Black father found dead with throat cut, ear missing: Texas sheriff claims he overdosed

[Ichingcarpenter]

Alfred Wright, a 28-year-old physical therapist, was on his way to see a patient when his pickup truck broke down in Sabine County, Tex. His wife Lauren alerted his parents who went to help him. When Lauren called him back, all she heard was heavy breathing. She grew frantic and knew he was in distress. She sent texts pleading with him to call her. When his parents arrived on the scene, there was no sign of Alfred. His pickup truck was still parked at the package store, but Alfred was long gone. The store clerk said she saw Alfred, who was dressed in scrubs, but claims after he talked on his cell phone, he stuffed his cell phone in his socks and took off running, of “his own free will.”

Alfred knew help was on this way, so it’s questionable that he’d run off into the woods in a town where racial tension is highly prevalent.

Alfred grew up in Jasper along with his four siblings. His father is a pastor and middle school gym teacher. “Alfred was a man of great faith,” his wife tells CNN. A football player while in college, she goes on to say “he loved his family, was very ambitious and hard working … fun loving and brilliant.”

His family questions the sheriff’s office commitment to finding Alfred when they abruptly halted the search after only four days, saying they’ve exhausted their resources, Alfred would be listed as a missing person and there was no indication of foul play. They even said this case was likely drug related and Alfred ripped off his clothes after having hallucinations.

Alfred’s watch, clothing and his identification were found in the area near where deputies claimed to have searched.

His lifeless body was found 18 days after he went missing in November 2013, the week of Thanksgiving, near Hemphill in Sabine County, Tex. which is 45 minutes away from where “in the pre-dawn hours of June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr. was walking home in Jasper, when he was stopped by three white men who offered him a ride home. Byrd got in the bed of their pick-up truck, but the men did not take him home. Instead, they drove him to a desolate, wooded road east of town, beat him severely, chained him to the back of the truck by his ankles and dragged him for more than three miles. The murderers drove on for another mile before dumping his torso in front of an African American cemetery in Jasper,” according to the police report.

http://rollingout.com/criminal-behavior/black-man-found-dead-slit-throat-missing-ear-authorities-claim-overdosed/

[Egalitarian Thug]

1. Yeah. "Blue" Texass.

[hobbit709]

3. I bet there's parts of your state that should be avoided too.

I won't go to Jasper and I'm Caucasian.

[Egalitarian Thug]

4. Is it something in the water down there? A whole lot of us know Texass intimately and therefore

avoid it at all cost. You live in one of the very worst states in America, own it.

Your own city of Austin, once a bastion of relative sanity in that national madhouse, has been deteriorating steadily for years now.

[snooper2]

58. Texas is better than a slew of states thank you much...

Let's start with Alaska-

next would be-

Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia, and Missouri---

Those are some shitty states FYI-



In reality you are best living in a border state with either ocean, or along the border of Canada or Mexico. When you get inward you get to the heart of the country right around Kansas- (Kansas being the worst state to live in of all)

[TheDebbieDee]

84. Uhm, don't drag Missouri into the defense of your backward, racist, misogynist Lone Star state...

We look down our noses at Texas and dumb-ass Flori-duh! Texas may as well be West Mississippi, as far as I am concerned.

[aikoaiko]

107. And the jury results are in...

On Wed Feb 5, 2014, 10:44 PM an alert was sent on the following post:

Uhm, don't drag Missouri into the defense of your backward, racist, misogynist Lone Star state...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4450281

REASON FOR ALERT

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

ALERTER'S COMMENTS

Insulting other states is no defense of your own state.

You served on a randomly-selected Jury of DU members which reviewed this post. The review was completed at Wed Feb 5, 2014, 10:57 PM, and the Jury voted 2-4 to LEAVE IT.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: The post alerted on is offensive and hateful. The post it responds to is worse. I'd really love to hide them both but since that's not an option I vote to let them both stand.

Texans and Missourians both look like total asses here.
Juror #2 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Yet more state-on-state insult fests, possibly one of the most futile endeavors engaged in at DU. Still, not gonna TOS this one, since it's in keeping with the spirit of the sub-thread.
Juror #3 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given
Juror #4 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Both the poster and the alerter should avoid insulting states. It is dumb (a state is not a person) and counterproductive (states have a range of people, some of whom are Democrats and some of whom are not).
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE
Explanation: Sometimes you just have to let the inmates fling poo at each other.
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT
Explanation: No explanation given

Thank you very much for participating in our Jury system, and we hope you will be able to participate again in the future.

[snooper2]

109. I grew up on Laguna Palma Rd in DeSoto MO

check it out LOL

Missouri is full of a bunch of, well, people that didn't leave-


I remember being 19 years old looking at the state income taxes being taken out and thinking. Really? At least fix the potholes on 55 north into South County LOL

[heaven05]

86. NO!

It's like those other states! no better, just another shitty state FYI!

