0:13

Southern Fried True Crime covers cases that

0:15

are not suitable for young listeners, and

0:18

there may also be some explicit language used. Listener

0:21

discretion is advised. On

0:27

a hot Sunday in September of 2016,

0:30

Tex and Diane

0:32

McIver played golf in the searing Georgia

0:34

sun for four hours. They

0:37

picked up Diane's best friend, Danny Jo Carter,

0:39

from their Putnam County ranch where she had

0:42

been riding horses before they all headed back

0:44

to Atlanta, stopping for dinner and

0:46

Conyers. The

0:48

McIvers had been drinking, so

0:50

after dinner, Danny drove the rest of the

0:52

way home, with Diane in the front seat

0:54

and Tex behind her in the back seat.

0:58

At around 10 p.m. that Sunday night, Atlanta

1:00

traffic was at a standstill on the downtown

1:03

connector. Diane told Danny Jo

1:05

to get off at Edgewood Avenue. Tex

1:07

had fallen asleep in the back seat, and his wife fussed

1:09

at him to wake up so he'd be able to sleep

1:11

that night. When he

1:14

looked around and saw the area they were in, he

1:16

said, girls, this was a bad idea. This

1:18

is a bad area. And

1:20

then he said, darlin', hand me my gun.

1:23

Diane McIver then handed her husband a gun that

1:25

would kill her. The

1:27

Atlanta PD charged McIver with involuntary

1:30

manslaughter, but the

1:32

DA disagreed and charged Tex

1:34

McIver with malice murder. But

1:37

did Tex McIver really mean to kill his wife?

1:43

Welcome to episode 66, Tex

1:46

and Diane McIver, accident or

1:48

murder. Atlanta,

1:54

Georgia is one of the most famous U.S.

1:56

Southern cities in the world during

1:58

the American Civil War. the burning

2:00

of Atlanta was crucial in General Sherman's march to

2:03

the sea. It crippled the

2:05

Confederacy and was the beginning of the end of

2:07

the Civil War. The

2:09

city fell in September of 1864 and the war

2:11

ended in April 1865. The fall of Atlanta

2:17

was extensively covered by northern newspapers and

2:19

they gave a huge boost to northern

2:21

morale as well as President Lincoln's political

2:23

standing as he won the election that

2:25

November by a significant margin. Sadly,

2:28

Lincoln was assassinated just five

2:31

days after Confederate General Robert

2:33

E. Lee surrendered in Appomattox,

2:36

Virginia. Today, modern Atlanta

2:38

is known for its eclectic, diverse

2:40

culture. It has been a

2:42

mecca for African-American political power, education,

2:44

and culture. There

2:46

has been a black mayor in office in

2:49

Atlanta since 1974. During

2:51

the Civil Rights Movement in the 60s, a

2:54

popular Atlanta slogan was it was a city too busy

2:56

to hate, a slogan that would continue

2:58

into the 90s. And

3:00

in comparison to other large cities in the deep

3:02

south, the progressive politics and diversity

3:04

would make that slogan ring true.

3:08

But in reality, the people of Atlanta

3:10

are still dealing with racial disparity, tensions,

3:12

and the economic effects of gentrification. In

3:14

2016, when Diane McIver

3:18

was killed, Atlanta was in

3:20

an exciting transitional phase. Real

3:23

estate prices that had lagged since the recession

3:25

finally saw an uptick. New

3:27

ground was broken for retail and office

3:29

spaces. The Braves

3:31

left Turner filled for SunTrust Park,

3:33

a new entertainment complex within walking

3:36

distance of bars, shopping, and residential

3:38

areas. In popular

3:40

culture, the critically acclaimed show Atlanta

3:42

premiered, as well as Stranger Things,

3:44

the Netflix hit that while

3:46

set in Indiana had been filmed in

3:48

Atlanta and surrounding areas, giving another boost

3:50

to the local economy. On

3:53

April 14, Prince played his

3:55

final show at the Fox Theater in

3:58

what patch.com called an intimate stripped

4:00

down performance just a week before

4:02

his death. That

4:04

May, Atlanta was chosen to host the

4:06

2019 Super Bowl, making way for

4:09

a new $1.4 billion stadium

4:11

that would host the Atlanta Falcons and the

4:13

new Atlanta Soccer Club. 2016

4:17

was also the third year of the Black Lives Matter

4:19

movement. In July, hundreds

4:21

had marched in downtown Atlanta to

4:23

protest police shootings. The

4:26

day before, a young black man had been found

4:28

hanging in Piedmont Park. The

4:31

AJC reported that the protest was in part

4:33

a reaction to what many believed was a

4:35

modern day lynching. However,

4:37

the young man's death was ruled a suicide,

4:39

and a social media post showed that he

4:41

had been shamed by his family for being

4:44

gay. It was a

4:46

terrible coincidence, as there were so

4:48

many police shootings nationwide that had led to the

4:50

protests. In the first half of

4:52

July alone, there were 112 protests in 88 cities. It's

4:57

important to mention the Atlanta march, because it does

4:59

become a factor in this case, though there was

5:02

no official march on the day Diane McIver was

5:04

killed. But still,

5:07

the specter of dangerous Black Lives Matter

5:09

protesters was raised by Tex McIver's PR

5:11

guy, a move

5:13

that was seriously detrimental to McIver's

5:15

defense. I'm

5:18

going to pause now for a short commercial break.

5:33

Claude Lee McIver was born in San

5:36

Antonio, Texas, on December 22, 1943. He

5:41

graduated from law school at the University of

5:43

Texas, before moving to Atlanta. Claude,

5:46

known as Tex all of his life, worked

5:49

for Fisher Phillips' law firm for decades.

5:51

He was a labor lawyer, but he

5:53

didn't represent the little guy, he represented

5:55

the corporations. By

5:57

2016, he was a longtime partner. But

6:00

recently, he went from equity partner to

6:02

income partner, meaning his income dropped from

6:05

about $700,000 a year to about $120,000 a year. He

6:11

was 73 years old. That's not

6:13

unusual. Tex McIver was

6:15

also a staunch Republican who served on the

6:17

state election board for 12 years.

