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Invisible

2:26

Choir explores detailed depictions

2:29

of violence and murder and is not

2:31

appropriate for all audiences. Listener

2:33

discretion is advised.

2:35

And as I sat in that courtroom one day, I saw

2:38

the ground open and I saw a hurling

2:40

scream come out. And the blood of

2:42

my brother and my sister-in-law, my brother Reggie

2:44

and my sister-in-law Carol, still cries out for justice.

2:54

Back in the 1960s, a young woman

2:56

named Carol and a man named James,

2:59

better known by his nickname Reggie,

3:01

were high school sweethearts. After

3:04

graduating from Garrett High School in North Charleston,

3:06

South Carolina, the two would

3:09

eventually grow apart and go their separate

3:11

ways in life. Reggie

3:13

went on to join the U.S. Navy, where he would

3:15

serve for a number of years all over the globe,

3:18

including being stationed in Japan.

3:21

He would marry, but that relationship ended

3:23

almost as soon as it began. And after

3:25

his return home from the military, Reggie

3:28

relocated to Jacksonville, Florida, where

3:30

he worked for the CSX railroad system.

3:33

After many years of employment, he eventually

3:35

returned home to Charleston, South Carolina.

3:39

Carol would go on to work several different jobs herself.

3:42

In fact, she was employed as a civil servant

3:44

at the Citadel,

3:45

a military college in Charleston, for

3:48

over 25 years. In

3:50

addition, she'd worked night shifts at a department

3:52

store in town to supplement her income.

3:55

During those years, just like Reggie,

3:58

Carol would be married as well. twice

4:00

actually. She became a mother

4:02

in that time to a baby girl named Aranda.

4:05

However, Carol's second marriage nearly

4:08

cost her her life.

4:12

On February 18, 1987, Carol's

4:15

husband shot her several times inside

4:17

their West Ashley home, before ultimately

4:19

turning the weapon on himself.

4:21

Her husband was killed by the self-inflicted

4:24

gunshot blast, and while it was a

4:26

miracle that she survived,

4:28

it would unfortunately be the beginning

4:30

of a long and winding road of hardships

4:32

and tragedy to come.

4:34

Carol was 43 at the time she was nearly

4:37

murdered by her abusive husband.

4:39

It would be a long road to recovery, but

4:41

luckily she had her daughter, Rhonda, to help

4:43

her once she returned home from the hospital.

4:46

Even though she was only 10 years old at the time,

4:49

Rhonda

4:49

stuck by her mother in her time

4:51

of greatest need,

4:53

a theme that would run consistent throughout

4:55

both of their lives.

4:57

Eventually, Carol would gain enough strength

4:59

to return back to work,

5:01

and after two failed marriages, one of which

5:03

nearly killed her,

5:04

she wasn't interested in meeting another man many times

5:07

soon for obvious reasons.

5:09

In fact, her daughter Rhonda didn't recall

5:11

Carol being involved with anyone romantically

5:14

for another 10 years into the future.

5:16

Carol and her first love from high school,

5:19

Reggie Sumner, hadn't seen or heard

5:21

from the other for nearly two decades.

5:23

Even so, the universe sure does

5:26

have a funny way of bringing people together

5:28

again, and the

5:29

two of them would soon be reunited in

5:31

the most storybook kind of way.

5:34

In the year 2000, Reggie Sumner called his

5:36

local TV provider to discuss

5:38

some recent service issues.

5:41

Unbeknownst to him, a woman named Carol

5:43

just so happened to be working there part-time

5:45

as a customer service representative. Carol

5:48

immediately recognized Reggie's voice upon

5:51

answering the call.

5:52

Once he identified himself as Reggie

5:54

Sumner, she asked if this was in fact

5:57

the same Reggie Sumner from Garrett High

5:59

School.

6:00

Class of 1962.

6:02

The man replied back by saying that that was

6:04

indeed him and that he was the same Reggie,

6:07

to which Carole exclaimed that he was talking

6:09

to his ex-girlfriend from almost 40 years before.

6:13

The stars had aligned. This unique set

6:15

of circumstances would ultimately spark

6:17

the couple's newfound relationship, the

6:20

rekindling of an old flame that had seemingly

6:22

never been extinguished.

6:24

The kindred souls, Carole and Reggie,

6:27

would pick up right back where they left off.

6:29

Six months after that call to a TV station's

6:32

customer service line, the couple would

6:34

marry in 2001, both now 57 years old.

6:39

After a humble ceremony held in Carole's backyard

6:41

at her West Ashley home, they'd soon

6:44

buy their first home together, a

6:46

condo in Latsen, South Carolina.

6:49

Here they would live happily for the next

6:52

four years or so, but health

6:54

complications would eventually plague both

6:56

Reggie and Carole, worsening

6:58

with each passing month.

7:00

Carole had developed liver cancer. She

7:02

also had hepatitis C, diabetes,

7:05

osteoporosis, and fibromyalgia.

