An Unlikely Suspect: The Murders of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett

[00:00:00] The case featured in this episode has been researched using police records, court documents, witness statements, and the news.

[00:00:07] Listener discretion is advised. All parties mentioned are innocent until proven guilty, and all opinions are my own.

[00:00:34] Hey everyone, my name is Nikki Young and this is Serial Napper, the true crime podcast for naps.

[00:00:40] I'm back with another true crime story to lull you to sleep or perhaps to give you nightmares.

[00:00:45] In the summer of 1999, two young women were stolen from their small town in Alabama.

[00:00:52] Two lives cut tragically short, leaving behind nothing but questions.

[00:00:58] J.B. Beasley, just 17 years old, was celebrating her birthday when she and her best friend, Tracie Hawlett, disappeared without a trace.

[00:01:07] Hours later, their bodies were found, brutally murdered and left in the trunk of their car parked on a quiet road in Ozark.

[00:01:16] The scene was gruesome. Their bodies showed signs of a violent struggle, scratches, mud, and evidence that they had been dragged through the underbrush.

[00:01:26] The car was found in a location that didn't match the crime.

[00:01:31] It was clear that the murder had happened somewhere else, far from where they were left.

[00:01:37] For nearly two decades, the case went cold.

[00:01:41] Rumors swirled. Speculations ran wild.

[00:01:45] Some whispered of a cover-up.

[00:01:47] Others feared that the killer was still out there, walking free.

[00:01:51] The investigation was stagnant, leaving the community haunted by the unsolved murders of the two young girls.

[00:01:58] Did the killer live amongst them?

[00:02:01] But then in 2019, something changed.

[00:02:05] A new method.

[00:02:06] One that would bring the investigation back to life.

[00:02:09] For the first time, detectives turned to familial DNA.

[00:02:14] The evidence recovered from JB's body was entered into public genealogy databases, searching for a name buried deep within family trees.

[00:02:24] It would take years, but finally, detectives zeroed in on a name.

[00:02:30] An unlikely suspect.

[00:02:32] Someone who, for decades, had slipped through the cracks.

[00:02:36] So, dim the lights, put your phone down, and listen as I delve into one of Alabama's most chilling crimes,

[00:02:44] and the unlikely twist that would finally bring justice to two innocent victims.

[00:02:49] The truth is darker than you think.

[00:02:53] So let's jump right in.

[00:02:54] The date was July 31st, 1999, in Ozark, Alabama.

[00:02:59] A small town nestled in the southeastern part of the state.

[00:03:02] Quiet, peaceful, and often described as the kind of place where everyone knows your name.

[00:03:09] Ozark doesn't often make the headlines.

[00:03:11] It's a town with a population of just under 15,000 people.

[00:03:15] Small enough that it feels like home to those who live there, but just big enough to enjoy the perks of a larger community.

[00:03:22] Voted most patriotic and fittest town, in Ozark, neighbors wave to each other from their front porches.

[00:03:30] And life moves at a slow, steady pace.

[00:03:33] It's the kind of place that you'd choose to raise a family.

[00:03:36] But in the early morning hours on that August day, something shattered Ozark's tranquil facade.

[00:03:43] Something so terrifying, so unthinkable, that it would leave a permanent scar on the town's history.

[00:03:49] What seemed like an ordinary summer day would soon turn into a mystery that would haunt Ozark for years.

[00:03:57] But to two 17-year-old best friends, J.B. Beasley and Tracy Hollett, it was supposed to be a great day, full of fun and birthday celebrations.

[00:04:06] The summer break was ending, but the girls were going to be entering their senior year at Northview High School.

[00:04:13] So excitement and nerves were in the air.

[00:04:16] But today, they were just going to let loose.

[00:04:18] It was the day before August 1st, July 31st, and it was J.B.'s birthday.

[00:04:24] They had plans to go to a field party, and then they were going to have a sleepover at Tracy's house.

[00:04:29] The two girls had so much to look forward to.

[00:04:33] J.B. Beasley was a force to be reckoned with.

[00:04:36] A bright, ambitious young woman who exuded talent, charisma, and an undeniable drive.

