Death Trap (35 page)

EPILOGUE

Jeff McCord seemed to express a bit of repentance for his crimes. Yet, in writing to me, Jeff’s words of remorse sounded more self-serving than sorrowful. In fact, I sensed a narcissistic tone in Jeff’s syntax, and thought this was probably one of the reasons why he and Jessica had gotten along so well and meshed together so effortlessly when it came time to commit murder. That is, when you come down to it, Jeff McCord—no matter what he says now—never once voiced any opposition to Jessica’s plan. We could even say that, in many ways, Jeff
fueled
Jessica’s desire to kill.

There is NO acceptable reason for my doing what I did to put myself where I am,
Jeff wrote to me in February 2009.
[There is an]
. . .
agony on those who have suffered and continue to do so as a result of my actions. What I did was WRONG! I very much regret my actions and the problems arising from them.

I’m unclear if Jeff is sorry for killing two people, or for getting caught.

I readily admit,
he continued,
that I allowed myself to be unduly influenced by Jessica. Also, I allowed myself to be convinced that my viable options were limited to the one I chose. I allowed myself to become isolated. None of that in any way excuses my reprehensible course of action.

Jeff never addressed Terra or Alan by name.

Seeing that he was at least responsible enough to answer my requests for interviews and communicate with me, I asked Jeff why he would not want to sit down and tell me his complete story. Get it all out there. You know, his version of the marriage from the inside. Truly explain to my readers how Jessica had managed to manipulate him into shooting two human beings eight times while they sat in his house.

Jeff had taken an oath to protect and to serve. His job was to help people. Save people. Prevent crime. He had expressed a longing, at one time, to help children. How had the tables turned on him in such a violent manner? Where did everything go wrong?

Jeff’s attitude baffled me. I told him he had nothing to lose at this point. His appeal was denied. He was not getting out of prison for, at the least, twenty-five years.

Many convicted murderers hold on to the thinnest thread of hope—thinking that someday some hotshot, enthusiastic young lawyer will take their case and spring them on a technicality or a glitch in the trial, thus rescuing them from the miserable life of prison. With that in mind, I thought Jeff would see things differently because he had been a cop. He knows the law. He understands how the system works. Opening up, giving me the answers to those hard questions, could only help Jeff.

But he refused, and sent me this, instead:

Then, in what can be construed as a bizarre choice of words, Jeff added:

“Most people”? “Most likely”? The guy did not regret his actions? What was Jeff McCord saying to us here?

Jeff McCord is a strange human being. Jeff was a lot smarter on paper than his behavior would lead you to believe. Something, somewhere, went wrong for Jeff. What, exactly, only Jeff McCord knows.

 

 

Jessica is another story. We can see that some of her behaviors were hardwired into her fragile psyche as a child. It might seem to an outside observer that Jessica McCord was a sociopath. She fits rather perfectly into about 90 percent of the “sociopathic” profile Dr. Robert Hare and Dr. Hervey Cleckley designed many years ago. Cleckley outlined sixteen behaviors on a checklist of sociopathic behavior, including unreliability, insincerity, suicidal threats and a host of other behaviors and attitudes that seemed to fit Jessica McCord quite closely.

I wrote to Jessica repeatedly. I called and e-mailed her mother, Dian Bailey, repeatedly. I never heard from either one of them. I did hear a lot of talk that went on behind the scenes—excuses on Jessica’s part regarding why she couldn’t talk to me. I guess, in the end, I wondered if Jessica had agreed to interviews, what I could possibly learn or believe. What would she have to say to me? Maybe one of the reasons why she did not want to talk to me is because she understands I cannot be manipulated—that I would be able to see through her lies.

Still, as I was completing this book, I heard from a former cellmate of Jessica’s. She expressed a desire on Jessica’s part to answer some of my questions:
I am an acquaintance of Jessica . . . [and she] has asked me to contact you. . . . She is currently in segregation. . . .

(It seemed whenever I spoke to a source inside the prison, Jessica was “in seg.” Or in the psych ward. Or complaining about the treatment she was receiving by guards. The universe is a strange, unforgiving, mysterious place, whereby some are inclined to believe that what you give, you get back. It would seem that a majority—not all—of the turmoil and trauma Jessica had caused others in her life on the outside is coming back to her ten-fold now that she is locked up.)

In response to the e-mail I received from Jessica’s former cellmate, I sent the following:

I was told for the next three weeks that Jessica was “in the process” of writing to me. That she was eager to talk. That she wanted to tell “her side” of this story. “Get the truth out.” That she had “things” to say about Alan, about Terra, about what “really” happened.

As of this writing, I have not heard from her.

Her behavior here fits flawlessly into the austere, “poor me” image Jessica McCord likes to project of herself. She wants the people around her to think of her in one light, but she behaves in an entirely different manner. She is incapable, at this point, of explaining herself. Unless she comes clean and begins to accept that she has been convicted of double murder, Jessica McCord is only fooling herself.

I’m told from prison sources that Jessica is on Lithium and all sorts of other antidepressant and antianxiety medications. I’m told she is constantly in the medical ward of the prison. That she routinely complains about prison life (what a shocker!), the conditions in which she lives and the treatment she receives behind bars.