7:08

At the time, she'd recently gone through chemotherapy

7:11

treatment, and she was extremely weak and

7:13

had trouble getting around.

7:15

Health-wise, Reggie wasn't doing so well either.

7:18

He

7:19

could barely walk, his bones were brittle,

7:21

and he'd recently suffered a broken leg

7:23

and was confined to a leg brace.

7:25

Like his new wife, Reggie was diabetic.

7:29

Carole's daughter, Rhonda, lived about a half-hour

7:31

drive up the road in Charleston

7:33

and was sure to check in on the older couple

7:35

frequently.

7:36

If Rhonda wasn't stopping by the house, she

7:39

was always sure to call on her mother at

7:41

least once a day. While

7:42

living in their Latsen condo, 61-year-old

7:45

Carole and Reggie Sumner

7:47

eventually came to know one of their neighbors, a

7:50

younger woman named Tiffany Cole.

7:52

Tiffany was in her 20s and was the stepdaughter

7:55

of a good friend of both Reggie and Carols.

7:58

Her family lived only a few houses down the road.

7:59

When they found out Tiffany was

8:02

in the market for a used car, Reggie

8:04

and Carol decided they wanted to help.

8:06

Conveniently, the couple happened

8:09

to be selling their Chevy Lumina, as

8:11

they had just made plans to retire and move

8:13

down to Florida.

8:14

To Reggie, the move was a homecoming

8:16

of sorts, as he had always hoped to one day

8:18

return to Florida.

8:20

He'd purchased a home in the Sunshine State years

8:22

before while he was working for the railway in

8:25

Jacksonville.

8:26

Reggie knew it would be the perfect place

8:28

to live out the rest of his years with the love

8:30

of his life Carol.

8:32

In getting rid of what they didn't need and to help

8:34

a friend in the process, it only made sense

8:37

to sell the car to someone they knew and

8:39

trusted.

8:41

Tiffany Cole didn't have much cash up front,

8:44

but the Sumner's knew she was good for

8:46

it.

8:46

And so an arrangement was made.

8:49

Carol and Reggie would sell their neighbor Tiffany

8:51

the car and allow her to make monthly payments

8:53

until it was paid off.

8:55

In 2005, the Sumner's handed Tiffany

8:58

the car keys before heading off to start their

9:00

new life together in sunny Jacksonville.

9:03

Tiffany began making the car payments to Reggie

9:05

and Carol.

9:07

She would regularly take the 3 hour and 45

9:09

minute car ride in her newly acquired

9:11

green Chevy Lumina to drop the cash

9:14

off in person.

9:16

The trio quickly built a rapport and

9:18

everything was going smoothly

9:20

until one evening later on that June

9:22

in 2005.

9:24

Tiffany Cole would again take her routine

9:27

drive from South Carolina to Jacksonville,

9:29

Florida. Only this time she was joined

9:31

by a friend.

9:32

Her new boyfriend of just over a month, 23

9:35

year old Michael Jackson.

9:37

No, not that Michael Jackson. During

9:40

the visit to the Sumner's home in Florida, Tiffany

9:43

and Michael were invited to stay the night.

9:46

During the stay, the four of them got to talking and

9:48

at some point during the conversation, the

9:51

Sumner's mentioned that they had profited some $90,000 off

9:53

the sale of their South Carolina

9:56

condo.

9:57

Reggie and Carol Sumner couldn't have known

9:59

at the time.

9:59

time, but revealing that information

10:02

was

10:03

the exact moment where the trajectory

10:05

of their future together would forever change.

10:08

The next morning, Tiffany Cole and Michael Jackson

10:11

thanked Carol and Reggie for their hospitality.

10:14

They then hopped in the green Chevy Lumina and

10:16

headed back on their way to Charleston, South

10:18

Carolina.

10:20

About a month later, Carol's daughter Rhonda

10:22

called her mother like she normally would.

10:25

And beginning on July 5,

10:28

2005, Carol suddenly stopped answering the calls.

10:31

But just a few days later, on July 8, Carol's

10:34

sister-in-law, Elita, made contact

10:36

with her on the phone.

10:38

Elita asked Carol if she and Reggie needed

10:40

help moving a television, something her sister-in-law

10:43

knew they'd been having recent troubles with.

10:45

Over the phone, Carol told Elita that

10:47

it was already taken care of and that

10:49

some friends from Charleston, South Carolina,

10:52

were visiting and had already done so for

10:54

her. Without any cause for concern,

10:57

Elita hung up the phone, but for some

10:59

reason, Carol's daughter Rhonda

11:01

still hadn't been able to make contact with her.

11:05

Rhonda and Carol spoke every single day,

11:07

and this was very out of the ordinary,

11:09

and the fact that she wasn't answering

11:11

didn't sit well with Rhonda.

11:13

Rhonda made the decision to then inform Jacksonville

11:16

police and requested a welfare check.