[00:04:43] She made her mark early on, becoming an All-American cheerleader in the 8th grade at Carver Middle School.

[00:04:49] But cheerleading was just one chapter in her life.

[00:04:52] For the past decade, dance had been J.B.'s true love.

[00:04:56] From the moment she stepped into her first dance class, it was clear that she was meant to be on stage,

[00:05:02] as she accumulated numerous dance trophies and awards.

[00:05:06] Her schedule was packed, constantly moving between cheerleading practices, dance classes, and performances.

[00:05:14] She was always busy, never standing still for long.

[00:05:18] And it was this tireless energy that made her seem like someone destined for greatness.

[00:05:23] However, like many teenagers, J.B. faced her own personal struggles.

[00:05:29] In the fall of 1998, following a fallout with her mother, J.B. made the difficult decision to leave home.

[00:05:37] It was then that she moved in with her dance instructor, a woman who would eventually become her guardian.

[00:05:43] J.B.'s best friend was Tracy Hollett.

[00:05:46] She was the kind of person who seemed to shine wherever she went.

[00:05:50] And this girl was smart.

[00:05:53] Tracy maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA throughout her time in school.

[00:05:58] She loved being around children, often babysitting the neighborhood kids,

[00:06:03] and she took on a leadership role in her church as a Sunday school teacher.

[00:06:08] Her father tragically passed away when she was only four years old, a heartbreak that left a lasting impact on her.

[00:06:16] However, her mother would remarry a man named Mike, and she grew to be very close to her stepfather.

[00:06:22] Her mom and Mike would go on to have two sons, and she shared a special bond with her two younger brothers.

[00:06:29] When she wasn't busy with school, church, or her family, she was working a part-time job in the men's department at J.C. Penney, saving up everything that she earned for her future.

[00:06:41] J.B. and Tracy became best friends during their junior year in high school.

[00:06:46] They had just about everything in common.

[00:06:49] They loved makeup, hanging out at the mall, and driving around in J.B.'s car listening to Britney Spears.

[00:06:57] While the girls were both very busy with work and extracurriculars, on this night they had set aside some time just to have some fun.

[00:07:06] J.B. had totally cleared the day for her 17th birthday because she felt like it was perhaps one of her last big hurrahs as a teen,

[00:07:14] because soon she'd be busy getting ready to go off to college.

[00:07:18] Around 8 p.m., she has dinner with several of her family members at a restaurant.

[00:07:23] Tracy was working a shift at J.C. Penney, but she was finished at 9 p.m.

[00:07:28] She went home after work to change her clothes before meeting up with J.B.

[00:07:33] Tracy had a strict curfew of 11.30 p.m., but she promised that she and J.B. would be back before then, with plans to have a sleepover.

[00:07:43] J.B. picked Tracy up at her house at around 9.45 p.m. in her black 1993 Mazda 929, which had been a gift from her father.

[00:07:53] The plan was to first go to a field party at their friend Jana's house, which was about 10 miles away,

[00:07:59] and then they were going to return to Tracy's place for a sleepover.

[00:08:03] But the two girls, they would never make it to that party.

[00:08:07] At around 10.30 p.m., they were seen stopping at an H.B. gas station on the way to the party and using a payphone to call some of their friends.

[00:08:16] They appeared to be lost and had likely called to get better directions to the property.

[00:08:21] Now, this is the country. There aren't a lot of streetlights.

[00:08:25] And it is dark. They're probably following directions that they've scribbled down on a piece of paper.

[00:08:32] It's $19.99, so they don't have a cell phone with GPS.

[00:08:37] About an hour later, around 11.30 p.m., it's Tracy's curfew time, but she's still not home.

[00:08:45] Instead, the girls stopped at a convenience store slash gas station about 20 miles away,

[00:08:50] where they asked a woman and her daughter for directions.

[00:08:54] This woman would later say that the girls appeared to be fine.

[00:08:58] They were a little bit stressed about getting close to curfew time, but they were polite,

[00:09:03] and nothing really seemed out of the ordinary.