6:20

He was nominated by the governor in 2005

6:22

to be on the Judicial Nomination Committee. And

6:26

even more telling, he served on the

6:28

American Bar Association Committee on gun violence.

6:31

Tex was a man who knew guns. He

6:33

didn't just know them, he loved them, owning

6:36

close to 40 guns, some 22 of

6:38

those being rifles. He

6:40

was such a good shot he could toss a bottle in the air

6:42

and hit it. Tex

6:45

McIver married his first wife Nancy in 1966. They

6:48

had three kids, two sons and a daughter. He

6:52

filed for divorce in 1997, citing

6:55

several affairs she said Tex had. Specifically

6:58

that he was having an affair with a woman

7:00

that worked at their Putnam County Ranch. The

7:04

85 acre ranch was Tex's crown jewel.

7:06

He had horses and cattle and a

7:08

big sprawling ranch house as well as

7:10

a guest house and pool. Tex

7:13

kept the ranch in the divorce but otherwise took

7:15

quite the hit financially. It

7:18

was an ugly three year court battle. When

7:21

they settled in July of 2000, Tex had

7:23

spent more than $100,000 on attorney's fees and

7:26

he had agreed to pay Nancy almost $700,000 in alimony. Nancy

7:31

also got half of his retirement account which was valued

7:33

at a little over $700,000 at

7:35

the time of settlement and also half of

7:37

their property which was $400,000. Tex

7:41

also had to pay $100,000 for her attorney's fees. The

7:46

settlement even stipulated how Tex could

7:48

visit their dog, Malone. Quote,

7:51

the wife shall allow the husband to use her

7:53

garden hose if necessary to wash the dog after

7:55

one of his visits. His

7:58

daughter and one of his sons. stopped speaking to

8:00

him after the ugly divorce, to

8:03

the point that he wasn't even invited to his

8:05

daughter Meredith's wedding. At the

8:07

time of his divorce, his assets totaled almost

8:09

1 million, but his monthly income was

8:11

down to $17,000 a month. He used to bring in close to $60,000.

8:17

But like I said, his age and

8:19

semi-retirement had changed his salary. He

8:23

met Diane the year of his divorce, though

8:25

there is no speculation whatsoever that there was

8:27

any overlap or that she was one of

8:29

the affairs Nancy accused him of. He

8:32

met her through business associates and

8:34

was immediately enamored of the beautiful

8:36

47-year-old woman. Being 10 years

8:38

her senior didn't deter him at all. Diane

8:42

Biddy Smith McIver was born on July 21,

8:44

1953, in Auburn, Alabama. She had a kind

8:46

of rags-to-riches

8:50

aura about her, but she grew

8:52

up middle class, though her

8:54

relationship with her mother was always very volatile.

8:57

She had never known her father and

8:59

her mother was an alcoholic, with several

9:01

ex-husbands. Diane had a brother

9:04

who died in his early 20s. She

9:07

moved to Atlanta with her family when she was in high

9:09

school, and a business owner

9:11

named Billy Corey hired her when she

9:13

was just 17 years old as a

9:15

part-time payroll clerk. She worked

9:17

nights to earn an accounting degree from Georgia State

9:19

University. In her

9:22

first job for Corey at U.S.

9:24

Enterprises, she started out answering phones and

9:26

soon became president. U.S. Enterprises

9:28

is the umbrella company that Corey

9:31

Enterprises falls under. At the

9:34

time of her death, Diane McIver was

9:36

the CEO of Corey Enterprises, and her

9:38

net worth was estimated at 12 million.

9:41

She had worked for Corey Enterprises for 43 years. She

9:45

was respected as a formidable businesswoman,

9:48

ambitious, uncompromising, and tough

9:50

as nails. Diane

9:53

didn't marry until she was 40 years old.

9:56

She always just said that was a mistake. She

9:59

never had children or of her own. Friends

10:02

later said it was a painful divorce,

10:04

and like Tex's divorce, it was also

10:06

ugly with the splitting of finances. And

10:09

Diane was estranged from her mother for 15 years before

10:12

her death. She wouldn't even

10:14

attend her funeral, telling her neighbor that she would

10:16

not shed one tear for her mother. Though

10:20

Tex and Diane had met before, he

10:22

started pursuing her more vigorously when she

10:24

moved into the luxury villa Buck had

10:27

condos in Atlanta in the summer of

10:29

2000. He slipped a note under her door

10:31

welcoming her to the building. She

10:33

wasn't interested at first, but he wore her down.

10:37

When she finally agreed to a date, it was

10:39

dinner in Tex's apartment. And Diane showed

10:41

up in yoga gear in a ball cap. She

10:44

was determined that this was going nowhere. But

10:46

Tex charmed her. Rachel

10:49

Stiles, one of Diane's assistants said

10:51

quote, he was the perfect match

10:53

for Diane. Diane was a very

10:55

strong woman. She intimidated a lot of

10:57

men. They just didn't want to compete with her.

11:00

The text didn't want to compete with her. He

11:03

was just infatuated with her. Diane

11:06

didn't trust many people but seemed to trust

11:08

those that worked for her. Her

11:10

best friend, Danny Joe Carter, the one

11:13

driving that night was her manicurist. They

11:15

had been friends for 40 years, though there

11:17

was a 10 year period they didn't speak because

11:19

Danny Joe had a drinking problem. She

11:22

got sober and was then welcomed back into

11:24

Diane's life. Diane's

11:27

other trusted confidants were her two personal assistants

11:29

at work and the man who detailed her

11:31

car and ran errands for her. And

11:34

that's about it. You would

11:36

think a woman in her position would have many

11:38

rich high society friends. But Diane

11:40

chose to trust people who worked for her. It's

11:42

not that she didn't rub elbows with the well

11:44

healed in Atlanta. She did. But

11:47

her close friends were more down to earth. offer

12:00

tips on how to lose it. It

12:02

wasn't really malicious, she was

12:04

just fastidious. And

12:06

she always thought she knew best. She could

12:08

be really critical. But everyone in

12:11

her life accepted that as the other side

12:13

of the coin that was Diane, because

12:15

she was also very generous and loving. And

12:18

she was hard on herself too, that's probably

12:20

why she felt critical of others. She

12:23

got up at 5am every day to work out,

12:25

and she kept weights in her office. But

12:28

she can't always behave that way with your peers and

12:30

get away with it. Diane did,

12:32

but her friends were not exactly her

12:34

peers. She was the

12:36

CEO of a company, a self-made millionaire.