[Blue_In_AK]

101. Too many Texans in Alaska.

[snooper2]

110. you are going to have to clarify

People from Texas-

People born in Texas-

Or People who claim to be Texans

[Blue_In_AK]

111. To be precise,

I'm talking about oily Texans. My husband is a Texan, and I love him dearly, but he's no friend of Conoco-Phillips, BP and EXXON. We make jokes that our governor, who is firmly in the pockets of Big Oil, should just move our capital to Houston.

[merrily]

115. I don't know which state is better or worse than any other, but

I have seen some sick and/or bizarre stories coming out of Texas. There are a handful of states that is true about, but Texas is definitely one of them. I am not saying bad stories don't come out of every state. They do. But, in my perception, they come out of Texas quite often. More often than some of the other states you mentioned.

[ScreamingMeemie]

5. Ignore people who have no idea what they are talking about...no matter how "intimately" they

claim to know the state.

[hobbit709]

7. That probably means he drove across it once

[ScreamingMeemie]

11. .

[FreakinDJ]

14. Lived there for years - moved back 2012

Crooked Good Ol Boy, Red Necked Cronyism KKK Loving Fucking Bigots in some of those jerkwater backwoods towns and tell me I'm lying

[hobbit709]

15. Ever lived in Marion, OH-they fit your description too.

Which is why I got the hell out of there in 1969.

[Egalitarian Thug]

20. Maybe it's the constant exposure that inures them to how far gone they are?

Does a fish know what water tastes like?

Congratulations on your escape and recovery.

[Mr Dixon]

69. SMH

I Never been there and i never want to visit trust me.

[Dustlawyer]

87. True, in some of the backwoods places. So there are no "Old boy" networks where you are?

There are bigots everywhere. This regionalism and factionalism does not help our cause.
I am no longer surprised to see people who advocate against racism, and would claim that it is wrong to generalize or stereotype a group of people, who then turn around and do it in a context like I see here. Just because we have some of the craziest shitheads in politics doesn't mean everyone in our state sucks. Tom Delay's mid-decade re-districting has prevented Texas from electing more Dems. Voter ID will hurt us a lot as well this time around, but we are working hard to overcome the cheap tricks they keep coming up with to prevent the will of a majority of Texans.

[FreakinDJ]

120. SF Bay Area - and I have worked and traveled all over the United States

[Dustlawyer]

132. Same here, as a matter of fact our San Fran

office just moved to Oakland.

[Egalitarian Thug]

16. In your fantasies. I've had the misfortune of working for several of what are laughingly called

companies based there as well as wasting three years working out of CompUSA'a corporate offices and having a front row seat for the evisceration and scavenging of what was once the world's largest computer and electronics retailer.

But by all means, you should definitely stay there and revel in it. Just please leave the rest of us out of your insanity.

[hobbit709]

18. And with your attitude we don't even want you in Austin.

[Egalitarian Thug]

30. No worries there, I'll never need money that badly, again. n/t

[kentauros]

114. And that is absolutely the biggest fact in pretty much all of these region-bashing threads.

People complain about whichever place or state it is that they visited or lived in and never point out in their original post that they had a bad attitude to that state/region/area to begin with. When the locals respond in kind (i.e., are rude to a rude person) then the locals become assholes and the reason the basher will never come back to said place ever again.

It's just unfortunate that so many of these bashers don't understand this simple piece of common sense, and will never admit that they are the problem nine times out of ten.

[Lunacee_2013]

130. Thank you.

If its wrong to bash someone because of their skin color, then it's wrong to bash someone because of where they were born and its wrong to bash that place itself.

Does Texas have issues (and assholes)? Yes, but every place has that. We also have democrats and even liberals. Even in north Texas, by lake Texoma, right underneath Oklahoma. I should know 'cause I'm one of them. There's even a great big full cab pick-up truck around here that has the words "VOTE DEMOCRATIC" right on the back window. In blazing, sparkling gold. I can never get a good look at who drives it, but I try to wave at them every time I see it.

[kentauros]

131. That's cool!

I hope you get to meet him some day. He's probably quite the character, too!

Those that prefer to judge are just missing out, even on having friends that may not vote as they do, people they could potentially be proud to call best friends. But, they'll never know because they have already determined the character of people they've never met!

[Fawke Em]

41. Apparently, though, you're the one who butted into this thread.

No one asked you.

So, why don't you stay where you are in revel in it? And leave YOURSELF out of the insanity, since you think it's so insane.

[Egalitarian Thug]

45. Because the Las Vegas police didn't execute an innocent man and then try to cover it up.

I'd think that was self-evident, even in Texass.

[hobbit709]

60. Lost Wages is no shining beacon in how they treated minorities.

[Egalitarian Thug]

91. No, it certainly isn't. But, it's still miles ahead of Texass. n/t

[snooper2]

59. You worked at CompUSA

LOL...


That may be one of the shittiest companies to exist next to Enron


My MIL worked there right off the North Dallas Tollway in accounting. I don't think she actually did anything though. Their whole group was fired like seven years ago...