11:19

However, police failed to stop by the

11:21

residence, and when Rhonda learned of this,

11:23

she decided to travel from Charleston, South

11:26

Carolina, to Jacksonville to check

11:28

on the couple herself.

11:32

Rhonda arrived at her mother and Reggie's home

11:34

on July 9. After making entry

11:36

to the home and calling out to Carol and Reggie,

11:39

she quickly realized they were nowhere to be

11:41

found.

11:43

She then noticed a mess of food spread

11:45

all throughout the kitchen, and there

11:47

was an old leftover fried chicken dinner still

11:49

out on the stove.

11:51

The dog who the couple cared for deeply was

11:53

also left unattended, but

11:56

perhaps most concerning was that her

11:58

mother's cane, surgical boom, was found.

11:59

wheelchair, day planner and cell

12:02

phone were all left behind inside

12:04

the house.

12:06

These were all things Carol needed and would

12:08

never have left the home without.

12:10

She'd also discovered all of Carol

12:12

and Reggie's medications were left behind.

12:15

Given that both of them were in such poor health,

12:18

Rhonda became increasingly anxious regarding

12:20

their whereabouts. As she continued

12:23

making her way throughout the home, she did

12:25

a double take after noticing various

12:27

blue latex gloves had

12:29

been thrown about and discarded on the floor.

12:32

Also, Reggie and Carol's desktop

12:34

computer tower

12:36

was mysteriously missing. It

12:38

was around this time Rhonda notified Jacksonville

12:41

police for a second time and filed

12:43

an official missing persons report, believing

12:45

that the two 61-year-olds may

12:48

have been the victims of foul play.

12:51

Police finally entered the home on July 10th 2005. They

12:53

learned from neighbors

12:55

that there had been a suspicious vehicle seen

12:58

in the summoners driveway in the days leading

13:00

up to their disappearance.

13:02

The car was first witnessed in the neighborhood

13:04

sometime after July 4th. It

13:06

was then definitively seen leaving

13:08

and returning to the summoners driveway several

13:11

times up until 11 30 p.m.

13:13

the evening of July 8th.

13:15

But the neighbor could never make out who the driver

13:18

was or any of the passengers.

13:20

The make and model of the vehicle was also

13:22

unknown but it was reported that it was

13:25

some type of gray sports car.

13:27

The summoners Lincoln town car was also

13:29

missing from their garage. During

13:31

the early stages of the investigation into

13:34

the missing 61 year old couple,

13:36

one of the first things authorities obtained was

13:38

the summoners banking records.

13:41

Naturally they were looking to see if any

13:43

unusual activity had occurred.

13:45

According to their records there had in fact

13:47

been an inordinate amount of transactions

13:50

beginning on July 9th.

13:52

The same day Rhonda showed up at her mother

13:54

and Reggie's home. The summoners

13:56

barely used their ATM cards but

13:59

all of a sudden ran

13:59

Random withdrawals began occurring at various

14:02

bank machines all over Jacksonville

14:04

according to their banking statements.

14:07

Police combed through surveillance video from

14:09

several of the ATM machines and eventually

14:11

came across video of a man driving

14:14

a gray Mazda RX-8 sports

14:16

car.

14:17

Whoever this man was was using the

14:19

Sumner's stolen ATM card.

14:22

It certainly wasn't the 61-year-old

14:24

Reggie Sumner. Apparently

14:26

this person managed to rack up a total of $5,000 in

14:28

withdrawals.

14:31

He was clearly more able-bodied

14:33

than Mr. Sumner was and appeared to

14:35

be a man in his early to mid-20s.

14:38

Authorities were zeroing in on the suspect and

14:40

the Mazda's movements,

14:42

but it wouldn't be until several days later they

14:44

were able to track his next location.

14:47

Valuable time was ticking away in the

14:49

search for Carol and Reggie Sumner.

14:51

They were both without their daily medications.

14:54

Medicine both of them desperately needed,

14:57

and no one had a clue of where they might

14:59

be.

15:03

Two days after Reggie and Carol had gone missing,

15:05

an off-duty patrol officer noticed

15:08

a car that seemed out of place.

15:10

On July 10, 2005, while driving

15:13

down a remote dirt road near his

15:15

own home,

15:16

the officer noticed an abandoned Lincoln

15:18

town car with the rear end of the vehicle

15:21

butted up against the thick woodline.

15:23

At the time he didn't think much of it or stopped

15:25

to investigate. However, after

15:28

hearing that the Lincoln matched the description of

15:30

the car of the missing couple,

15:31

that same police officer drove back

15:33

to the scene two days later and radioed

15:36

for backup. When

15:38

they approached the vehicle, authorities noticed

15:41

a $5 bill oddly stuck to a piece

15:43

of duct tape on the ground.

15:45

All of the Lincoln's windows had been rolled

15:47

down and there was sand on the floorboards

15:49

of the car's interior,

15:51

along with more duct tape stuck to the fabric

15:53

and the back seat.

15:55

The car's VIN number was subsequently matched

15:58

to the Sumner's car.