12:39

Her friends were mostly employees and

12:41

co-workers, she didn't have close friends

12:43

in her own social standing. Which

12:46

isn't that unusual. How many

12:48

female CEOs do you know? Her

12:51

peer group would be mainly men in that sense.

12:54

And before tax, she had even

12:56

decided not to remarry. I

12:59

think that wealth can be insulating from the

13:01

world's problems, but it can also

13:03

be very isolating. You need

13:05

to know if someone is your real friend or if they

13:07

want something from you. At least

13:09

with employees, you know where you stand. But

13:12

Diane wound up falling hard for tax. They

13:15

dated for almost 5 years before marrying in

13:17

November of 2005 in a lavish

13:19

ceremony at the ranch. Diane

13:22

came down the aisle in a horse-drawn carriage.

13:25

The horse, wearing a flower crown, was

13:27

her maid of honor. And

13:30

they lived a jet-setting, extravagant lifestyle.

13:32

Trips to Paris and the south of France. She

13:35

and tax would fly into Louisville for the Kentucky

13:37

Derby, but have Danny Jo or her husband drive

13:40

their limo up so they could have

13:42

it to ride around town in. But she was

13:44

generous to Danny Jo with these trips, even if

13:46

Danny Jo might drive the limo or handle some

13:48

other things for her. She was

13:50

getting to go on all these fabulous trips

13:52

all over the world with her generous best

13:54

friend. And Diane often

13:56

lent money to her friends. Terry

13:59

Brown was. Diane's personal assistants at Korea

14:01

Enterprises and he was in charge of

14:03

keeping track of the loans she gave

14:05

friends. He. Told the Aj see that

14:07

around the third of every month she would ask him

14:09

if the money was all in. She

14:12

loaned money but with reasonable interest rates

14:14

as she. Even lose money to tax.

14:18

It's important to note here that she

14:20

attacks made the decision before they married.

14:22

To keep their finances separate. Both.

14:25

Had been through messy. Expensive divorces and

14:27

bullet for still self made

14:29

millionaires. At

14:31

the time of her death, it was estimated

14:33

at Diane was worth around twelve million, but

14:35

most of that was in real estate holdings.

14:38

She. Had about four hundred thousand in the bank.

14:41

And Texas worth about one point? Seven million

14:43

on isn't. I told you

14:45

before that his income has significantly. Decreased but

14:48

it's not like he was a poor man. The.

14:50

Engagement ring he gave diane was

14:52

worth sixty thousand dollars. The.

14:55

Loans she may to with to expand

14:57

the guesthouse. Making. It a real party

15:00

house on the property and the style of an old

15:02

was saloon. I've seen

15:04

conflicting reports on his ideas a slurs.

15:07

Friends. Told reporters that it was Diane's

15:09

She loved have a huge parties on the

15:11

ranch! Texas. Fine

15:13

with that, as long as she could pay for it. But.

15:16

She made it alone in his name with

15:18

interest. He was staying around fifteen

15:20

hundred dollars a month on alone just. The

15:22

Interest. It was supposed to have

15:24

been a three year alone, but in two

15:26

thousand and fourteen, diane extended alone for another

15:28

three years. Jerry. Brown said the

15:31

tax always made his payments on time. But.

15:34

The interesting thing on this extension as as

15:36

she put a codicil that attacks defaulted she

15:38

could call him alone and take controlling interest

15:41

of the ranch. Well.

15:43

Tax it already willingly for her name on the deed to

15:45

the ranch when they got married. This.

15:48

Is where they're from? An answer seen? Murky to me,

15:51

Is. She really was the one who wanted to sleep.

15:53

Party House. She certainly could afford to pay

15:55

for it. But. she expected tax

15:57

to and that caught us all this her

16:00

insurance that he would pay for it. But

16:02

the same friends who claimed the saloon was her

16:04

idea said that the loan through Tex was

16:06

merely for tax purposes. She

16:09

and Tex also made new wills in 2005. Much

16:12

was made at Texas trial about the possibility

16:15

of another new will that Diane had recently

16:17

made, but they never found proof of it.

16:20

The other important person to point out

16:23

when it comes to the McIver finances

16:25

is their godson, Austin Schwall. His

16:27

parents were divorced and he was the son of a

16:29

Fulton County judge. They both doted

16:32

on the boy, but especially Diane who

16:34

never had children of her own.

16:37

Austin called her mommy die. She threw

16:39

him lavish birthday parties, paid for private school,

16:41

and intended to pay for his college. If

16:45

there were issues with her will, it

16:47

was discussed on and off for a few years,

16:49

it was Austin. Diane wanted

16:51

to leave him everything, but Tex wanted to leave

16:53

all or at least part to the son that

16:55

still spoke to him. But

16:58

Diane never legally changed her will. Despite

17:02

the rumors the prosecution continuously brought

17:04

up, there was no proof. No

17:07

other will was ever found. The

17:09

prosecution even put out an ad for any Atlanta

17:11

lawyer who might have worked on a will for

17:13

Diane McIver to please come forward. None

17:16

did. But before we

17:18

get into that, we need to go back to that

17:20

Sunday night on September 6th, 2016. I'm going to pause

17:22

now to hear

17:27

a word from today's sponsors. That

17:40

Sunday was a hot day for September, even

17:43

in Georgia, with temperatures rising

17:45

into the 90s. Diane,

17:47

Tex, and Danny Joe had been at the

17:49

ranch all weekend. Danny

17:52

Joe later testified that Tex got up that

17:54

morning and brought her and Diane coffee upstairs

17:57

before making breakfast for everyone. liked

18:00

doing little things like that. He

18:02

was always the courtly gentleman, even after 10

18:04

years of marriage. Tex

18:07

and Diane had given Danny Joe a horse, and

18:09

that Sunday the MacGyvers went to meet a friend

18:11

to play golf while Danny Joe stayed at the

18:13

ranch to ride her horse. Tex

18:17

later told investigators that his wife shot a 74

18:19

that day while he shot a 92. They all

18:23

had a lot of fun that day despite the heat. After

18:26

they finished playing golf, Tex and Diane picked

18:28

up Danny Joe to head back to Atlanta.

