover art and

37:59

design by Gina Sullivan. Season

38:02

two of In

38:02

The Red Clay, Durham is

38:05

a six episodes series with new episodes

38:07

available every Monday. To keep up

38:09

with this and my other podcasts,

38:11

follow me on social

38:13

media at seancutt. Have questions? Email us at

38:15

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38:18

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38:20

friends and leave us a review. Thanks

38:22

for listening.