Bill Wilson

Bill Wilson (born 1880) was an American farmer in Blount County, Alabama who was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife and youngest child, both of whom were later found alive.

Background

Bill Wilson, a farmer in Blount County, Alabama, married Jenny Wade in 1900. Their third child was born in 1907. Jenny left Wilson 19 months later with their third child to return to her family. Wilson then chose to move in with his father taking the two older children with him. During the divorce proceedings, Wade and the third child vanished. Shortly before Jenny was last seen, Jane McClendon, a local farmer's daughter, also mysteriously disappeared. For several weeks rumors circulated that foul play was involved in both disappearances.

In late 1912, Dolphus Tidwell and his son were fishing on the Black Warrior River near the property of Wilson's father when they noticed a bone sticking out of the soil. The Tidwells found a mat under the soil that exposed what they believed to be the skeletal remains of an adult and a child. Thinking that there may have been an Indigenous burial mound nearby, they searched the area for relics but found nothing. They re-buried the bones and returned home. News of the discovery spread, and for several days locals searched the area for Native American artifacts until they lost interest. He recounted how he had seen Jenny visit her father-in-law's house carrying a basket in 1908 and that the following morning he noticed footprints leading to the river. Following the tracks, he found children's clothing and blood on a rock. The story soon spread until the information got back to the county prosecutor James Embry. Embry called a grand jury and indicted Bill Wilson for the murder of his wife and child.

Testimony was given that the female skeletal remains had no dental work even though Jenny had fillings in her two front teeth. Dr. J. F. Hancock said that he believed that the bones were at least ten years old, that the adult skeletal remains belonged to an elderly person, and that the child's permanent teeth excluded that skeleton from being that of a 19-month-old baby.

Verdict On December 18, 1915, the jury found Bill Wilson guilty and convicted him of murder in the first degree. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, served at Alabama's Wetumpka State Penitentiary. An appeal was overturned, and several petitions for a pardon were also rejected.

Pardon In 1916, Dr. Aleš Hrdlička, curator of biological anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, declared the bones to be parts of at least four or five individuals. The remains were very old, and there was nothing to indicate that they were not of Indigenous origin. The trial judge, J. E. Blackwood, believing that Wilson was innocent, pressured the governor and the Attorney-General unsuccessfully to commute the sentence. By this time, the public accepted Wilson's innocence, but prosecutor James Embry blocked all attempts to obtain a pardon.

In 1918, Wilson's former appeal lawyer located Jenny Wilson and her daughter, now aged 11, living in Vincennes, Indiana with her second husband. She returned to Blount County on July 8 and signed an affidavit giving a complete account of her movements from the time she disappeared until she was found. The same day the governor granted a full pardon, and Wilson was released.

Aftermath On February 15, 1919, the Alabama Legislature enacted a statute for the appointment of a commission to determine the amount of compensation Wilson would officially receive. It would be "up to the amount of $3,500" and , "for services rendered [to] the state while in prison," rather than compensation for wrongful imprisonment. An award for the maximum amount of $3,500 was entrusted to the state public trustee, a Blount County probate court judge. The probate court judge subsequently fled the state with the money. Wilson sued the judge's bondsman to recover the compensation due to an action that cost him $700 in legal fees ($ in ). It is unknown how much he received, but it is believed to have been around $2,500 ($ in ).

Wilson used the money to buy a small farm but got into debt and lost it. The last record of Wilson indicates that he was working as a day laborer digging coal in an Alabama mine.