15:59

And once police opened the trunk, any

16:02

hope that Reggie and Carol may eventually

16:04

be found safe immediately diminished.

16:07

They opened the latch only to reveal

16:10

four separate shovels, each

16:12

covered in sand.

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19:03

Later that same day on July 12th, 2005, the

19:06

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office received various

19:09

phone calls from a man claiming to be Reggie

19:11

Sumner. When authorities called the number

19:14

back, the person who identified himself as

19:16

Reggie told the detective a friend of

19:18

his had informed him that he and his wife's

19:20

house had been robbed.

19:22

He also mentioned hearing news of their Lincoln

19:24

Town Car being stolen from the garage.

19:27

The man went on to tell law enforcement over the phone

19:29

that both he and Carol were fine

19:32

and that they were in Delaware for a funeral.

19:35

The call was being recorded and authorities

19:37

played along informing the assumed Reggie

19:40

Sumner imposter that

19:41

he was in luck and that the Lincoln

19:43

Town Car had already in fact

19:46

been recovered.

19:48

The detective went on to ask the man a few simple

19:51

questions, like the name of his dog,

19:53

the airport and airline he and Carol

19:56

used to fly to Delaware,

19:57

and where they were staying. Interestingly

20:00

enough, the town Reggie responded

20:02

back with didn't even exist.

20:05

In the airport he said he and Carol flew out

20:07

of only handled cargo flights and

20:09

not commercial airlines. Whoever

20:11

the man was on the phone struggled

20:13

to sell his bit even further when

20:16

he inquired about his bank accounts, explaining

20:18

to the detective that his ATM

20:21

cards were no longer working.

20:23

The man claiming to be Reggie even

20:25

asked the detective if he could help him get them

20:27

working again.

20:29

Law enforcement then assured the man that

20:31

they would be helping him out.

20:33

When the detective asked to speak with Carol,

20:35

the phone was handed over and a woman's

20:38

voice was soon heard on the line.

20:40

Just like the man claiming to be Reggie, whoever

20:43

this person was on the other end of the phone

20:45

didn't sound like they were over 60 years old.

20:48

They

20:48

sounded much younger,

20:50

although the woman did try to play

20:52

the part of a tired and sickly older

20:54

lady.

20:55

With this woman's benefit, she at least had

20:58

more factual information handy to provide

21:00

detectives as opposed to her partner

21:02

in crime.

21:04

The woman claiming to be Carol spoke of her

21:06

family in Charleston, South Carolina, and

21:08

having cancer. She even provided

21:10

her social security number over the telephone.

21:13

After reassuring law enforcement that the couple

21:16

was safe and sound, explaining

21:18

that they were simply away and out of town

21:20

in Delaware, they said their goodbyes

21:22

and then hung up.

21:24

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Department then contacted

21:27

the Sumner's Bank just like they had promised.

21:30

Despite the obvious fraudulent activity, the

21:32

police requested their accounts be reopened

21:35

and remain active, so they could continue

21:37

to track where these people were actually located

21:40

when they were making the withdrawals.

21:42

You would think whoever was using the Sumner's

21:44

ATM card couldn't possibly be

21:47

dumb enough to continue doing so,

21:49

but lucky for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office,

21:52

they were, and after the bank account trap

21:54

was set, authorities made another

21:56

call, this time to the U.S. Marshals

21:58

Service.

22:01

With their combined resources, authorities

22:04

were eventually able to track the fake Carol

22:06

and Reggie's number to a Charleston, South

22:08

Carolina address.

22:10

Cell phone towers indicated that the same

22:12

device had made calls on July 8, 2005 in Jacksonville,

22:16

Florida off of Reed Avenue where the summoners lived.

22:19

Those calls were made between the hours of 9.49 and 10.15

22:21

pm.

22:24

Another went out in the town of McClenny

22:26

a few hours later, a town 30 miles

22:28

west of Jacksonville at approximately 12.50 am.

22:33

Investigators also learned that the same cell

22:35

phone had to call the company named Triangle

22:37

Rental Car in Charleston and

22:40

after contacting the rental company, police

22:42

learned that a gray Mazda RX-8 sports

22:44

car had been rented just a few days

22:46

before to a woman named Tiffany

22:49

Cole.

22:50

The rental period of the car had already expired

22:52

and the balance was past due,

22:55

but the Mazda had yet to have been returned

22:57

to the lot.

22:58

The rental company told authorities they too

23:00

had recently begun tracking down the Mazda

23:02

via the car's internal GPS system,

23:05

as they now considered it stolen. But

23:07

the GPS couldn't track in real time,

23:10

though they did provide location updates

23:12

intermittently.

23:14

One of the cars logged at GPS coordinates placed

23:16

the Mazda at the summoner's residence on July 8,

23:19

another placed it at the site of one of the ATM

23:21

withdrawals, corroborating evidence police

23:23

had gathered from days before.

23:26

Initially the Mazda was tracked down and located

23:28

at an abandoned office building parking lot,

23:31

not far from where it was rented.