18:31

Danny Joe said they poured wine in a Yeti

18:33

cup and sipped it as they headed to dinner

18:35

in Conyers, Georgia on the way back into the

18:38

city. They were meeting a friend

18:40

and colleague of Diane's for dinner at the Longhorn

18:42

Steakhouse. There, a

18:44

bottle of red wine was opened. Tex

18:46

later said he didn't drink much of it because he didn't

18:48

like it. But still, after

18:51

dinner, Danny Joe took over the driving

18:53

because Diane and Tex had been drinking

18:56

and she was sober. As

18:58

they neared Atlanta, traffic on the downtown connector

19:00

was a parking lot. Even

19:03

at 10pm on a Sunday night you could

19:05

count on Atlanta traffic being the worst. Diane

19:09

told Danny Joe to take the Edgewood Avenue exit,

19:12

and then she turned around and fleshed at Tex to wake

19:14

up. He had fallen asleep in the

19:16

back seat. Diane was in the

19:18

front passenger seat and Tex was directly behind

19:20

her. She didn't want him to

19:22

fall asleep because she said he wouldn't be able to sleep that

19:24

night. When Tex woke up

19:26

and looked around, he said, quote, girls,

19:29

this is a bad idea. This isn't

19:31

safe. He was

19:33

talking about the area of midtown they were in. Diane

19:36

said, we'll be on Piedmont shortly. But

19:39

he said, quote, darling, hand me my gun.

19:41

And Diane reached into

19:43

the center console and pulled out a snub

19:46

nose 38 revolver wrapped in a plastic bag.

19:49

And then she handed it to her husband. And

19:52

here is where everything went wrong. Tex

19:55

took the gun and laid it in his lap

19:57

and then nodded back off to sleep. Danyjoe

20:00

said that she was driving on Piedmont when

20:02

she got stopped by a red light at

20:04

either 12th or 13th Street, and

20:07

then she heard a boom. She thought

20:09

at first that they had been hit by another car, but

20:11

Tex quickly said, I discharged the gun,

20:13

and asked if everyone was alright. Diane

20:17

said, Tex, what did you do? Danyjoe

20:20

said she thought there would be a bullet hole

20:22

in the floor of the car, and no one

20:24

realized Diane was shot at first, not even Diane. Well

20:28

she started breathing heavy and slumped in her seat,

20:30

and then she said, I've been shot. At

20:34

this, Tex leaned forward, cradling her

20:36

head, as Danyjoe stepped on the

20:38

gas to speed to a hospital. This

20:41

is another huge point of contention at trial. Why

20:44

didn't they just call 911? Danyjoe

20:47

admitted she was scared because of the location, and

20:49

wasn't sure how long it would take to get

20:51

an ambulance there. She had Piedmont

20:53

Hospital in mind, but didn't know the way. Tex

20:57

spoke up and directed her to Emory Hospital,

20:59

which was not the closest. Even

21:02

if it was the closest, anyone from Atlanta

21:04

can tell you that Grady Memorial Hospital has

21:06

a renowned level 1 trauma unit. It

21:09

handles almost all gunshot wounds in Atlanta.

21:13

At trial, the prosecution would apply that

21:15

Tex intended to go to a further

21:17

away hospital. But the truth

21:19

is, Emory Hospital was a client of his. As

21:22

a lawyer at Fisher Phillips, he had represented the

21:24

hospital, and had been there many times. He

21:27

knew exactly where it was. And

21:29

this makes sense to me, despite the fact that

21:31

Grady was known to be the place for a gunshot wound.

21:35

Tex went to the first hospital he knew how to get

21:37

to. What Tex and

21:39

Danyjoe didn't know was that there was a firehouse some

21:42

300 yards or so from where

21:44

the SUV was sitting when Diane was shot. Though

21:47

the exact distance is estimated because they were on

21:49

a section of Piedmont where the traffic cameras were

21:51

not working. Danyjoe also

21:53

wasn't sure which stop light she was at. So

21:57

there were medics extremely close by. the

22:00

decision to drive to a hospital, any

22:02

hospital, was a mistake. They should

22:04

have called 911. At

22:08

the hospital, Tex is seen on security

22:10

cameras, jumping out of the SUV and

22:12

waving Danny Joe through to the emergency

22:14

doors. He also

22:16

helps get his wife into a wheelchair. Dr.

22:19

Suzanne Hardy took Diane's case at the

22:21

ER. Diane made a

22:23

spontaneous comment in front of the doctor

22:26

while she was examining her. She

22:28

said, quote, it was an accident. At

22:31

trial, the prosecution focused on her

22:34

only other statement. She

22:36

said, I'm dying. And then the doctor asked

22:38

if she wanted to see her husband, and

22:41

Diane said no. To

22:43

this I say Diane was dying. Who

22:45

knows if she even understood the doctor's question at

22:48

that point. Her blood pressure was

22:50

extremely low, and she was about to

22:52

be taken in for emergency surgery. The

22:55

other spontaneous comment can be

22:57

considered a dying declaration. It

22:59

was not an answer to a question made

23:02

under duress. Diane just said it. The

23:05

bullet hit where Diane's 11th rib met

23:07

her 11th vertebrae, scattering pieces of bone.

23:09

It then traveled through her left adrenal

23:11

gland and left kidney and severed blood

23:14

vessels going into her spleen, then

23:16

through her pancreas and stomach. So

23:20

blood quickly started filling her abdominal cavity.

23:22

The bullet missed her heart by centimeters,

23:25

but because it nicked those arteries, she

23:27

bled out internally anyway. Dr.