[00:09:06] Tracy calls her mother from another payphone.

[00:09:09] She tells her mom that they got turned around and they never made it to the party.

[00:09:14] But she says not to worry. They've figured out where they are, and they're on their way back home now.

[00:09:20] They should be back in a little bit.

[00:09:23] Her mom, Carol, would later say, quote,

[00:09:26] Nothing was wrong in Tracy's voice.

[00:09:28] It was, Mom, I love you. Be home soon.

[00:09:32] Now, I know that there are a lot of downfalls with being so connected to technology all the time,

[00:09:38] but this is one of those instances where I'm so thankful that we all have cell phones with maps in them now.

[00:09:45] It makes me feel a whole lot better as a parent having children who are going to be going to hang out with their friends once they're a little bit older.

[00:09:54] They're young now, but they're going to be teens someday.

[00:09:56] They're going to want to go out on their own, go to parties, and I don't have to wait for them to call me from a payphone.

[00:10:03] I can call them on their cell phone and make sure that they're okay.

[00:10:07] I don't have to worry about them needing to stop to ask strangers for directions or to worry about them trying to find a payphone to call me.

[00:10:17] As long as their phones are charged, of course, which they never seem to be, but that's another story.

[00:10:24] Tracy and JB were last seen pulling out of the parking lot of this convenience store and heading in the direction of home,

[00:10:32] but they would never be seen alive again.

[00:10:35] The following morning, it's just before 5 a.m., when Tracy's mother Carol wakes up.

[00:10:41] She was exhausted after working a double shift as a nurse at a nursing home the night prior,

[00:10:47] but it was her motherly instincts that told her body to wake up.

[00:10:52] Something was not right.

[00:10:54] Her daughter Tracy and her best friend JB should be sleeping soundly in the living room after returning from their missed party,

[00:11:02] but they aren't there.

[00:11:04] It's every mother's worst nightmare.

[00:11:07] Tracy had not come home, and this was not like her.

[00:11:12] Carol would later say,

[00:11:14] Tracy's never late.

[00:11:15] And in that moment, a sick feeling gripped her.

[00:11:20] Something wasn't right.

[00:11:21] She knew that something beyond Tracy's control was keeping her from getting home.

[00:11:26] Carol woke up her husband Mike, who immediately got into his car and began driving around looking for the girls.

[00:11:32] Maybe they had gotten into an accident and their car was in the ditch somewhere.

[00:11:38] Carol called JB's guardian to see if maybe they had decided to crash there instead, but no dice, the girls weren't there.

[00:11:46] Next, she called around to different hospitals to see if maybe they had ended up there, but they had not.

[00:11:52] At around 8 a.m. that morning, she calls the police to report them missing.

[00:11:57] Officers began searching, assuming that it may have been a car accident or some other kind of mishap.

[00:12:03] They put out a bolo for the car and the two girls.

[00:12:07] But the truth was something far more sinister.

[00:12:10] Something was already waiting to be uncovered.

[00:12:15] Meanwhile, just miles away in Ozark, the investigation was unfolding at an alarming pace.

[00:12:21] At almost exactly the same time that Carol made her call to their local police,

[00:12:27] Ozark police were making a chilling discovery.

[00:12:29] Around 8 a.m., officers found JB's Mazda 929 parked along Herring Avenue, which was a residential street not too far from where the girls had last been seen.

[00:12:42] But this wasn't just any street.

[00:12:44] This stretch of Herring Avenue where the car was found was eerily secluded by dense woods on both sides of the road.

[00:12:52] In the daylight, it was still dark, but it was almost pitch black at night.

[00:12:59] And the car, it was less than a mile away from the payphone that Tracy had used to call her mother.

[00:13:05] This was a grim connection that would send the investigation into a chilling new direction.

[00:13:10] There were no signs of forced entry on the car.

[00:13:14] No obvious signs of a struggle.

[00:13:16] The driver's side window was down and the car was unlocked,

[00:13:20] as if whoever had parked it had simply stepped away and forgotten to lock the doors behind them.

[00:13:26] But the girls, they were nowhere to be found, so where were they?