Once again, everyone around Jessica McCord seems to be against her.

I was told by a few sources that after I “had called Jessica’s two churches (for interviews) . . . as a result, one church will not replace her Bible that was illegally taken from her when she got sent to seg.”

So, therefore, I am the one responsible for Jessica not being allowed to read the Word of God.

Go figure.

From prison Jessica has told people that an agreement she signed with the court prohibits her from speaking about her case. That, incredibly, other agreements having to do with the lawsuit the Bateses filed—which she claims to have been “forced to sign”—will not allow her to talk to anyone until Alan’s girls are adults. She even went so far as to say that if she talks to me, she could have her “canteen account” seized under the agreement.

This is all ludicrous, of course. None of it is true. This is Jessica, once again, lying to support her claim that jailhouse rules force her to be silent about her case.

Ridiculous.

I was also told that a family member is sneaking one of her children into the visiting section of the prison when a court order spells out clearly that the child is
not
to be near the prison.

Jessica McCord is playing by her own rules once again.

And yet, throughout it all, she has never once expressed an iota of sorrow for the deaths she is responsible for. Nor has she ever shown a bit of compassion for those who have lost so much in being forced to say an early good-bye to Alan and Terra. This behavior Jessica is showing us behind bars falls right in line with the character of the narcissist: her world is her stage, the people around her the players in a drama she continues to broadcast to those who want to participate still.

As my narrative spelled out, I wrote to George Callis, Jessica’s biological father. He is in prison serving a life sentence for murder. George wrote back—boy, did he ever! A manifesto, to be exact, that is truly unreadable. George is a self-described “born-again” Christian. Every thought, every word, every sentence, every page of what he wrote to me, speaks of some sort of “vision” from the Holy Spirit. He’d begin with the first-person pronoun “I” and then break off into quotes from the Bible. God bless, George; he has found meaning in the Holy Scriptures and feels the Holy Spirit is actively involved in every aspect of his life. He feels forgiven, obviously, for the nightmare he has caused. None of it, though, was helpful in understanding how his daughter might have turned out to be a murderer—
ahem,
like him.

 

 

In closing, I’d like to say that in all of the books I’ve written, in addition to the cases I have researched and studied over the past ten years, I have never seen such a disregard for authority. All murder is, inherently, evil and senseless. We know that. All murderers are, in every respect, coldhearted and immoral. We understand that, too. But when you have two people murdered by a woman who had claimed to love one of them once, and by a man who had been trained to preserve, protect and save lives, there is an additional layer of cruelty, insensitivity and selfishness involved. That is, besides inviting into the conversation the absolute disregard for relative morality.

Remember, Jessica McCord claims to be a Christian. She says she loves her children. Yet, when the facts are reviewed, we can see that Jessica McCord showed that love and dedication to Christ by killing her children’s father and stepmother.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost, I need to thank someone who has been a major part of my career, pushing it forward behind the scenes, talking me up to booksellers and truly promoting the idea that the work I do is worthy of an audience. Doug Mendini, the sales manager at Kensington Publishing Corporation, has worked doggedly promoting me as an author and a journalist, screaming from the sidelines that my books are much more than your average quickie true-crime pulp paperback. Doug is a generous human being with his time and truly believes in the books he works so hard to get out to the buying public.

Court reporters Ann Rushing and Kelly Alexander were helpful.
Birmingham News
reporter Carol Robinson made a few things much easier for me. Carol is one of those rare, honest-to-goodness, old-school reporters writing stories simply because she loves the work. I also appreciate the documents Carol sent me and her insight into the daily nuances of Jessica’s trial.

The Bates family and Tom Klugh were tremendous. I am grateful for their courage and also the trust they put in me to share those memories of Alan and Terra, along with those anecdotes that added so much to the narrative.

Jupiter Entertainment producer Donna Dudek was instrumental in helping me gather documents, photos and other research. Donna is one of the most competent and thorough researchers/television producers I have ever met. I cannot thank Donna enough for all the help she has given me throughout the years.

Captain Greg Rector, of the Hoover PD, was especially helpful in setting up interviews and bridging the gap between myself and some of the investigators involved in this case. I owe Hoover PD chief Nic Derzis a special consideration for allowing his fine officers to chat with me about the case. Laura Brignac was extremely helpful. Additionally, I want to thank GBI investigator Kimberly Williams, prosecutor Roger Brown and GBI special agent Tom Davis Jr. Of course, every investigator on this case was helpful, even if I didn’t interview him or her. This was one of those investigations that turned out to be a true team effort in every sense of the word. It took several law enforcement agencies to put together a case—in record time—against Jessica and Jeff McCord. That takes professionalism, tenacity, experience. These are fine men and women. They all deserve my respect and admiration.

I’ve thanked the usual suspects in my previous books. You all know who you are. Without you, I could not do this.

April, Mathew, Jordon, Regina.

I cannot write a book without thanking my readers, who continue to come back book after book. The letters and e-mails I receive are very important to me. I treasure each one of them. Every comment—good, bad or indifferent—is taken into account as I approach each book. I am extremely grateful for every reader. I do this year after year because you keep asking me to do so. I have the best fans in the business!