[Egalitarian Thug]

90. It was a lot like Enron, The executives and lawyers literally hollowed out a $3.5B company,

looted it from the inside and left the country holding the bag. Fortunately for me, I saw what was happening and possessed highly desired skills, so I got out whole about a year before it became clear that nobody was going to do anything to save it, but thousands of others did not and many of them lost everything.

Why there was never any investigation relates directly to the fact that they did it in Texass.

[easttexaslefty]

96. Aren't you a sweetheart?

My mom moved here to be with family when my dad was sent to Vietnam. This is where family is. Not everyone has the luxury of moving at whim.

[Egalitarian Thug]

19. Twice, unfortunately. I also worked there for far longer than was healthy. It's that peculiar brand

of asshole that runs and thrives there that makes it such a nasty place.

If all of you would just stay there, or barring that, at least attend a detox clinic before coming out, so that you can be reminded of how human beings conduct themselves in civil society, ignoring Texass would be much easier for the rest of us.

Yes, there are stupid people every where. Yes, there are racist fuckheads everywhere. Yes, there are insane people everywhere. It's just that most places don't put them in charge, or insist that everyone else must emulate the crazy.

Nevada is pretty far on the redneck end of the scale, but even here you stand out as people to be avoided once you've dropped what money you brought.

One more thing. Cowboy hats and boots in a suit make everyone look like a clown, no matter how rare the animal slaughtered to make them, nor how much you spent on them.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

55. Egalitarian THUG wrote:

If all of you would just stay there, or barring that, at least attend a detox clinic before coming out, so that you can be reminded of how human beings conduct themselves in civil society, ignoring Texass would be much easier for the rest of us. {emphasis added}

So apparently she or he thinks DU is the problem and sets her- or him-self above DU.

[cordelia]

57. This

[Eleanors38]

66. FL, TX, GUN-OWNERS: License to hate 'em openly.

[easttexaslefty]

98. Right? n/t

[AnneD]

27. That is an area of Texas....

with some serious KKK and white supremacist activity.Jasper is the area where the black man was drug to death. I am white and my husband is from Southern India and rather dark. I am forever after him to be careful where he goes especially if I am not with him.

[arely staircase]

9. under no circumstances should you come here

It would be way too dangerous.

[Egalitarian Thug]

13. Under no circumstances could they ever get me to go back there. If I could, I would have

any flight I'm on go around your piece of hell on earth.

[pangaia]

22. Jeeze, whatd' cha' put in your coffee this mornin', man?

Chill.

[Egalitarian Thug]

26. Texass. There are a few things I will alway fight, animal cruelty, religion, and Texass.

I've worked in almost every state and lived in every region of the country, and I've never been subjected to the abuse that Texass considers normal. There's lots of horrible places in America, but Texass is the only one that insists on imposing its perversion on others wherever they go.

It used to be that people just ignored them as the clowns they are, President Eisenhower even pointed them out, but since America's hard right turn to stupid they've become a model, and a very dangerous one at that.

We ignore and excuse them at our peril.

[pangaia]

32. I have some very good friends who live in Texas.

What should my attitude toward them be?

[Egalitarian Thug]

35. Sympathetic? n/t

[AnneD]

37. The moniker fits...

There are assholes everywhere just as there are good people, be it Texas or New York or California. You just have to know your surroundings.

I enjoy living in Texas on most days and encounter good honest people on most days. But then the occasional jerk can ruin a good day if you let it.

This crime will not go unpunished. We can't bring this man back, but we can get justice for his family.

You miss much sublitle beauty when you paint everything with the same brush. Hatered will eat you up.

[Egalitarian Thug]

40. So you're fine with executing innocent people, institutionalized theft, out of control cops,

institutionalized bigotry/racism, state sanctioned murder by anyone or anything with enough money, criminal negligence of the public's safety, and a universal hostility to workers?

Nothing would make me happier than if Texass would just stay in Texass, but they don't. They come out of there and infect every place they go with this cancer.



OTOH, it is frequently damned funny to see Texans come here and try to treat our people as badly as they treat their own people (especially the women). That shit don't fly here and it can be a hard, expensive lesson.

[ScreamingMeemie]

49. I'm not a Texan, but I got here as fast as I could...and, I'm a woman.

My mayor (of one of the largest cities in the country) is a Democrat. She is also a lesbian in a committed relationship. Sympathies not required. I find us to be far more progressive than whatever armpit you reside in.

[AnneD]

79. We reside in the same city....

my blue oasis.

People that spout irrational hatred are every where and just because they wave a blue flag doesn't make them any nicer. I just refuse to put my hand in the crazy. We have our own brand of crazies so we don't need to import more. It takes a particularly tough hide and spine of steel to be a Democrat in Texas (witness Wendy Davis). GOP are worse than roaches and just as tough to get rid of, no matter how hard you work at it.