[00:13:31] Inside the car, everything seemed untouched.

[00:13:34] Both purses were there, sitting on the seats.

[00:13:38] Wallets still inside.

[00:13:40] And money still in the wallets, so robbery was pretty much out of the question.

[00:13:45] Tracy's house keys sat on the passenger side.

[00:13:48] It was as if the girls had just disappeared.

[00:13:51] Everything was accounted for, except for one thing.

[00:13:54] The car keys.

[00:13:56] There was something deeply unsettling about it all.

[00:13:59] It didn't look like a robbery gone wrong or a carjacking.

[00:14:03] There were no skid marks, no dents on the vehicle, no evidence of a car crash or a struggle.

[00:14:09] The car clearly hadn't been forced off the road.

[00:14:12] It simply seemed to have been abandoned.

[00:14:15] As investigators examined the vehicle more closely, things grew even stranger.

[00:14:22] Though there was no damage, the car was covered in mud.

[00:14:25] The kind of mud that you'd expect after a long drive through wet, rough terrain.

[00:14:30] But the most curious detail?

[00:14:32] The fuel gauge.

[00:14:34] The car was almost empty, despite having been filled just the day before.

[00:14:39] It didn't make any sense.

[00:14:41] The car appeared undisturbed, almost as if the girls had just walked away, leaving everything behind.

[00:14:47] But where had they gone?

[00:14:49] And why leave without their belongings?

[00:14:51] Without a word to anyone?

[00:14:54] Ozark police, desperate for answers, reached out to local authorities in Dothan, the town where Tracy Hollett and JB Beasley had lived.

[00:15:03] They had news.

[00:15:05] The car had been found.

[00:15:06] But there was still no trace of the girls.

[00:15:09] It wasn't much to go on.

[00:15:11] And for their families, it was the worst kind of waiting.

[00:15:16] It's time for a quick break and a word from tonight's sponsors.

[00:15:19] Hang on, I'll be back before you know it.

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[00:17:05] Emily, a woman is dead.

[00:17:07] Who did it?

[00:17:09] The husband.

[00:17:10] Yes!

[00:17:11] Yes, dude!

[00:17:12] That's exactly what I wanted.

[00:17:21] If you're a true, true crime enthusiast, you understand that that was the only correct answer to that question.

[00:17:29] And if you're not, you're probably confused.

[00:17:31] But don't worry, we're here to walk you through it.

[00:17:34] Whether it's a true crime case or a morbid historical tale, we understand that the devil is in the details.

[00:17:38] In each episode, we meticulously dissect the facts, scrutinize the suspects, and deliver the unsettling stories that keep you on the edge of your seat.

[00:17:48] If you enjoy evidence-driven storytelling.

[00:17:51] With a dash of gallows humor to make the disturbing somewhat tolerable.

[00:17:55] We suspect this is the pod for you.

[00:17:58] But this is a trial by podcast.

[00:18:00] So we'll let you be the judge.

[00:18:03] Just search A Trial By Podcast wherever you get your podcasts to check us out.

[00:18:09] Huzzah!

[00:18:10] Huzzah!

[00:18:14] Now back to our story.

[00:18:17] As the hours stretched on, Dothan police sent an investigator to the scene.

[00:18:23] The plan was to have the car towed back for further examination.

[00:18:27] But as the investigator stood by the car, waiting for the tow truck to arrive, something kind of caught his eye.

[00:18:34] The trunk of JB's Mazda was locked, technically.

[00:18:39] Except it wasn't.

[00:18:41] Using an inside lever, he was able to open it, without needing the missing car keys.

[00:18:47] Six hours had passed since the car had been found, and as the investigator opened that trunk, everything would change.

[00:18:56] Inside the trunk were JB Beasley and Tracy Hollett, lying there cold and lifeless.

[00:19:03] Both of them had been shot execution style.

[00:19:07] Their hands were still up by their faces as if they were trying to shield themselves from the bullet.

[00:19:12] They were both fully clothed, but they were covered in mud.

[00:19:17] Particularly from the knee down, their pants were still wet.