23:30

Hardy wanted to transfer her to Grady, but

23:32

Diane was never stable enough for transfer. In

23:36

the operating room, surgeons opened her

23:38

abdomen only to find several liters

23:40

of blood, close to what would be

23:43

the total blood volume in her body. For

23:46

over an hour, surgeons fought to save

23:48

Diane's life, tying off damaged

23:50

blood vessels and removing pieces of damaged

23:52

organs. But her

23:55

blood pressure kept dropping. The

23:57

attending surgeon's report read chance

24:00

of survival was zero at this stage. There

24:03

is no disagreement whatsoever among anyone involved,

24:05

including all of the surgeons and the

24:07

anesthesiologist, that we could have done anything

24:09

differently and given her a chance to

24:11

survive. At

24:13

the hospital, Tex called an old friend

24:15

of his. This would wind up being a

24:18

very bad decision. His friend was

24:20

also an attorney, an attorney who

24:22

had represented him before. Steven

24:24

Maples is a Decatur attorney who defended Tex when

24:26

he was charged in 1990 with three counts

24:30

of aggravated assault for firing his pistol

24:32

at a car with three young men

24:34

inside. The

24:36

teens had been hanging out in the cul-de-sac

24:38

of Tex's neighborhood, playing their music

24:40

loud and annoying him. He

24:43

tried seeking his dogs on them before he got his

24:45

gun out. But the

24:47

charges were dropped when Tex agreed to pay for the

24:49

damages to the teen's car. And

24:52

this was the guy who sat on the American

24:54

Bar Association Committee on Gun Violence. It's

24:57

an example of what the prosecution would later

24:59

seize upon. Tex was

25:01

a politically connected white man. He

25:04

got away with that incident 15 years earlier,

25:06

and now he was involved in another gun

25:08

incident. At

25:10

the hospital, Tex and Steven Maples were

25:13

overheard conferring, and Tex was heard saying, What

25:15

do I say? What do I do? Naturally,

25:18

there was much made of this at trial.

25:21

But honestly, if you had just shot

25:23

your wife even accidentally, wouldn't you be

25:25

scared? But optics

25:27

are everything, and his behavior, even while

25:29

still at the hospital, put people off.

25:33

And at this point, he had no idea that

25:35

Diane had already told the doctor it was an

25:37

accident. He went up

25:39

to Danny Jo and said, Why don't you just say

25:41

you weren't there? Things like this can

25:43

get so turned around. Just say you came

25:45

here to be with us as a food. And

25:48

Danny Jo told him no, she couldn't do that.

25:50

Quote, Tex, I just drove you to

25:52

the R I can't do that. Why

25:55

would I be here at this time of night on a

25:57

Sunday without my own car? Danny

26:00

Jo talked to the Atlanta police right away

26:02

and insisted it was a tragic accident. She

26:05

said there was no doubt in her mind. And

26:08

this was even after his strange request for her to

26:10

lie at the hospital. She

26:12

didn't tell police about Texas request the first time

26:14

they questioned her, but she did the

26:16

second time. And

26:19

a very different Danny Jo testified at trial.

26:21

She did not change her story, but she was

26:23

no longer on Texas side. She

26:26

now believed the shooting was intentional. I

26:30

think like everyone else, she was put

26:32

off by Texas behavior after Diane's death,

26:35

starting with him asking her to lie at the hospital.

26:39

Afterwards, he went so far as to call

26:41

Danny Jo's husband and tell him to get Danny

26:43

Jo to retract what she told the police. Interestingly,

26:47

Texas defense team found another reason

26:49

for Danny Jo's flip. Diane

26:51

had loaned her money also, as

26:54

she did for many friends and associates, and

26:56

Tex expected her to pay the loan. Now

27:00

this isn't as heartless as it sounds. Tex

27:03

was executor of Diane's estate. Danny

27:06

Jo wasn't the only friend expected to repay their

27:08

loan. And

27:10

about Tex's behavior? Well first

27:12

of all, Tex didn't go voluntarily talk to

27:14

police for two days. That

27:16

does look bad. Why wouldn't you

27:18

just sit down with him right away if it was an

27:21

accident? And why

27:23

didn't the police insist on speaking with him right away?

27:26

I'm pretty sure if I shot my husband, I

27:28

would be questioned that same day, even

27:30

with a witness saying it was an accident. It

27:33

does show that Tex was getting preferential treatment.

27:36

The police felt confident it was an accident

27:38

after taking Danny Jo's statement. So

27:40

maybe this isn't as bad as it looks. But

27:43

again, optics are everything. And

27:45

to the world, this looked like a rich white

27:47

lawyer with political connections wasn't being questioned

27:49

by the police right away. And

27:53

why would he choose to wait? And

27:55

say Tex was beside himself. It

27:57

wasn't to get his story straight. He was just

27:59

in shock. When

28:01

he did finally talk to the police, he said the gun was

28:03

in his lap and it just went off.

28:06

Tex told police, quote, I was handling the gun,

28:08

I forgot it was in my lap, and it just went

28:10

off. And I

28:12

don't think he's lying. Tex

28:15

was diagnosed with REM behavioral disorder,

28:18

which means where most people don't act

28:20

out their dreams, Tex often did thrash

28:23

around. Bill Rankin with

28:25

the AJC podcast Breakdown explained this

28:27

diagnosis very well. He

28:29

said normally people have a wall between their

28:31

dreams and actual bodily movements in reaction

28:33

to the dream. People

28:36

with REM behavioral disorder somehow quote,

28:38

breach that wall. Specifically,

28:42

Tex would clench his fingers and thrash his

28:44

arms. A masseuse

28:46

named Annie Anderson testified at Tex's

28:48

trial about his condition. He

28:51

often fell asleep while getting a massage and she

28:53

had to be careful about where she was standing

28:55

in relation to his body if he fell asleep

28:57

or he might accidentally hit her. She

29:00

also had to testify to deny allegations

29:02

of a sexual relationship with Tex. I

29:05

will come back to this in a moment. The

29:09

next big mistake Tex made was hiring a PR

29:11

consultant by the name of Bill Crane. He

29:14

made an official statement to the press

29:16

that Tex was alarmed about the recent

29:18

unrest surrounding several Black Lives Matter protests

29:20

in the area and feared that they

29:22

would be Karjack. This

29:25

is the mistake that took this case national.

