The Littleville Ambush

 

The annals of Colbert County, Alabama, hold a dark chapter from the summer of 1963—the brazen ambush and murder of Sheriff Hermon "Red" Cook. A figure respected for his dedication to law enforcement, Cook’s death, alongside Littleville Police Chief James Cornelius "Neal" Pace, sent shockwaves through the community and underscored the perilous realities of combating entrenched illegal enterprises in the American South.

Hermon "Red" Cook, a former Alabama State Trooper, had only been in office for eight months, having assumed his duties in January 1963. He was known for his honesty and unwavering commitment to his role, characteristics that likely put him in direct conflict with the prevalent bootlegging operations of the era. It was this very commitment that led him, on August 18, 1963, to a fateful confrontation.

On that Sunday, Sheriff Cook, Chief Pace, and Deputy Sheriff Donald Files were conducting a raid on a suspected bootlegging site near Littleville. The property belonged to Troy Thornton, a man with a history of bootlegging arrests. Unbeknownst to the officers, Thornton, who had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer and reportedly felt he had little to lose, was lying in wait. As the lawmen approached a shack on the property, Thornton opened fire.

The ambush was sudden and brutal. Both Sheriff Cook and Chief Pace were struck and killed. Deputy Files sustained injuries in the attack. The assailant, Thornton, fled the scene, prompting an extensive manhunt involving numerous law enforcement officers. The following day, facing overwhelming pressure, Thornton surrendered to authorities; however, justice in a courtroom would never be fully realized. On September 3, 1963, Troy Thornton was found dead in his cell at the Franklin County Jail, succumbing to his illness.

The murders of Sheriff Cook and Chief Pace cast a pall over Colbert County and the wider North Alabama region. The community mourned the loss of two dedicated public servants, and their deaths served as a stark reminder of the dangers inherent in enforcing prohibition-era laws that, while on the books, were often flouted, leading to violent confrontations. Editorials at the time lamented the hypocrisy of a system where such illegal activities could flourish, ultimately costing the lives of those sworn to uphold the law.

The legacy of Sheriff "Red" Cook endures in the memory of Colbert County. His brief but impactful tenure, cut short by a bootlegger's bullet, speaks to a period of significant social and legal tension. The tragic events of August 18, 1963, remain a somber testament to the sacrifices made by law enforcement officers in the line of duty and the profound impact such losses have on the communities they serve.

Governor George Wallace, whether for political gain or out of genuine concern for the Cook family, appointed the sheriff's widow Mary Frances McCollum Cook to complete her late husband's term. Mrs. Cook died in 2002, and both she and her husband are interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Tuscumbia.

Three Years to Identify Her Body - 2025 Update

 

Courtney Vivian Staggs, mother of five, was living on Piedmont Street in Florence when she went missing in 2020. Also known as Courtney Barrett, the 35 year-old sometimes called herself "Hot Alabama Girl" online. 

From the Florence Police Department on August 18, 2020: Courtney Staggs was last seen Monday (8/10/2020) in the Florence, AL area. Courtney is 5'05" with green eyes and brown hair. She was last seen wearing a black shirt and black pants with sandals. 

The Florence woman's last sighting was near the 600 block of East Irvine Avenue where she had been visiting a client who stated she appeared normal when she left. Due to certain aspects of her last known hours, she was listed as endangered.

There was no further news of Courtney until October when her EBT card was found in Lil Caesar's Pizza in Florence Plaza. Despite the find, no CCTV cameras picked up either Courtney or anyone who could possibly have been using the card.

Then, in November, hunters found the remains of a female body in a wooded area off Jarmon Lane. After viewing items found with the body, family members believed the deceased was Courtney, but needed to wait for DNA confirmation. A daughter provided her DNA for testing, and the wait began.

The body was initially sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences which failed to make a positive identification. From there, the body traveled to the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia.

On May 20, 2024, the Colbert County Sheriff's Office received word that the remains definitely belonged to Courtney, and a death certificate was issued on May 22nd. Her family held a memorial service on May 31st, but for Colbert Sheriff Eric Balentine, the work was just beginning.

Balentine has indicated that he expects the case to go swiftly at this point. He has persons of interest, as well as statements linking them to Staggs' last hours. While Courtney's family awaits an arrest, one relative expressed thanks for a major hurdle in the case: Courtney Vivian Staggs is now buried beside her mother.

In January 2025, Orlando Javier Whiteside of Leighton was arrested and charged with abuse of a corpse in Staggs' death. Authorities stated he was with Courtney at the time of her death and helped dispose of her body in a field near his home.

At the time of his arrest, the 57 year-old Whiteside was awaiting trial in Colbert County on two drug related arrests. Whiteside quickly posted bond.

In April of 2025, Paron Que Dillard of Clearview, Florida, was also arrested. The 66 year-old Dillard posted a 2.5K bond and was released.

Authorities have stated that the cause of Staggs' death has not yet been fully determined and the investigation into her death remains ongoing.

The Murder of the Mayor's Son's Baby Mama

 

In October 2020, a mayoral runoff race was underway when local media began to receive communications from a woman who had a revelation about Florence candidate Andrew Eloyde Betterton. Virginia Rosemary McDougal shared her sad story, but its ending less than three years later was even more tragic. 