[arely staircase]

62. you would be executed the moment you crossed the state line. save yourself and stay away. nt

[TexasTowelie]

78. You forgot to include Nevada as a place where assholes are.

Collaborating evidence is provided in the post you are responding to.

[mountain grammy]

50. At the risk of offending DU Texans, I must agree with you..

I lived in Houston for several years in the 80's, but Houston is far from the norm in Texas. In-laws live in west Texas so we've spent plenty of time there too. I have no doubt any one of my nephews or their friends would participate in any form of violence against anyone who's not white, bigoted and Christian fundamentalist like themselves. They talk the talk, I have no doubt they walk the walk as well. All Democrats are non Christian, no African Americans can be "real" Christians, the problem with America is lack of prayer (their prayers) and anyone who believes every white American Christian shouldn't have multiple firearms should be shot on sight.

These are haters to the core, and they elect more haters. I know some of the Americans I've admired most are (were) Texans.. Jim Hightower and Molly Ivins to name two of many, and there are haters everywhere. But, in Texas, the haters are truly emboldened by a false bravado and a weird kind of "exceptionalism" born of being their own dysfunctional country for a short time. Want to start an argument with one of these crazies? Well, simply suggest that Texas joined the United States because they failed miserably as their own country, in other words, the truth.

I agree with your last statement: "We ignore and excuse them at our peril."

The FBI should be in Texas investigating this murder.

[AnneD]

80. Again I say....

You have to have a tough hide and a spine of steel to be a true blue Democrat in Texas. That is how you get folks like Molly, Jim, Ann, and Lyndon. You learn the hard way to stick up for yourself and be able to laugh at the craziness.

Can't figure out if the nuttiness is from overexposure to the sun or if it is in the water. I really don't know how some of these locos survive other than to bully those they think are weak. They just haven't encountered a real Texan. A real Texan would kick their asses. Even little old Texas ladies will kick your ass if you rile them up. And we all know there is nothing worse than a little old lady ass whooping. I think some folks in that Sheriff's department are going to be taken down a peg or two before it is over.

I have deep roots here, both settler and Indian. Half of these people that think they are so tough would shit their britches if they had to go though some of what my elders went through. My elders were nice folks but didn't suffer fools.

[mountain grammy]

112. My husband also has deep roots in Texas. His grandparents had a ranch near Sanderson

and his grandmother's family could trace their roots back to pre Civil War Texas. One of my husbands second cousins is a writer of westerns based on his family history. All the third, second and first cousins get together for a reunion every three years, and we attended last year. I met wonderful cousins, well educated and beyond the idiocy that chokes Texas.
I just began reading the third novel written by our cousin. The ancestors were hard working, poor but smart. The original born and raised Texas ancestor tried to avoid the Confederate draft because had no desire to fight for slavery. The first two novels explore before, during and immediately after the Civil War. The third, and most interesting, is about post Civil War Texas.

Our cousin's books are pure entertainment, but he did lots of research and tried to be fact based whenever possible. My husband's ancestors were good and fair people who, like yours, didn't suffer fools. In fact, on several occasions, they fought the fools.
When I finish the third novel, I plan to ask our cousin how he feels about the same kind of self serving fools our family fought against who are now running the state and getting elected to national office.

[AnneD]

126. Be prepared for an onslaught....

of curse word you never knew existed from your cousin. Real Texans know they are real Texans, they don't need the wardrobe that is so popular among Faux Texans.

For shits and grins, on our local Go Texan Day-I dress like my Cherokee ancestors-and I have the card to prove it. The other Indian ancestry on Mom's side cannot be documented so neatly but what other 13 yo girl would have been married off to a buffalo hunter at the turn of the previous century. It was a matter of survival at that time. I am the product of the US attempts at genocide. We survived traveling back and forth from Texas, Oklahoma, and Arizona. We were always ready to pull up stakes at a moments notice if needed and blending in when we had to.

[mountain grammy]

129. He paints a pretty rosy picture of the ancestors who only fought when necessary..

but he barely mentions native Texans. I'll be sure to ask him about that part of our history also.

[arely staircase]

61. dangerous indeed. you wouldn't last a day

Last edited Wed Feb 5, 2014, 12:50 PM - Edit history (1)

For the love of God stay far away from here .

[Dustlawyer]

85. I live an hour from there, lots of Dems here! Save your contempt for Republicans!

[vanlassie]

2. Apalling.

[newfie11]

6. Good Christian folks I bet

This is appalling. How they can cold bloodily kill someone because their skin is not the same color.

I am a 6th generation Texan but I can't live there. Growing up, there was the hatred of Hispanics as well as the blacks and I'm sure there still is.
My Grandfather refused to join the KKK in Uvalde long long ago.
When the klan had to show their faces as required by law everyone was shocked.
Most of the wealthy business owner and polititians were members.

Standing back and looking at this I've come to the following conclusion.