23:33

After learning Tiffany Cole had a prior relationship

23:36

with the summoners and that the car

23:38

in question was rented under her name,

23:41

it wasn't long before investigators showed

23:43

up knocking at her door.

23:45

Nearly four hours away from the summoner home

23:47

back in Charleston, South Carolina,

23:50

Tiffany's brother David answered the door

23:52

only to be met by several members of law

23:54

enforcement.

23:55

The understanding the gravity of the situation

23:58

ultimately gave up his

23:59

sister and led them directly

24:02

to Tiffany Cole's location.

24:04

Her brother told police that Tiffany was staying

24:06

at a nearby Best Western hotel in North

24:08

Charleston with some friends.

24:10

Before their arrival, investigators confirmed

24:13

that two rooms had been reserved at the hotel,

24:16

again under the name Tiffany Cole.

24:19

On July 14, 2005, authorities descended upon both of the rooms.

24:25

Inside, they would find 23-year-old

24:27

Tiffany Ann Cole, her boyfriend 23-year-old

24:30

Michael Jackson, and another man,

24:33

18-year-old Alan Wade.

24:35

After patting the suspects down, authorities

24:38

found the Sumner's ATM card located

24:40

in Michael Jackson's back pants pocket.

24:51

After all three were taken into custody and

24:53

search warrants were obtained, authorities

24:55

located several items belonging to the Sumner's

24:58

in both hotel rooms. The

25:00

Carroll and Reggie's driver's license were

25:02

also there, along with credit cards,

25:04

checkbooks, personal mail, and other

25:06

documents that included social security

25:08

numbers, AOL account usernames, and

25:11

personal passwords.

25:13

There was also a collection of newly purchased jewelry

25:16

as well as a recently purchased laptop, the

25:18

remnants of an apparent spending spree. Authorities

25:21

also discovered a check from the Sumner's made

25:24

out to Alan Wade in the amount of $8,000. In

25:28

the room Tiffany Cole had been staying in, they

25:30

also came across a disposable camera.

25:33

The photographs, once developed, showed

25:35

Tiffany Cole, Michael Jackson, Alan

25:37

Wade, and another woman partying and

25:40

seemingly living their best lives.

25:42

It was later determined that these photographs

25:44

were taken in Myrtle Beach weeks before

25:47

the Sumner's even went missing.

25:49

Authorities also located a keyring in Tiffany's

25:51

room belonging to one of the Sumner's.

25:54

In

25:54

the parking lot of the Best Western, they also

25:56

found Tiffany's green Chevy Lumina,

25:59

the very same color.

25:59

the Sumner's sold her months before.

26:03

In the trunk they found a rare coin collection

26:05

belonging not to Tiffany, but to

26:07

Carol and Reggie.

26:09

North Charleston police now had three individuals

26:11

in custody, but what they didn't have was

26:13

the location of the missing 61 year

26:16

olds Carol and Reggie Sumner.

26:18

After learning of the arrests, Detective Meacham,

26:21

the Jacksonville detective who actually spoke

26:23

with the two individuals on the phone, were claiming

26:26

to be the Sumner's just days before, immediately

26:28

made his way to South Carolina.

26:31

It was Detective Meacham who would be the man

26:33

to formally interview Tiffany Cole for the

26:36

very first time.

26:37

One of the things he confronted her with right off

26:39

the bat were the fake phone calls made

26:42

to his department.

26:44

Tiffany confessed to this aspect of the crime

26:46

right away.

26:47

She confirmed that it was indeed her pretending

26:49

to be Carol on the other end of the line,

26:52

but explained that she was instructed to lie

26:54

by her boyfriend Michael Jackson

26:56

aka the fake Reggie Sumner.

26:59

She told the detective that following her and her boyfriend's

27:02

visit to the Sumner home together, they

27:04

began devising a plan to rob them of their

27:06

cash.

27:07

She said that in the month leading up to their disappearance,

27:10

Tiffany Michael Jackson, Alan Wade

27:13

and a fourth man, 20 year old Bruce

27:15

Nixon began conspiring together.

27:18

Nixon who was still at large was

27:20

a friend of Alan Wade's.

27:22

This was the first time authorities heard the name

27:24

Bruce Nixon

27:26

as up until this point, they were unaware there

27:28

was a fourth party.

27:30

Tiffany went on to say that she thought they were

27:32

simply going to steal the couple's ATM cards,

27:34

get the cash and that was it.

27:37

She said that her boyfriend made an effort to keep

27:39

her in the dark regarding the many logistics

27:41

of the crime.

27:43

She then went on to tell Detective Meacham that

27:45

after partying in Myrtle Beach, the group

27:47

stopped at a flea market and admitted to purchasing

27:50

pocket knives and BB guns

27:52

with the intention of using them during the robbery.

27:55

Tiffany Cole also went into great detail

27:58

about what happened next.

27:59

But the one thing she kept repeating

28:02

was that she didn't know anyone

28:04

was going to wind up dead.