[00:19:20] Meaning, they were likely kneeling down on the ground in the mud at some point before being killed.

[00:19:27] The surrounding area where the car was found didn't have any mud, yet the vehicle and their bodies did.

[00:19:35] This led the police to determine that the girls had been killed in a different location than where the car had been found.

[00:19:41] Then they had been placed in the trunk and moved.

[00:19:45] JB had been shot once in the cheek, while Tracy had been shot once in the temple.

[00:19:51] A single 9mm shell casing was recovered from the trunk.

[00:19:55] While the police informed the girls' families of the tragic discovery and medical examiner collected the body for an autopsy,

[00:20:03] police followed up on potential leads.

[00:20:06] Including a visit to that convenience store where Tracy had called her mother the night prior.

[00:20:11] They were in luck.

[00:20:13] The store had security cameras, but they weren't the most advanced.

[00:20:18] It's one of those cameras that takes a still picture about every 3 seconds or so.

[00:20:23] It isn't a rolling video footage.

[00:20:26] When investigators pull the still photos,

[00:20:29] they see JB and Tracy at the payphone at around 11.30pm the night prior making that phone call.

[00:20:35] But there's something else that's caught.

[00:20:38] A white Toyota pickup, which appears to just be sitting at the gas pump.

[00:20:43] No one is seen getting in or out of the truck.

[00:20:47] Which is kind of weird because you'd think that they'd be getting out to pump gas if they're stopped there.

[00:20:52] So could this truck have been following the two young girls?

[00:20:56] Police think that it could be a lead.

[00:20:59] But unfortunately, it does turn out to be a dead end.

[00:21:02] The truck belongs to a man who would self-report himself to the police saying that he was there.

[00:21:07] He said he pulled up to the pump because he was going to be getting some gas, but then he changed his mind.

[00:21:13] He also said he never saw either of the girls that night.

[00:21:17] And there was no indication that he had ever encountered the girls.

[00:21:21] A woman also comes forward as soon as she hears about the girls' murders.

[00:21:25] She had been the lady who was at the store that night with her daughter, buying a soda.

[00:21:30] JB and Tracy had told her that they had gotten lost looking for this party,

[00:21:35] that they were worried about possibly missing curfew,

[00:21:37] and they had asked her for directions, which the woman gave.

[00:21:41] She last saw them drive off in the Mazda, heading in the right direction to home.

[00:21:46] Meanwhile, an autopsy was being conducted, and it would reveal that neither of the girls had drugs or alcohol in their system,

[00:21:54] and it didn't appear that either of them had been raped.

[00:21:58] At least there was no sign of that.

[00:21:59] However, that did not mean that the crime was not sexually motivated.

[00:22:05] Shockingly, there was semen found on JB's bra and her underwear.

[00:22:10] The key to finding the killer could be in the DNA.

[00:22:14] But when the sample is run through the police database, CODIS, there's no match.

[00:22:19] The community at this point is just terrified.

[00:22:23] Both Ozark, where the car and bodies had been found, and Dothan, where the girls had lived.

[00:22:29] People wondered if there could be a serial killer on the loose.

[00:22:32] If it could be someone who lived amongst them.

[00:22:36] Someone who they passed on the street.

[00:22:38] Someone who they interacted with on a daily basis.

[00:22:42] And there was someone local who was talking an awful lot about the murders.

[00:22:47] A 28-year-old mechanic named Johnny William Barentine.

[00:22:51] He had confided in several people telling them that he knew who had killed JB and Tracy.

[00:22:58] When he learned of a $50,000 reward being offered for information related to the case, he went right to the police.

[00:23:05] Johnny sat down with investigators for a four-hour videotaped interview.

[00:23:11] And Johnny was about to say a whole lot.

[00:23:15] He offered up not one, but six different stories about what had happened the night that the girls were killed.

[00:23:21] It started with an odd claim.

[00:23:24] Johnny told investigators that on the night of the murders, he had seen a black truck speeding away from the area where the girls' bodies were eventually found.

[00:23:33] As the interview went on, his story began to shift.