There's no difference in Hitler, KKK, American racists, and most of the Republican Party. Some tried to hide their racism more in the past but not in today's world.

[The Wizard]

10. Not all Republicans are bigots

but all bigots are Republicans.

[newfie11]

21. +1

[whistler162]

31. Gving a +1 for being called a Republican

must be true then!

[newfie11]

33. You need to learn to read sir!

[heaven05]

29. These days I wonder.

about the first part of your statement, second part I agree with most wholeheartedly and while we're at it, so are a lot of Democrats. The Zimpig trial in Florida clearly showed me that. Still angry about that one.

[840high]

94. Not all killers are Christian.

[Are_grits_groceries]

8. Jasper is the area where James Byrd was dragged to death.nt

[TorchTheWitch]

119. He didn't die in Jasper

Mr. Wright did not die in Jasper where Mr. Byrd was murdered. He was found in the woods in Sabine County which is a good 45 minute drive away...

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Frollingout.com%2Fcriminal-behavior%2Fblack-man-found-dead-slit-throat-missing-ear-authorities-claim-overdosed%2F
His lifeless body was found 18 days after he went missing in November 2013, the week of Thanksgiving, near Hemphill in Sabine County, Tex. which is 45 minutes away from where “in the pre-dawn hours of June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr. was walking home in Jasper, when he was stopped by three white men who offered him a ride home. Byrd got in the bed of their pick-up truck, but the men did not take him home. Instead, they drove him to a desolate, wooded road east of town, beat him severely, chained him to the back of the truck by his ankles and dragged him for more than three miles. The murderers drove on for another mile before dumping his torso in front of an African American cemetery in Jasper,” according to the police report.

[Are_grits_groceries]

122. We'll that is certainly better. ***sarcasm****. nt

[TorchTheWitch]

123. Is it? What's your point?

See my post #118 in this thread, here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=4452865

Some kind of grand conspiracy of a murder or the attempted cover-up of one by officials is ludicrous to the point of being flat out lunatic yet the most asinine accusations are being made throughout this thread based on cop hatred and the absurd notion that everyone in Texas - particularly anywhere near Jasper - are such wild assed crazy bigots that horrendous crimes like what happened to Mr. Byrd fifteen years ago must be some kind of every day occurrence. Funny how people scream bigotry by saying such obviously bigoted things and don't even notice it.

Just why is it that practically no one is this thread can simply mourn this man's death and wait for actual EVIDENCE to come out before pointing the finger at the entire state of Texas and everyone in it, demanding the heads of the sheriff, the entire police department, the medical examiner's office, forgetting all about the store clerk that witnessed Mr. Wright talking on his cellphone, disconnecting the call, putting his cellphone in his sock (where it was found on his body) and of his own volition running into the woods without any pursuit and combined with his own wife's statements about her being afraid for his health and her repeated calls to him that went unanswered at the time.

Further, the article erroneously claims that after 18 days decomposing in the woods he would have either been "chewed to the bone" by animals or mysteriously not chewed by animals AT ALL and assertion so patently absurd it defies belief particularly when dead bodies in various states of decompositions have been found in wooded areas not chewed to the bone by animals all the damn time and for much longer than 18 days (Texas Killing Fields or the Highway of Tears any bells?).

Just how easy is it to be able to tell if a body found after 18 days decomposing in the woods how their wounds occurred? I recall the ME in the Jodi Arias case describing in court how the body of Jason Alexander found after just five days in a very cold air conditioned house had a brain that was already practically turned into soup. How certain would this nameless alleged ME hired by the family able to find that with a body 18 days decomposed in the outdoors that his throat was slashed with a knife and his ear was cut off rather than torn off when whoever it was likely was not able to examine the actual body themselves since these subsequent ME examinations almost NEVER can and they have to rely on documents and photographs rather than being in the far better position of being able to actually see and feel and closely examine the actual body?

There simply is not anywhere near enough information from what has been presented in this thread that shows either a murder or some kind of animal attack or accident occurring to someone that had overdose levels of drugs in his system that didn't get there all by themselves, nor is there any plausible reason that they were somehow administered to him for absolutely no logical reason... when you want to subdue someone the LAST drug you want to give them is METH along with other amphetamines. Yet his suddenly running for no apparent reason more logically points to his being extremely hyped up given the drugs in his system.

[Are_grits_groceries]

124. Did you miss the 'sarcasm' tag? nt

[arely staircase]

12. I posred a story on this about a month ago

it sank like a stone. Glad to see someone is drawing attention to it.

[BobbyBoring]

97. Yes

And I'm glad to see people responding to this travesty by knocking where each other lives.

The victims true crime is illustrated in the second photo. He was with a white woman. That still brings the death penalty in many southern states. Sad but true. I hope his murderers are brought to justice.

[chuckstevens]

17. The Feds

The Feds should be all over this! We'll see if they actually do anything, but I doubt it.