28:10

After Tiffany Cole ratted out her accomplices

28:13

as well as the last of the remaining suspects,

28:15

20-year-old Bruce Nixon was arrested

28:18

days later on July 16th, 2005.

28:21

Nixon confessed to his involvement and

28:23

led investigators to the bodies of Carol

28:26

and Reggie Sumner,

28:27

that very same day.

28:29

The Sumner's bodies were found days later

28:31

in a shallow grave in Charlton County, Georgia.

28:34

They had been buried alive.

28:38

Bruce Nixon brought homicide detectives to

28:40

Charlton County,

28:41

a remote spot on the Florida, Georgia line,

28:44

roughly 35 miles from Carol and Reggie's

28:46

Jacksonville home.

28:48

After exhuming their bodies from a shallow

28:50

man-made ditch, the Sumner's were found

28:52

in moderate stages of decomposition,

28:55

their bodies still in the kneeling position.

28:58

Carol and Reggie had duct tape on their wrists,

29:00

but had apparently freed themselves sometime

29:03

right before they died. At the

29:05

crime scene, investigators would also recover

29:08

empty cigarette packs, beer cans, and

29:10

spent plastic casings from the toy gun.

29:13

The autopsy would reveal that the cause

29:15

of death was from mechanical asphyxia

29:18

and smothering,

29:19

as dirt and soil had clogged in the back

29:21

of the Sumner's airways and was found

29:23

in their mouths, tracheas, and esophaguses.

29:26

The

29:26

medical examiner concluded that the weight of

29:28

dirt placed on top of the victims also

29:30

compressed their diaphragms,

29:32

making it even more difficult to breathe.

29:35

In short, the Sumner's were in fact

29:37

buried alive, resulting in one of the most

29:40

cruel and unusual homicides the

29:42

states of Florida and Georgia had ever

29:44

seen.

29:45

A neighbor tells family that she remembers

29:47

seeing a strange car come and go

29:49

from the Sumner's house, and family says

29:52

that they think that Carol and Reggie probably

29:54

were just being nice, allowing

29:56

the group to stay overnight so they didn't

29:58

have to make the trip to and from.

29:59

from Charleston all in one day.

30:03

On August 18th, 2005, a Duval

30:05

County grand jury handed down a six

30:08

count indictment for Michael Jackson, Bruce

30:10

Nixon, Alan Wade and Tiffany

30:12

Cole,

30:13

including two counts of first degree murder,

30:16

two counts of armed kidnapping and

30:18

two counts of armed robbery.

30:20

Bruce Nixon would wind up taking a plea deal

30:22

almost immediately and agreed to plead

30:25

guilty to two counts of second degree murder in

30:27

exchange for his testimony against all

30:29

three of his co-defendants.

30:31

For his cooperation, he'd be looking at a

30:33

sentence of anywhere from 52 years

30:36

to life in prison without the possibility

30:38

of parole.

30:39

Tiffany Cole, Michael Jackson and Alan

30:42

Wade, on the other hand, were all facing

30:44

a potential death sentence.

30:55

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Tiffany Cole's boyfriend, Michael Jackson,

32:30

would be tried first out of the group, and

32:33

on May 1st, 2007, opening

32:35

statements at his trial began.

32:38

And

32:38

while the facts known up to this point were already

32:40

horrific in nature, Bruce Nixon's

32:42

testimony would ultimately reveal the true

32:45

depravity in which all four of these

32:47

individuals engaged in.

32:50

Between Tiffany Cole's initial statements to

32:52

detectives, Bruce Nixon's testimony

32:54

read aloud by the state prosecutor at Michael

32:56

Jackson's trial, and the many case file

32:58

documents painstakingly researched

33:00

for this episode, the following is

33:03

a full detailed breakdown of

33:05

what actually happened to Carol and Reggie

33:07

Sumner. The

33:10

plan to rob the Sumners was devised

33:12

after Tiffany Cole and Michael Jackson met

33:14

at their home together in June of 2005 for

33:17

the purpose of making the Chevy Lumina car

33:19

payment.

33:20

During that visit, they canvassed the inside

33:23

of the Sumner's Jacksonville residence.

33:25

Cole and Jackson witnessed what they

33:27

viewed as expensive furnishings.

33:30

And after hearing how the couple profited nearly $100,000

33:32

from the sale of their South Carolina

33:35

condo, the planning stages of this

33:37

gruesome crime began. Sometime

33:41

between that drive back to South Carolina

33:43

in the green Chevy Lumina and their return

33:45

home, Tiffany and her relatively

33:48

new boyfriend began discussing how

33:50

they were going to pilfer all of Carol and Reggie

33:52

Sumner's valuables. Months

33:54

back in Charleston, Jackson allegedly

33:57

recruited his good friend, Alan Wade.

33:59

Wade then recruited his cousin slash

34:02

friend, Bruce Nixon.