29:28

Black Lives Matter representatives across the

29:30

country were outraged. In

29:32

fact, there is no evidence that there were protesters

29:34

in that area on the night of September 6th.

29:38

As many people have said, Bill Crane injected

29:41

race into a case where it did not

29:43

belong. I agree to a certain

29:45

extent. First

29:47

of all, Tex McIver denies ever saying this.

29:50

He said Crane made that statement. All

29:52

he had said was that it was a bad area. Crane

29:55

stands by his statement and testified that Tex tried

29:57

to get him to retract the statement. This

30:01

would lead to one of the three charges

30:03

the prosecution indicted Tex for of trying to

30:05

manipulate a witness. The

30:08

other two counts for the same thing were for when

30:10

he asked Danny Jo to lie and say she wasn't

30:12

in the SUV that night, and also for the message

30:14

she left on her husband's voicemail.

30:17

Tex foolishly left the voicemail for Danny Jo's

30:19

husband from jail. This was

30:22

before he made bond. He found out

30:24

that Danny Jo told the police what he had asked

30:26

her to do, and he called her husband to ask

30:28

him to get Danny Jo to stop talking to the

30:30

police. Oh, and he

30:32

also said, delete this message. Except

30:35

all calls coming out of the Fulton County

30:37

Jail are recorded. Foolish

30:40

indeed. And that is what

30:42

I think is Tex McIver's huge problem. He

30:45

was arrogant and foolish. But

30:48

before he had ever even been indicted, he

30:50

made his next huge mistake. Within

30:53

days of Diane's death, he was taking

30:56

inventory of her extensive collection of couture

30:58

clothing, furs, shoes, hats, and

31:00

jewelry. And

31:03

then he auctioned everything off. He

31:05

held three auctions, actually. And

31:07

this is really hard for people to swallow. It

31:10

was tacky. It was unseemly. And

31:13

it definitely looked callous. But

31:16

Diane's estate lawyer actually advised Tex to

31:18

do this until they could liquidate assets

31:20

to cover not only her bequests, but

31:23

other financial issues related to her estate

31:25

and just the wrapping up of her life. But

31:28

still, this looked awful. The

31:32

estate lawyer spoke with AJC and defended

31:34

the advice he gave, saying those

31:36

clothes would depreciate within a year when

31:38

styles change. And also, you

31:40

need to sell winter clothes at the start of winter. Diane

31:43

had 137 fur coats. Auctions

31:47

were held in early December. Okay,

31:50

I get all of that. But

31:52

it's hard to believe that this guy and Tex both thought

31:54

that this was a good idea. But

31:57

then, I think about it this way. said

32:00

it was an accident. I

32:02

don't think he really believed that he would be

32:04

prosecuted, so why not follow the lawyer's

32:06

advice? He

32:08

was not officially charged until December 21st, after

32:12

the auctions, and he was

32:14

charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct.

32:17

One big point of contention with this auction is

32:20

not only how it looked. There

32:22

were some ruby and diamond pieces that had

32:24

been willed to a friend of Diane's with the

32:26

same birthstone. If he

32:28

was really auctioning to honor requests, why

32:30

would he auction pieces for someone in

32:32

the will? Pieces that she was supposed to get?

32:35

Well, she wasn't supposed to get those pieces.

32:38

According to the AJC in total, there was

32:41

a ruby ring, bracelet, and earrings that brought

32:43

around $18,000 at auction.

32:46

Now that's no small amount, but

32:48

Diane had many other ruby and diamond pieces,

32:50

and in fact, there was a ring, bracelet, and

32:52

earrings valued at more than $100,000 that he did

32:56

not auction. He was saving those

32:58

for her friend. Texas

33:01

Bond was set at $75,000, which he

33:04

quickly made and was out until trial. By

33:07

April, prosecutors served multiple subpoenas

33:09

for the McIver's financial records.

33:12

Now it would seem that the DA's office did not

33:14

agree with the Atlanta PD. They

33:16

didn't believe this was an accident. During

33:19

the search of Texas condo, a Glock pistol

33:21

was found at his sock drawer. This

33:24

was a violation of his bond. He

33:26

had all other firearms removed from the

33:28

condo and ranch except this one. The

33:31

judge revoked Texas bond and then a few days

33:33

later, on April 27, he

33:36

was indicted on a charge of malice murder. Georgia's

33:39

malice murder charge is what many states refer

33:41

to as first degree murder. The

33:44

DA indicted Tex on seven additional

33:46

counts. He was also

33:48

charged with felony murder, which is what

33:50

other states call second degree murder, then

33:52

aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession

33:54

of a firearm, and commission of a

33:56

felony. And those three charges of

33:58

trying to influence went into the case. witnesses that I told

34:00

you about. And

34:03

this trial would be dramatic in so many

34:05

ways. For one,

34:07

they had a judge who allowed jurors

34:09

to ask questions throughout the trial, not

34:11

just in deliberations. This

34:13

is highly unusual and something the defense

34:15

attorneys didn't like. If

34:18

the state wasn't making their case clear enough,

34:20

that's on them. This judge

34:22

allowing clarification questions clearly gives the

34:24

prosecution a leg up. Director

34:27

Clint Rucker is one of those preacher

34:29

prosecutors, a natural born

34:32

theatrical speaker. He uses that

34:34

thing where he says something and then repeats it

34:36

for emphasis. He recites poetry

34:38

or scripture. His

34:40

booming voice and lyrical way of speaking

34:42

is very effective in a courtroom. In

34:46

late October of 2017, three days

34:48

before the trial was to begin,

34:50

the prosecution asked for a continuance,

34:52

saying they felt the defense needed

34:54

more time, which was

34:56

some hilarious legal wrangling because the

34:58

defense strongly disputed this. If

35:00

they needed a continuance, they would have asked for

35:02

it. Bill Rankin

35:05

with AJC said that the prosecution was

35:07

actually still looking for evidence to support

35:09

their indictment of malice murder. So

35:12

they put it on hold for four months and then came

35:15

back. The AJC also pointed

35:17

out that they had some 90,000 email

35:19

to go through between Tex and Diane.