[Brigid]

23. It's obvious, dontcha know.

Any time somebody overdoses, they tear off their clothes, stuff their cell phone in a sick, and run into the woods. Then they slash their own throats.

[heaven05]

24. said something 'disrespectful' or

someone knew of his interracial marriage and hated him. What a fucking joke. Drug overdose??!! Ear missing, throat cut? Something is wrong with this picture/explanation. Period. But he was black in that town, with I assume a white wife, so the good ole boys and girls will just agree, I'm sure. TEXAS sucks. Period. I remember that case of the black man dragged behind that truck till his body was torn apart. Made me angry then, this makes me angry now. Some racist sick, sick folks live out there in this land of the free, home of the brave? Cowards, in this case is more like it. Disgusting, simply disgusting. Now a child with no father and a wife who is a widow. When will this type of mentality die out in this country? It's been over 300 years of virulent racist hate in this country and it's still here. There has to be a reckoning or life is truly meaningless.

[gollygee]

25. I don't believe anyone really thinks this has anything to do with drugs

Nobody slits their own throat and removes their own ear.

Horrible.

[JustAnotherGen]

28. Sad for his child and sad for his wife

You see the love of those two in that picture - the body language. A heart broken very young might not ever recover from this hateful act.

[Divernan]

34. Got link to work. Here's more

Tragically, Alfred was found by volunteers and his father. He was stripped to his boxer shorts, wearing only a single sock with his cell phone tucked inside, and both his sneakers. He was missing an ear, two front teeth and his throat was slit. There was not a lot of decomposition in comparison to most bodies found in the elements after 18 days. On November 26, 2013, forensic pathologist John W. Ralston MD, ruled his death “accidental” due to “combined drug intoxication,” in other words, a drug overdose – cocaine, methamphetamine and amphetamines.

The family isn’t buying it because Alfred never used drugs. His family had their own autopsy and the pathologist concluded that he died of severe trauma to the neck and head and a gash across his throat.

The county’s autopsy report didn’t address the cut on his neck or throat area and also went on to report that any damage caused to the body was caused by animal activity, offering no explanation why the cut across his neck was a straight line and why the animals didn’t chew him to the bone after being out in the woods for over 18 days.

[bananas]

47. The article is in google's webcache

The article didn't work for me either, here's the cached entry:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Frollingout.com%2Fcriminal-behavior%2Fblack-man-found-dead-slit-throat-missing-ear-authorities-claim-overdosed%2F

[SummerSnow]

36. This man was murdered. Forcibly shot up with drugs to make it look like a suicide.

I suppose he cut his own throat and cut off his ear....no.Kidnapped, forced drugs, panicked, ran, scared, ran in the woods, murdered.

[El_Johns]

65. The murderers must be incredibly stupid & blinded by their own prejudice.

[SummerSnow]

70. Both....

and they know or think the local authorities wont do a thing. See what the Sheriff said.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

38. Sheriff probably knows the murderers. Hate crime? (biracial marriage)

[jsr]

53. Yep.

[atreides1]

54. Or he was part of it.

Along with the medical examiner!

[DonViejo]

102. (biracial marriage)...

interracial marriage; bi-racial child. Whichever, it's a very pathetic, as well as maddening, crime.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

117. Thanks. It's two crimes now: the murder and the coverup.

You are right about the subtle distinction in the language. Thanks for helping on that point.

[Thespian2]

39. Only in Texas

have I found very good people (a few) who live amongst right-wing crazies (the majority). I was a grad student for five years in Houston. Learned many places one should not visit in that vast state. I would never go back to that state for any reason. I am much happier living in Canada.

[arely staircase]

73. yeah no racist murders anywhere else. nt

[blackspade]

42. Sounds like Sabine County needs to be quarantined

For the safety of other Americans.
There seems to be some kind of disease there.

[mfcorey1]

43. When I was younger we were always warned about driving through Texas,

especially at night. I see things have not changed.

[bigdarryl]

44. This story should be NATIONAL NEWS!!!!

[TorchTheWitch]

116. it is

Google it.

[Orrex]

46. Horrible story, but I have a question

That link isn't working for me, so I can't read the underlying article.

Where did they get the details about when Wright was picked up and the violence he suffered afterwards?

[BklnDem75]

48. His tongue was missing too...

Clearly that coroner has been reading his own toxicology report.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551458/FBI-investigate-mysterious-death-physiotherapist-vanished-turned-three-weeks-later-place-police-searched.html


Last night, US Rep for Texas Sheila Jackson announced the case has been handed to the Texas Rangers and the FBI for closer examination.

[Xyzse]

56. Good, it needs to go beyond local authorities.

[Blue_Tires]

74. +1

[El_Johns]

64. Good. Horrifying.

[toby jo]

51. Peace to his wife and child.

He looks like the fine and brilliant man she describes.

[jsr]

52. The local deputies really did a thorough search for him.

"Alfred’s watch, clothing and his identification were found in the area near where deputies claimed to have searched."