34:04

Less than a month later, a plan had officially

34:06

been solidified, and

34:08

the group of four was ready to put it into action.

34:11

But first, they would travel over five hours

34:13

north to celebrate their newfound fortune

34:16

before they'd even accomplished anything,

34:19

though Bruce Nixon did not attend this particular

34:21

celebratory trip. According

34:24

to the prosecution, the group of friends spent

34:26

a week there partying and spending money,

34:29

anticipating that a big payday

34:31

was on the horizon. On

34:33

the way back down to Charleston, the

34:35

toy pellet guns and knives were purchased

34:37

at a flea market.

34:38

According to Nixon's testimony, Michael

34:40

Jackson, at one point,

34:42

allegedly told his partners in crime

34:44

that he planned to kill the Sumners by injecting

34:47

them with a fatal dose of some sort of illicit

34:49

substance.

34:50

In addition, he promised his accomplices that

34:53

they would all split the earnings evenly, which

34:55

at the time was believed to be a total

34:57

of around $50,000 cash.

35:00

Days before the abduction and subsequent murders,

35:03

Bruce Nixon stole four shovels

35:06

from various properties around his neighborhood.

35:08

A group of four then traveled to the remote

35:10

woods of southern Georgia,

35:12

where they pre-dug a 6x4 foot

35:14

wide grave at dusk.

35:16

The very same crude hole where the Sumners

35:19

would wind up being buried alive.

35:22

Bruce Nixon and Alan Wade were the primary

35:24

diggers, aided by Michael Jackson,

35:26

while Tiffany Cole held the flashlight.

35:29

Later that night, they went to Alan Wade's house,

35:31

but were soon kicked out, because

35:34

Wade's mother considered Michael Jackson a

35:36

bad influence on her son,

35:38

which of course now would be considered

35:41

an understatement to say the least.

35:44

Over the next few days, the crew would gather their supplies

35:46

in preparation for the job. Just

35:48

after midnight on July 7th, 2005, Jackson, Wade, and Cole visited

35:50

a 24-hour Walmart,

35:51

where

35:55

Cole would purchase rubber gloves for the crime.

35:58

The next day was the day.

35:59

the night of the murders.

36:01

All four members of the group visited an office

36:04

max supply store at about 8.30pm

36:06

that night.

36:07

There they would buy a roll of duct tape

36:09

and a large roll of plastic wrap.

36:12

Tiffany Cole had already been cruising around

36:14

town in the rented Mazda by this point. The

36:16

very getaway car she ingeniously

36:19

rented under her actual legal

36:21

government name.

36:23

And around 10 o'clock the evening of July 8th, 2005,

36:25

it was time. The group drove to

36:29

the Sumner home, and after

36:31

casing the neighborhood, Alan Wade

36:34

and Bruce Nixon would hop out of the Mazda

36:36

and knock on the Sumner's front door,

36:38

both of them wearing latex gloves.

36:41

Wade had tucked the duct tape in his waistband

36:43

while Bruce Nixon concealed the toy

36:45

gun.

36:46

Tiffany Cole remained in the driver's seat of the Mazda

36:49

outside of the Sumner's residence with her boyfriend

36:52

Michael Jackson. After all, the

36:54

Sumners knew who Tiffany Cole and Michael Jackson

36:56

were from their past visit, so

36:58

they hung back in the shadows so as not to be

37:00

recognized and blow the group's cover.

37:04

Once one of the Sumners came to the door, Wade

37:06

and Nixon asked if they could use their phone.

37:09

And as they were welcomed in by the caring couple,

37:11

the two men pushed their way through the front entryway

37:14

door and brandished the toy guns.

37:17

The landline phone was then ripped from the wall,

37:19

and both men commanded the 61-year-old couple

37:22

to keep quiet, announcing that

37:24

this was a robbery.

37:26

Alan Wade then grabbed Reggie Sumner and

37:28

forcefully sat him in a chair.

37:30

Carol was made to sit on the couch as

37:32

she cried aloud, pleading with the intruders

37:35

not to hurt them.

37:37

Reggie and Carol were then taken into a spare bedroom,

37:40

where

37:40

they were blindfolded, gagged, and bound

37:42

with duct tape.

37:44

Wade and Nixon then rifled through the documents

37:46

inside the home, frantically looking for the

37:48

couple's banking information.

37:50

And while they did find their bank account routing

37:53

and checking account numbers, they couldn't

37:55

find the ATM PIN number they were

37:57

so desperately looking for.

37:59

Nixon then sought Michael Jackson's

38:02

assistance, at which point he entered the

38:04

home to help them look. The

38:06

PIN number was ultimately never found, but

38:08

the summoner's car keys were, so

38:10

Wade, Nixon, and Jackson then dragged

38:13

the coin collection, checkbook, and other documents

38:16

outside and into the car, in hopes

38:18

the PIN number might be listed elsewhere.