35:23

The state's position is that Tex McIver needed,

35:25

not just wanted, his wife's fortune.

35:29

They also brought up the specter of supposed

35:31

affairs he was having, which was

35:33

convenient as it was the reason his ex-wife

35:35

divorced him. But they

35:37

could never find any proof of an affair. Tex

35:40

worshiped his wife. The state brought a

35:42

woman named Annie Anderson to testify. She

35:45

was the masseuse I mentioned earlier. She

35:48

came over and gave massages to Diane

35:50

and Tex regularly. Being

35:52

wealthy people, they didn't make appointments at a

35:55

salon. They had a personal masseuse who

35:57

came to their house. And it's important

35:59

to note that she treated both the Meckivers

36:01

and also considered them close friends, as

36:04

did many of their employees. Annie

36:07

Anderson and Rachel Stiles, Diane's other personal

36:09

assistant, stayed with Tex the first couple

36:11

of days after the shooting because they

36:13

were afraid he would mix up his

36:16

medication and hurt himself. Annie

36:18

slept on the floor in Tex's room. The

36:21

prosecution had a filled day with this. But

36:24

you know what is gross? Their

36:26

godson, Austin, was sleeping in the

36:28

bed with Tex. Were they

36:31

insinuating that he had sex with Annie with

36:33

his godson in the room? For

36:36

her part, Annie Anderson was

36:38

angry and humiliated that this was

36:40

even insinuated. She was

36:42

a professional and this accusation was detrimental

36:44

to her career. And

36:46

what's more, she cared about the Meckivers.

36:49

That is really clear in her testimony.

36:52

But aside from imaginary affairs, all the

36:54

state really had was money. Tex

36:57

wanted Diane's money. As

37:00

I told you, his income had

37:02

drastically decreased. At his age, he

37:04

was no longer an equity partner, but an income

37:06

partner. And his expenses at the ranch

37:09

were exorbitant. And

37:11

it is something he and Diane were talking about.

37:14

In an email the state found, he tells

37:16

her he's trying to reduce his monthly expenses.

37:19

She then playfully suggests that he take over the

37:21

job of his ranch hand at the Pundum County

37:24

Ranch. He says, well, guess it's

37:26

back to being a gigolo. And

37:29

the state thought this was nefarious. The

37:31

defense thought it was playful banter. Yes,

37:34

there were money issues, but Tex still

37:36

made money. And he and Diane were

37:38

both millionaires. They would work it out.

37:41

To me, this sounds very much like playful

37:43

banter. I would hate for a prosecutor

37:45

to see some of the Tex I sent to

37:47

my own husband when joking around. Danny

37:50

Joe Carter was the state's star witness

37:52

at trial. They later even called

37:54

her the MVP. But

37:57

the biggest problem with the state's case is all the

37:59

promises. they made in the opening statement. They

38:02

continued to allude to a second will, a

38:05

will they could never prove existed. It

38:07

was never found. It's why they wanted

38:09

to go through all those emails. And

38:12

when they did find an email talking about

38:15

wills, but nothing was formalized, the

38:17

lawyer who was copied on this email told

38:19

the AJC that drafting a will for people

38:21

is kind of like selling life insurance. Folks

38:24

keep putting this stuff off because they don't want to think

38:26

about it. The lawyer didn't think

38:28

it was fishy at all. And

38:31

yes, the state proves that Tex was ever

38:33

spending and his income had gone down. But

38:36

in reality, Diane made more money than him.

38:39

If he was really worried that much about money,

38:41

it makes more sense for Diane to live. She

38:44

was the breadwinner. And

38:46

every friend agreed that they were in

38:49

love, ridiculously in love, the

38:51

kind of couple who after five years

38:53

of dating and 10 years of marriage

38:55

still held hands all the time. Friends

38:59

turned on text by the time of the trial

39:01

because of his many bad callous looking choices. He

39:04

did auction off her things. And

39:07

he also asked a colleague of hers if he

39:09

would be able to draw her social security benefits.

39:12

This was only a few days after her death. And

39:15

that's the problem with Tex. He not

39:17

only takes bad advice, but he makes bad

39:20

decisions. And none of that

39:22

makes him a murderer. I

39:24

do think he was worried about how he would live out

39:26

his days, how he would maintain

39:29

this lifestyle. And

39:31

he could also just be a greedy bastard. That's

39:33

true. But I don't think he killed her

39:36

over it. She was the one keeping

39:38

him in such a lavish lifestyle to begin with. And

39:41

he adored her. Even friends

39:43

who turned against him couldn't argue with that. It's

39:46

why they found it so shocking. At

39:49

trial, Tex did not take the stand in his

39:51

own defense. I

40:05

am not going to take you gavel to gavel through

40:07

the trial of Tex McIver. I

40:09

would rather point you to the excellent podcast

40:12

breakdown by the AJC that I've already mentioned.

40:15

Their long-form podcast on this case

40:17

covers Texas trial extensively, so

40:20

I will just give you some highlights. There

40:23

were competing firearms experts. One

40:25

sticking point is that no one knows if the gun

40:27

was actually caught. The police didn't

40:29

ask that question right away, and Tex later said

40:31

he couldn't remember. The

40:34

difference is, if it wasn't cocked, it takes

40:36

12 pounds of pressure to pull that trigger.