[Gothmog]

63. Jasper has a long history of this type of behavior

The KKK is still active in this area

[dbackjon]

67. This makes me sick

It seems clear he was kidnapped and murdered. Probably for the crime of marrying a white woman.

Sheriff, DA need to be arrested

[TorchTheWitch]

118. arrested for what?

The sheriff and prosecutor just went by the autopsy results just like any other police department and prosecutor's office would have in any other death case anywhere in the US. Have we all suddenly forgotten that in order for a homicide investigation to proceed it is necessary that the death be attributed to a homicide? How many cases have we known of that couldn't proceed because the medical examiner officially wrote the death off as a suicide or accident? Plenty. One of Drew Peterson's wives immediately comes to mind, and it took a very long time to legally have the body exhumed, re-examined and the death being ruled a homicide. If the ME doesn't rule a death a homicide then the hands of police and prosecutors are tied until such time that public outcry or dogged determination of family can convince someone in an official capacity to re-evaluate the cause of death.

Yes, at this point I'm inclined to believe he may very well have been murdered, but the accusations in this thread are ludicrous taking no account of the county autopsy findings on an 18 day decomposing body found in the woods, the statements of his wife saying he didn't sound like himself on the phone enough for her to worry for his health and that numerous calls she made to him went unanswered immediately afterward as well as the statement of the store clerk that witnessed him on his phone, disconnecting the call, putting his cellphone in his sock and running into the woods of his own volition without pursuit.

Personally, with the little bit of information at present I have no idea what to believe and could go either way as to how and why he died especially given the discrepancy in the alleged two autopsies. And for anyone with this little bit of information to somehow conclude that this was some grand conspiracy by the entire police department, the prosecutor's office, the store clerk, and the county medical examiner's office when there is NO INDICATION WHATSOEVER that ANY of these people had the slightest motive to either murder or cover up this man's ALLEGED POSSIBLE murder is outrageously absurd particularly given that the previous case of Mr. Byrd who was dragged to his death behind a vehicle with his torso dumped in front of an AA cemetery was thoroughly investigated, properly investigated, perp was tried, found guilty, and has already been executed by the state of Texas... so, why the idea that this is some ridiculous grand conspiracy involving all above mentioned departments and persons?

Further, since so many people on DU never bother to read, Mr. Wright did not die in Jasper where Mr. Byrd was murdered. He was found in the woods in Sabine County which is a good 45 minute drive away...

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Frollingout.com%2Fcriminal-behavior%2Fblack-man-found-dead-slit-throat-missing-ear-authorities-claim-overdosed%2F
His lifeless body was found 18 days after he went missing in November 2013, the week of Thanksgiving, near Hemphill in Sabine County, Tex. which is 45 minutes away from where “in the pre-dawn hours of June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr. was walking home in Jasper, when he was stopped by three white men who offered him a ride home. Byrd got in the bed of their pick-up truck, but the men did not take him home. Instead, they drove him to a desolate, wooded road east of town, beat him severely, chained him to the back of the truck by his ankles and dragged him for more than three miles. The murderers drove on for another mile before dumping his torso in front of an African American cemetery in Jasper,” according to the police report.

[Mr Dixon]

68. WOW

If that’s his wife I ‘m guessing he met with foul play, for as much as we would like to think people have evolved a lot of people have regressed or maintained their core values of racism to include the police. Small town in the Texas, interracial couple is not a good mix IMO. Even here is VA, I’m aware of my surroundings, I tend to avoid the vintage areas that’s bear a resemblance to the old south. I have a biker friend who has lived her all her life and she warned me about certain areas I should not travel and it 2014 SMH

[SummerSnow]

71. Jasper still has segregated cemeteries .smh

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/22/us/in-jasper-texas-racial-tensions-flare-again.html?_r=0

[TorchTheWitch]

121. this didn't happen in Jasper

Mr. Wright did not die in Jasper where Mr. Byrd was murdered. He was found in the woods near Hemphill in Sabine County which is a good 45 minute drive away...

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http%3A%2F%2Frollingout.com%2Fcriminal-behavior%2Fblack-man-found-dead-slit-throat-missing-ear-authorities-claim-overdosed%2F
His lifeless body was found 18 days after he went missing in November 2013, the week of Thanksgiving, near Hemphill in Sabine County, Tex. which is 45 minutes away from where “in the pre-dawn hours of June 7, 1998, James Byrd Jr. was walking home in Jasper, when he was stopped by three white men who offered him a ride home. Byrd got in the bed of their pick-up truck, but the men did not take him home. Instead, they drove him to a desolate, wooded road east of town, beat him severely, chained him to the back of the truck by his ankles and dragged him for more than three miles. The murderers drove on for another mile before dumping his torso in front of an African American cemetery in Jasper,” according to the police report.