In 1999, at the age of 16, McDougal, sometimes known as Gingersnapps, discovered she was pregnant. The child's father was Jacob Andrew Betterton, then 20. (He's shown below after a 2013 arrest for domestic assault.)

Neither Virginia nor Jacob wished to raise the child; in fact, Jacob refused to sign the birth certificate, forcing his parents to intervene. (Jacob's parents Andy and Jan are shown below in a rustic engagement photo.) 

By this time, Andy and his first wife Jan D. Goggans had been divorced for some years. Goggans, who is described by friends as attractive, vivacious, and everything Andy wasn't, was living and teaching in Madison County. Her less than stellar ex-partner had remained in Florence after obtaining his degree from the University of North Alabama. According to Virginia, it was Andy who initially took the child in.

McDougal didn't reveal much in her communications as to how her son Christopher Jackson Betterton was raised, only that she remained in touch with him as she attempted to conquer the drug problems in her life. By September 2020, the boy known as Jack was in Chambers County, Texas, a part of the Houston metropolitan area. While there, he and a friend experienced some serious legal difficulties:

The two young men posted a bond, which they quickly violated by returning to Northwest Alabama. It was then that things took a dark turn.

Virginia began to receive phone calls from a Texas man who accused Jack and his confederate of skipping town with his money and drugs. If the two young men didn't make it "right," there would be serious consequences for all of them.

Desperate for help, but unwilling to contact the police, Virginia turned to Jack's grandfather Andy. McDougal told her media contacts that Betterton refused to help his grandson; she wanted the public to know before the upcoming election.

Was her story true? No one published Virginia McDougal's accusations, possibly since those she contacted may have felt Betterton did the right thing. Did he?

In the four years following the incident, Jack Betterton has been arrested multiple times in both Lauderdale and Madison Counties, as well as being extradited back to Texas to face his charges in Chambers County. His arrests include DUI, Resisting Arrest, and Assault, with his most recent coming just days before Thanksgiving 2024.

Nor were these years productive for Virginia. If she was ever again threatened by Jack's crime boss contacts in Texas, she never reported it. McDougal continued to live in the Underwood community, but not peacefully. Eventually, Gingersnapps became a statistic.

On April 6, 2023, McDougal's family members found her unresponsive in the Arnold Lane home she shared with 58 year-old Dwayne L. Pigg with whom she had co-habited for some time. Pigg was later found in a shed behind the house with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot would to the head.

Pigg had at least two previous arrests for violating a Protection from Abuse order that had been granted Virginia. Why had the couple remained together? Was Pigg the real killer?

It would seem so; the violent boyfriend had left what were described by the sheriff's department as "notes and letters" around the home and a handgun by his body. Pigg apologized in his writings for his deadly actions.

It was an extremely sad ending for the 40 year-old Virginia McDougal who was the mother of four children in addition to Jack Betterton. She had related in her communications to the media that she felt she at last had some control over her life. Sadly, it's not always possible to weed out the dysfunction in a family. This family group would seem to be a striking example.

The Body by the Side of the Road

 

She had no regular job. Her parents were deceased, and her boyfriend helped send her to jail. Did no one care that in death her body lay beside a busy highway for weeks?

The temperature in Florence on September 1, 2016, was 95 degrees at 2:00 p.m. It had been a brutally hot summer, and the advent of colloquial Autumn brought no relief. That Thursday morning, an Alabama Department of Transportation employee was operating a mower along the right-of-way on Helton Drive between Huntsville Road and Florence Boulevard. The area had not been mowed since May, and the worker was expecting to encounter trash along with the high grass, but he wasn't prepared for what he found 15 feet from the busy thoroughfare. 

Lying deep within the tall vegetation was a body. Officers who quickly arrived on the scene found a badly decomposed body dressed in a shirt and pants. Due to the body's state of advanced decay and generic clothing, it was impossible to ascertain the sex of the deceased from simple observation. Authorities then sent the body to the state forensics laboratory in Huntsville for an autopsy.

Due to the condition of the body, an exact cause of death could not be determined, but the deceased was identified as 39 year-old Chrysty Lynn Copeland. The Florence woman had a minor arrest record, mainly involving domestic violence charges, and Florence police chief Ron Tyler reported that Copeland had left the Lauderdale County Detention Center on foot on August 4th. That Thursday was the last day that Chrysty was seen alive.

Oddly, Copeland's boyfriend reported her missing on the day her body was discovered. Did no one miss Copeland during the 28 days she had seemingly vanished?

Authorities speculated that Chrysty had left the detention center on a day the temperature reached 94 degrees. She traveled down Veterans Drive to Helton and then north, apparently attempting to reach her home in the Greenbriar area. Due to the condition of her body, autopsy results were inconclusive, but Chief Tyler reported that Copeland had numerous health issues.

Once the State released the body of Chrysty Lynn Copeland, her remains were cremated and her ashes given to a friend. There is no permanent memorial for Chrysty. 

Sadly, in the eight years since Copeland's death, others have disappeared after leaving the LCDC, but have not been found in the same dramatic way. Perhaps the best way to honor Chrysty Copeland's memory would be to establish a transportation fund that would assist these individuals in making their way home safely?