[00:23:37] He told police that he'd picked up a tattooed man that he didn't know.

[00:23:43] Someone he'd allegedly given a ride to that night.

[00:23:46] He said that they drove past the convenience store when the man pointed out two girls, who Johnny claimed were JB and Tracy.

[00:23:54] They were getting into their car.

[00:23:57] The tattoo man asked Johnny to follow them.

[00:24:00] They ended up on Herring Avenue, where the Mazda would later be found.

[00:24:05] According to Johnny, this tattooed man got the girls out of their car and then he said he heard two gunshots.

[00:24:13] The man returned to Johnny's car and Johnny drove him away from the scene.

[00:24:17] Then he claimed to have gone home.

[00:24:19] And there you have it.

[00:24:21] A confession of what happened.

[00:24:23] Case closed, right?

[00:24:25] Not even slightly.

[00:24:27] As the hours passed, Johnny's story kept changing.

[00:24:31] The details grew murkier.

[00:24:34] In another version, he admitted that the man he picked up wasn't a stranger after all.

[00:24:39] It was actually his neighbor who lived close to where the bodies had been discovered.

[00:24:43] Ozark police arrested Johnny on the spot, charging him with two counts of capital murder.

[00:24:50] He was now their prime suspect.

[00:24:53] But as investigators began to dig deeper, they quickly realized that something just wasn't adding up.

[00:24:59] He had mentioned the shooting, which had been reported in the media.

[00:25:03] But he never mentioned a key detail, the semen found on JB's body.

[00:25:09] In fact, none of the DNA evidence tied him or his neighbor to the crime.

[00:25:14] It didn't match Johnny.

[00:25:15] It didn't match his neighbor.

[00:25:17] It didn't match anyone.

[00:25:19] And the neighbor he implicated, he also had a solid alibi for the night of the murders.

[00:25:25] So why did Johnny make up such a bizarre and conflicting story?

[00:25:29] As it would turn out, he was hoping to cash in on the reward money.

[00:25:34] He didn't really think that they would look at him as the killer.

[00:25:36] He would later say that the police tricked him into telling this story.

[00:25:41] Because of a total lack of evidence actually connecting him to the murders,

[00:25:45] a grand jury would decline to indict him on murder charges.

[00:25:49] It was another dead-end lead.

[00:25:51] And the community was frustrated at what they felt like was shoddy police work.

[00:25:58] Why weren't they getting this case solved?

[00:26:01] There were whispers of negligence.

[00:26:03] Like, why did it take them so long to finally open the trunk of the car and find the bodies?

[00:26:08] That was time wasted.

[00:26:10] Allegedly, the crime scene may have also been contaminated

[00:26:13] when officers didn't wear gloves while collecting certain pieces of evidence.

[00:26:17] The girls' families went on shows like Maury and America's Most Wanted,

[00:26:22] really any media program willing to help shine a spotlight on their daughter's unsolved murder case.

[00:26:28] It felt like they were at a dead end.

[00:26:31] Without being able to identify that DNA that was found on JB,

[00:26:35] or without someone coming forward with new information,

[00:26:38] it felt like this case would never be solved.

[00:26:42] There were several other suspects to come up as the years passed,

[00:26:46] and the police tried to track down every lead that came in.

[00:26:50] One suspect was a man from Michigan who had attended a party the night of the murders,

[00:26:55] near where the vehicle had ultimately been found abandoned.

[00:26:59] Allegedly, he had made several suspicious statements to friends,

[00:27:02] though what he has said has never been revealed,

[00:27:05] and he couldn't account for several hours of his time the night of the murders.

[00:27:09] He also left town shortly after the bodies were found, which made police very suspicious.

[00:27:15] However, his DNA, again, it didn't match the sample.

[00:27:19] They really had nothing to pursue charges.

[00:27:23] The case would go cold for two decades.

[00:27:26] And then something huge in the world of true crime happened in 2018.

[00:27:32] Through the use of genealogy and DNA databases,

[00:27:36] the infamous Golden State Killer was finally arrested.

[00:27:40] 72-year-old Joseph D'Angelo was arrested for killing 12 people

[00:27:44] and raping more than 50 women in the 70s and 80s.

