Tommy D. Arthur - Life Without Parole?

The DNA evidence, or what's left of it, has been examined and doesn't match that of Thomas Douglas Arthur. Specifically, the semen collected from Judy Wicker's underwear matches that of her husband Troy. Judy Wicker, who now uses the name Mary Turner, has changed her story many times; the facts of her husband's execution style murder may never be known. Does that mean Arthur will soon gain his freedom?

At the time of his arrest for Wicker's murder, Arthur was serving a life sentence at the Decatur Work Release Center for the 1977 murder of Eloise West, the sister of his girlfriend/common-law wife Shirley Dodd, a crime he freely admitted. Arthur also admits that on the day of Troy Wicker's murder he was not at his assigned job, a disciplinary offense that would hinder his chance of parole for West's murder.

After Arthur's arrest for the 1982 murder of Wicker, he escaped the Colbert County Jail while awaiting a second trial. During the escape, Arthur used a gun his daughter Sherrie Arthur Stone ostensibly smuggled to him in a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Arthur wounded a jailer in the neck while escaping.

Once free, Arthur fled to Knoxville, Tennessee, where he robbed a bank of $9,000.00, abducted a hostage, and stole two cars. He still faces a 30-year sentence for those crimes should he ever be released from the Alabama Prison System.

Tommy Arthur's chances of release are seemingly nil. Even if the Wicker conviction is overturned, Arthur faces charges in Alabama of escape and attempted murder, for which he would be tried as a violent habitual offender. If convicted, he would be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Is his conviction for these crimes a given? Considering his track record, nothing seems a certainty for Arthur. For over thirty years, he's provided the public with more thrills and chills than a Saturday matinee. Stay tuned.


Tommy Arthur trivia: According to one source, Eloise West and Shirley Dodd are sisters to Donald Bray, father of convicted Russellville murderess Christie Bray Scott. It's a small world.

Judy Says; Troy Remains Silent

Few Shoals area residents with functioning sight and hearing are unfamiliar with the Tommy Arthur case. While serving a murder sentence in a Decatur work release facility, Arthur met Judy Wicker, an unhappy Muscle Shoals housewife who wanted to be rid of her husband without losing any of the financial perks of her marriage. The Wicker/Arthur tale of love and lust has never remained out of the limelight for long periods, and has again reared its horn-rimmed head.

While testifying yet again against her former lover, Judy Wicker has told the TimesDaily of her fears while in Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Elmore County. She relates that her life was threatened while there, due to the connections Arthur had in the women's prison. Whether Tommy Arthur actually had connections at Tutwiler is beside the point; however, we doubt his low-life tough guy image projected that far south. Wicker does speak the truth when she says she served the majority of her sentence not in the facility designated for Alabama's female prisoners, but in a nearby county jail.

Sources with unimpeachable information in this case tell us that Judy Wicker met a nearby county sheriff while on a work detail outside the prison and insinuated herself into his company. It was not long before the two were a romantic item, and the sheriff used his influence to have her transferred to his jail.

It's sad that Judy's murdered husband Troy Wicker is unable to speak from beyond the grave. We would love to interview him.


What's up with this: It seems the city of Sheffield has declared war on storefront churches. Whether one agrees with this decision or not, we salute Sheffield in attempting to bring its finances under control and to move the city forward.