[jsr]

72. From another county: White cop's fiancee was murdered, black guy who dated her is on death row

http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2002-05-24/93214/
Who Killed Stacey Stites?
A Bastrop County jury convicted Rodney Reed of murder -- but left many questions unanswered
By Jordan Smith, Fri., May 24, 2002

http://www.thenation.com/article/168349/rodney-reed-another-innocent-man-texas-death-row
Rodney Reed: Another Innocent Man on Texas' Death Row?
Sentenced to die after his DNA was found on murder victim Stacy Stites, Reed insists it was proof of an illicit affair—and that her police officer fiancé is the real killer.
Jordan Smith | June 19, 2012

[Mr Dixon]

75. WOW

WOW that’s a great article the sad part is I don’t think he will get a new trial far too often the DA would rather kill an innocent person then admit they were wrong or negligent. Also I’d like to note that this is not exclusively in Texas.

[cinnabonbon]

76. Absolutely horrible.

What a terrible thing to do to someone. His poor family. I don't have words.

[Catherine Vincent]

77. This is a sad and strange story

I hope they get to the bottom of all this.

[sakabatou]

81. WTH is with the sheriff's office

Do they not care and/or making up shit? Or is it something else entirely?

[Spitfire of ATJ]

83. Job #1 seems to be to keep the Feds out.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

82. jeeeezus........

No words......

[PATXgirl]

88. So horrible what happened to this young man and I feel sorry for his family that is still living in

that area. Yes, there are still many areas in Texas where the KKK is active. Hopefully this family will get justice.


On another note. I just read an article here: http://www.12newsnow.com/story/24451425/exclusive about this man's brother Savion Writght. He auditioned in Austin a few weeks before his brother went missing and made it to the next round. It says he will be singing a song about his brother.

[Ken Burch]

89. Those pictures tell the tale:

Some folks in Jasper killed him for having a white, blonde wife.

There are still people in this country who think MANDINGO was an instructional film.

Damn....just damn...

[struggle4progress]

92. Congresswoman: Justice Dept. to probe Alfred Wright death

SABINE COUNTY - by Scott Lawrence
The office of Houston congressman Sheila Jackson Lee says the Justice Department will investigate the death of Alfred Wright. Wright's body was found November 25 near Hemphill in Sabine County. Relatives reported him missing November 7 ...
http://www.kfdm.com/shared/news/top-stories/stories/kfdm_vid_8688.shtml

[struggle4progress]

93. Sabine Co. DA turns Alfred Wright case over to Texas AG's office

Posted: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 11:56 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, February 5, 2014 12:38 PM EST
By Gary Bass
SABINE COUNTY, TX (KTRE) -
Wednesday morning, the Sabine County District Attorney released a statement that said he has turned the ongoing Alfred Wright case over to the Texas Attorney General's Office. "Due to the allegations against the sheriff, and to avoid any appearance of impropriety, I have been requested and have agreed to turn this case over to the Texas Attorney General's Office," Sabine County DA Kevin Dutton said in the press release. "I have requested that that office handle all further investigations and/or prosecutions concerning the Alfred Wright case" ...
http://www.kltv.com/story/24642007/sabine-co-da-turns-alfred-wright-case-over-to-texas-ags-office

[WillyT]

95. The Ironic Thing, Is That Those White Bigots Think That THEY Are The "Real" Americans... Please...

Prove Them Wrong.

[raccoon]

125. Maybe they are.

[merrily]

99. What can one post about something so heinously evil?

[barbtries]

100. how can this stand?!

what can be done to get the feds involved? i thought i was beyond outrage. but this story makes me want to scream.

[Matariki]

103. No words.

That is so sorrowful. Courage to his family.

[JDPriestly]

104. Texas????? How backward are they really?

This couple should have moved to California. They would have thrived here.

I am so sorry for them. This young mother should move to California now. She and her son would be welcome here. Lots of bigots are still out roaming the range in Texas. I sure hope that the killers are caught and tried.

[fujiyama]

105. Rather than busting pot farms in CA

maybe Eric Holder can look into what appears to be a very corrupt and racist police force in Jasper, TX.

Though I'm sure the police would then sue the DOJ and the case would go to the SC and the same five that voted down enforcement of the voting rights act will side with the police force.

It's scary to think that in some parts of the country, things haven't progressed much over a century. And I'm sure this man "stealing himself a white woman" didn't help. This is just absolutely horrifying. And these crazy, sick, racist pieces of shit will not go down without a fight.

[blkmusclmachine]

106. That's like saying a man commits suicide by falling on his sword 28 times.

[frwrfpos]

108. sick as hell

I cant even imagine the pain that his family is going through. Evil racist bastards

[mountain grammy]

113. The FBI needs to be all over this case.

[Walk away]

127. My best freind just retired to her home town in Texas...

she already knows that I'll never come visit her. I feel bad about it but really! How do you go from being a forty year resident of the West Village to nowhere Texas.

[gollygee]

128. Are there any updates on this?

The federal government has to get involved when an obvious crime is ignored obviously due to race, right? Something has to happen here!