[00:27:48] And he was finally found through familial DNA,

[00:27:52] which I think is the coolest thing ever.

[00:27:55] So remember, next time you take that home DNA test to find out your heritage,

[00:28:00] remember, you might actually be helping to solve a murder.

[00:28:04] The police team working on JB and Tracy's unsolved murder case,

[00:28:09] they decided to give it a try and see if they get any matches to the DNA found on JB's body

[00:28:14] or any matches to any other unsolved cases that they had been working on.

[00:28:19] They reached out to Parabon Nano Labs in Virginia, which specializes in DNA engineering.

[00:28:25] Five months later, a breakthrough came and it was an unexpected one.

[00:28:31] For the first time in nearly two decades, investigators had a list of names.

[00:28:37] Names of people potentially linked to the DNA found on JB Beasley's clothes.

[00:28:42] And one name on that list stood out to Chief Walker.

[00:28:47] Coley McCraney.

[00:28:49] The name instantly caught Chief Walker's attention.

[00:28:52] McCraney wasn't just another name on the list.

[00:28:54] He was someone Walker knew, from high school.

[00:28:58] Walker remembered him well, smart, athletic, and always involved in sports.

[00:29:03] They had actually played basketball together.

[00:29:06] Now, 45-year-old Coley McCraney appeared to be living an idyllic life.

[00:29:12] He and his wife, Jeanette, had been married for 18 years.

[00:29:16] They had children, a son away at college, a daughter who had just been honored at a debutante ball.

[00:29:21] To the outside world, they seemed like the picture-perfect family, living a beautiful, quiet life in Alabama.

[00:29:30] Coley McCraney was also an ordained minister, someone who was deeply involved in the church.

[00:29:37] In fact, he was working to start his own church, dedicating himself to faith and service.

[00:29:44] He was a man of conviction, someone who appeared to be living the American dream.

[00:29:50] When the call came, when Chief Walker reached out, asking him to come in and provide a DNA sample, Coley McCraney didn't hesitate.

[00:29:58] He agreed immediately.

[00:30:00] He told Chief Walker he had nothing to hide.

[00:30:03] In that moment, Coley McCraney may have thought that he was just complying with a routine request, nothing more than a formality.

[00:30:12] But his DNA sample was more than just another step in a cold case.

[00:30:17] It was a possible link to the truth.

[00:30:20] A truth that had been buried for years.

[00:30:23] After sending McCraney's DNA sample to the lab,

[00:30:26] it wasn't long until Chief Walker got a call back, asking him if he was sitting down.

[00:30:33] Because Coley McCraney's DNA matched the sample found on JB's body.

[00:30:38] It was shocking.

[00:30:40] This guy was like any other ordinary guy.

[00:30:43] He had a wife, kids, and to top it off, he was a minister.

[00:30:48] On March 15th, 2019, police arrested Coley McCraney and charged him with four counts of capital murder as well as first-degree rape.

[00:30:58] They bring him down to the station and place him in the interrogation room.

[00:31:04] McCraney says that, yeah, he's familiar with the two girls' murders.

[00:31:07] I mean, how could he not be?

[00:31:09] It was everywhere in the news.

[00:31:11] But he denies ever coming into contact with them, and he most certainly denies engaging in sexual activity or murdering them.

[00:31:19] When the news of his arrest starts making its way around the community, people seem to be divided.

[00:31:27] This guy has no criminal history.

[00:31:30] He's a God-fearing American.

[00:31:32] And at first, there's talk that he's an innocent black man, framed by the local police who are under pressure to just get it solved.

[00:31:40] But what about that matching DNA sample?

[00:31:44] According to the prosecution, they believe that McCraney was at the convenience store.

[00:31:49] He sees the girls, and he makes a decision.

[00:31:52] He holds them at gunpoint, forcing himself into the backseat of their vehicle, demanding that they drive to a remote location where he can sexually assault JB.

[00:32:04] This remote location would have been wet and muddy, as indicated by their clothing.

