"They Said Rude Things About Me" - Sherrie Arthur

Tommy Arthur & Children

Lewis Grizzard loved his alcoholic father so much he even wrote a book in praise of the man...a man who had abused the person for whom the southern humorist cared more than any living being. Should any of us be shocked that Tommy Douglas Arthur's daughter Sherrie Arthur Stone still loves the convicted murderer? Should we be surprised that she once helped him escape from the Colbert County Jail and now assists in running his personal website?

Sherrie Arthur has stated over the years that she felt threatened here in the Shoals. When asked specifically what threats were made against her, she replied, "They said rude things about me."

Well, Sherrie, you did provide your father with a gun hidden in a bucket of KFC in order to facilitate his escape, an escape that resulted in the shooting of jailer James Conley. Here in the South, people usually find that grounds for at least a few rude comments.

To be completely fair, Sherrie Arthur Stone hired Don Holt as her defense attorney and did not serve a day in prison for her crime. She now lives outside the Shoals, but never misses an opportunity to recite her version of the malicious prosecution of both her father and herself.

Since Troy Wicker was murdered, Shoals residents have married, produced children, and even become grandparents. Tommy Arthur still sits on death row. At least commuting his sentence to Life Without Parole would spare us from seeing his mug shots spread out in the TimesDaily with the regularity and fervor usually reserved for Alabama-Auburn game publicity.

Related post: Tommy D. Arthur: Life Without Parole?


Tommy Arthur Trivia: At the time of Troy Wicker's murder, Arthur was serving a life sentence in the Decatur Work Release for the murder of Christie Michelle Bray Scott's aunt. Scott is now on death row for the murder of her son.

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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.