40:39

If it was cocked, it takes less than 2

40:41

pounds. That makes a lot more

40:43

sense for an accidental shooting. There

40:46

was no way to know for sure, but I am

40:48

willing to bet that after Diane handed Tex the gun,

40:51

he cocked it to be ready and had it sitting

40:53

in his lap, and then he did nod off back

40:55

to sleep. And

40:57

many people have difficulty with this. If

41:00

he was afraid enough to ask for his gun, how

41:02

could he just nod off? To

41:04

this I say, he was 73 years old. He

41:07

had played golf and the Hot Georgia Sun for

41:10

4 hours, and then had been drinking wine. The

41:13

defense also made some really good points about why,

41:15

if he wanted to kill his wife, would he

41:17

do it this way? Why try

41:19

and shoot her in the car, through the seat? There

41:23

was a great chance that the bullet could have ricocheted back

41:25

at him, or get lodged in Diane's

41:27

seat. There is any possible scenario that

41:29

would have made this a strange way to kill

41:31

his wife, the first problem being that he did

41:33

it in front of her best friend. But

41:37

the prosecution did do a good

41:39

job of making Tex out to

41:41

be the entitled, white, rich, politically

41:43

connected man he was. None

41:45

of that is false. It just makes the

41:48

police look bad for not going after him harder in

41:50

the first place. However, I

41:52

don't think the police were going that easy on

41:54

him. The detective on his

41:56

case had worked over 40 malice murder cases

41:58

before. He had an ex- excellent record. He

42:01

had an eyewitness that said it was an accident.

42:04

He had a dying declaration from the victim saying

42:06

it was an accident. I

42:09

will say that they definitely should have brought him in

42:11

for formal questioning that night if for no other reason

42:13

than protocol. If

42:16

his connections helped at all, it was that they

42:18

gave him those couple of days before their formal

42:20

interview. The

42:22

problem was both the prosecution and

42:25

defense went all or nothing in

42:27

closing arguments. Both asked

42:29

the jury not to find him guilty

42:31

of involuntary manslaughter. The

42:34

defense wanted a straight not guilty. This

42:36

was an accident. The

42:38

state wanted premeditated malice murder.

42:42

So the original involuntary manslaughter charge was

42:44

taken off the table. The

42:47

jury could choose malice or felony or

42:49

they could find him not guilty. But that was

42:52

it. During deliberations, the jury kept sending

42:55

out questions that made the defense feel

42:57

pretty good. They didn't seem

42:59

to grasp the legal definition of intent.

43:02

Things were looking pretty good for text, especially

43:05

once the jury sent word that they were

43:07

deadlocked. But the judge gave

43:09

them instructions to keep deliberating and

43:12

then they came back with a confusing verdict. They

43:15

found text guilty of felony murder, aggravated

43:17

assault with a deadly weapon, possession of

43:19

a firearm and commission of a felony

43:22

and witness influencing. The

43:24

reason it's confusing is felony murder is

43:26

like second degree murder. It

43:28

means a person was killed in the commission of another

43:31

felony. In this case, that would

43:33

be the aggravated assault charge, meaning

43:36

there was no actual intent to

43:38

kill Diane, but just to harm her.

43:41

See what I mean by the jury not

43:43

understanding intent. So

43:45

why did they decide this way? With

43:48

the conflicting verdicts, why would

43:50

text shoot Diane unless he meant to kill her?

43:53

The problem here lies in what the jury

43:55

was not allowed to ask. Malice

43:58

murder and felony murder. murder had the same

44:01

punishments, but they were not allowed to

44:03

ask how long Tex would go to prison for these offenses.

44:06

They did ask, but of all the

44:08

questions that this judge allowed, he refused

44:10

this one. And it is a matter

44:12

of law, except in capital cases,

44:15

juries are not to consider punishment during

44:17

their deliberations. Maybe

44:20

they thought that felony murder was a lesser

44:22

charge when in reality, it's basically the same

44:24

in terms of punishment. Tex

44:27

McIver will spend the rest of his natural life in

44:29

prison. He would have if he

44:31

had been convicted of malice murder also. I

44:34

think the defense made a crucial mistake with the all

44:36

or nothing charge to the jury. Typically,

44:39

all types of murder charges are on an

44:41

indictment to give the jury an out if

44:43

they don't believe it was premeditated. It's

44:47

not surprising the prosecution wanted this charge

44:49

removed, but it was the defense who

44:51

really rolled the dice here. This

44:54

is now embroiled in a wrongful death suit

44:56

with Diane's estate, but here's the thing.

44:59

So is Danny Jo Carter. She is

45:01

named in the same suit. The

45:03

suit says that she breached the duty of driving in

45:05

a safe manner at all times, but

45:07

specifically cites her decision not to call

45:09

911 and to drive to an ER

45:12

instead. As

45:14

of May of 2019, the lawsuit hasn't

45:16

been settled. So

45:19

I'm sure by now you guys know what I think. I

45:22

think Tex McIver was guilty of

45:24

involuntary manslaughter due to reckless conduct. I

45:27

do not believe he intended to murder his wife.

45:31

I think he is an old man who had handled

45:33

guns his whole life and never thought something like this

45:35

could happen to him. I

45:37

think it was a horrible tragedy and

45:40

his behavior after the fact was shitty. He

45:43

took bad advice and also made several bad

45:46

choices on his own. He

45:48

really was his own worst enemy. But

45:51

being a dumbass does not make you a murderer. And

45:55

you know what? Maybe race did belong

45:57

in this trial. Regardless of

45:59

whether Tex Tex made the Black Lives Matter comment

46:01

or if it was really his PR guy, the

46:04

specter of race is there. This

46:07

bad spot of town they were stopped at wasn't

46:09

just about homeless people, it was about

46:11

black people. Tex was an

46:13

old white guy. His automatic response

46:15

to this kind of neighborhood is indicative

46:17

of his own racial bias, whether he

46:20

was conscious of it or not. And

46:23

ironically, Diane McIver had donated

46:25

money to the Blue Lives Matter campaign

46:27

in Atlanta. Tex

46:30

may or may not have understood the Black Lives Matter

46:32

movement, but it would seem that his

46:34

wife did. Either

46:37

way, when he awoke on this dark

46:39

street, he didn't feel safe, so

46:41

he said, darling, hand me my gun.

46:45

And Diane McIver handed her husband the gun

46:47

that killed her. Southern

46:55

Fried True Crime is written and produced by

46:57

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46:59

Koli Horner and Southern Fried's original music is

47:01

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