[00:32:08] JB even had mud on the inside of her pants, which would point to her being raped in the mud.

[00:32:16] Once he was done, he shot them both execution style and put them into the back of their trunk, driving them to the second location where he abandoned the Mazda.

[00:32:28] Next, he went home.

[00:32:30] He told his wife his battery had died in his car.

[00:32:32] They went and jumped his car at the convenience store, which she was probably hoping would provide him with an alibi.

[00:32:40] McCraney's wife stands by him, fully believing that her husband is innocent.

[00:32:46] But her testimony at his trial would actually further solidify his guilt to the prosecution team and the jury.

[00:32:54] She was able to place him at that convenience store where Tracy had made that phone call to her mother.

[00:33:00] She claimed that around 1am on August 1st, her husband came home and told her that his car battery had died at the convenience store,

[00:33:09] and she had even gone back to the store with him so that they could jump the battery.

[00:33:14] Most shockingly would be the testimony that Cole McCraney himself gave when he took the stand.

[00:33:21] The story had now changed.

[00:33:23] Now he said that, yeah, he had met JB at the mall a few months prior to the girls being found murdered in the trunk of the car.

[00:33:31] According to McCraney, JB told him that her name was Jennifer, and they exchanged phone numbers.

[00:33:38] He claimed that they had plans to meet up in Ozark on the night of the murder, and that they had consensual sex in the back of his vehicle that evening.

[00:33:47] Then he returned home.

[00:33:49] According to McCraney, that's how his DNA was found on her body.

[00:33:53] But he denied murdering the two girls.

[00:33:56] It was a difficult case with no witnesses and no murder weapon recovered.

[00:34:01] On April 26th, 2023, a jury found Coley McCraney guilty of capital murder and rape.

[00:34:09] While this was initially a death sentence case, he was actually sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[00:34:17] During a phone interview with ABC News, McCraney would tell a reporter, quote,

[00:34:22] They can call me a cheat.

[00:34:23] They can call me a dog.

[00:34:25] They can call me a lot of things at that time.

[00:34:27] But they cannot call me a killer.

[00:34:29] Just a few weeks ago, the Alabama Supreme Court refused to hear Coley McCraney's appeal for a new trial.

[00:34:37] Meaning he is not likely to ever get a new trial and will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

[00:34:44] Since Coley McCraney's conviction, the cloud that once loomed over Ozark has slowly begun to lift.

[00:34:50] For years, the town had lived in fear and uncertainty.

[00:34:55] The memory of J.B. Beasley and Tracy Hollett's brutal murders haunting the streets.

[00:35:00] The questions unanswered.

[00:35:01] But now, the truth has been revealed.

[00:35:04] Though it came at a staggering cost.

[00:35:06] In cases like this, sometimes the most chilling truth is that the evil we fear most is not the face in the shadows, but one that we see every day.

[00:35:17] The person we least suspect.

[00:35:19] The one who smiles in church.

[00:35:22] Who professes to be godly.

[00:35:23] Who claims to live a life of integrity.

[00:35:26] The man with everything to lose.

[00:35:28] A wife.

[00:35:29] Children.

[00:35:30] A career.

[00:35:31] A future.

[00:35:32] And yet, in a horrifying twist, that very man could be the one to throw it all away.

[00:35:38] Coley McCraney had it all.

[00:35:40] And in a moment of incomprehensible darkness, he destroyed everything.

[00:35:45] Ruining not just his own life, but the lives of two innocent girls whose futures were stolen away from them.

[00:35:52] And the families who were left to carry the weight of their loss.

[00:35:56] The town of Ozark may have found some peace at last.

[00:35:59] But for the families of J.B. Beasley and Tracy Hollett, peace will always be just out of reach.

[00:36:07] That's it for me tonight.

[00:36:08] If you want to reach out, you can find me on Facebook at Serial Napper.

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[00:36:30] I'm also on Patreon, so if you'd like to get your Serial Napper episodes early and soon,

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[00:36:42] Until next time, sweet dreams, stay kind, especially in the comments.

[00:36:49] Bye.

[00:36:50] Bye!

[00:36:50] Thank you.