38:21

Next, Wade and Nixon escorted Reggie

38:23

and Carol out of their residence and into the garage,

38:26

where the couple's vehicle was parked. Nixon

38:29

and Wade then forced the both of them into the

38:31

trunk of the Lincoln town car.

38:33

The trunk was then locked shut.

38:35

Alan Wade proceeded into the driver's seat of

38:37

the Lincoln while Wade the passenger

38:39

seat.

38:40

Michael Jackson then rejoined Tiffany

38:42

Cole in the Mazda.

38:44

The Lincoln then pulled out of the garage, while the rented

38:47

Mazda followed close behind.

38:49

The two vehicles then left the neighborhood

38:51

in tandem, all six people, including

38:54

the summoners, unknowingly en

38:56

route to their pre-dug shallow grave.

38:59

On the way there, Jackson and Nixon

39:01

began communicating via next-tell

39:03

walkie-talkies.

39:05

Tiffany Cole would later claim this was the very

39:07

first time she learned that the

39:09

summoners were in the trunk and that they

39:11

were going to be killed, which of course,

39:14

as we know, is likely complete

39:16

bullshit.

39:18

With that being said, there was one thing she

39:20

actually didn't know, and that was that

39:22

the summoners' Lincoln town car was

39:24

out of fuel.

39:26

The possibility of this small hiccup

39:28

apparently had never been taken into account

39:30

in their plan.

39:32

The Lincoln had two people in their sixties locked

39:34

in the trunk, after all, and they needed

39:36

to get fuel and fast.

39:39

Bruce Nixon would soon pull off at a nearby

39:41

gas station to remedy the issue,

39:43

before getting back on the road to the shallow grave.

39:47

The crew had previously decided that if law

39:49

enforcement at any point began to tail

39:51

them, Cole and Jackson would speed off

39:53

in the front of the Lincoln to create a diversion,

39:56

believing the police would then wind up chasing

39:58

the rented sports car and instead of the Lincoln

40:00

Town Car, thus giving Wade

40:02

and Nixon just enough time to quietly get

40:05

away.

40:06

In all fairness, this was probably the

40:08

most well-thought-out aspect of this entire

40:11

senseless and despicable crime. When

40:13

the group finally arrived at the gravesite, Tiffany

40:16

Cole parked at the Mazda by the roadway and turned

40:18

off the engine. She remained there

40:20

in the driver's seat while Michael Jackson hopped

40:23

out and into the Lincoln with the others. In

40:25

the town car, Nixon, Jackson and Wade

40:28

then made their way onto the dirt road and into

40:30

the deep woods. Nixon

40:32

backed the car up to the ditch they'd dug just

40:35

days before, and the three argued momentarily

40:38

about what was going to happen next and

40:40

who was going to do what. When

40:42

the trunk was opened, they noticed that Reggie and Carol

40:45

had broken free from their duct tape restraints

40:47

and the pieces covering their mouths had been removed.

40:50

According to Nixon's testimony, they were

40:52

seen hugging one another and heard quietly

40:55

praying.

40:56

Michael Jackson became furious and

40:58

ordered Bruce Nixon to reapply the duct

41:00

tape to both victims' wrists, but

41:03

only tighter this time.

41:05

Bruce Nixon complied and then allegedly

41:07

walked back to the Mazda to wait with Tiffany

41:10

Cole. Michael Jackson also

41:12

made several trips back and forth

41:14

from the Mazda to the gravesite. Once

41:16

he returned to the woods, Alan Wade

41:18

and Michael Jackson dragged Reggie

41:21

and Carol Sumner from the trunk of their car and

41:23

pushed them into the hole. Jackson

41:26

then revealed a yellow pad of paper and a

41:28

pen. He ordered the Sumners

41:30

to give them their ATM PIN number. After

41:33

they did, Jackson took the time to verify

41:35

this information by making a phone

41:37

call to their bank right there near

41:39

the shallow grave. He

41:41

punched in the couple's PIN number on a cell phone

41:44

keypad, verifying that they were in

41:46

fact telling the truth and

41:48

that this was their PIN number.

41:50

But even after getting the information they

41:52

so desperately wanted, and even

41:54

though they now had full access to the Sumner's

41:57

bank accounts, they still wouldn't

41:59

let the couple

41:59

live.

42:01

Alan Wade and Michael Jackson ignored

42:03

the couple's cries for help and began

42:05

shoveling dirt on top of them. They

42:08

kept shoveling until the soil reached

42:10

their mouths and eventually covered the top of their

42:12

heads.

42:13

They then continued piling dirt on top

42:15

of them until the summoners were no longer

42:18

visible at all.

42:19

Eventually their screams became

42:22

muffled and Jackson heard Carol moan

42:24

from under the dirt. Reggie

42:27

and his wife Carol were then left to

42:29

die a slow and torturous death.

42:32

The total time spent in the woods that night lasted

42:34

just over an hour.

42:36

Once the two men were satisfied with the horrific

42:38

acts they'd just committed, they

42:41

threw the shovels in the trunk of the summoner's Lincoln

42:43

and then got in, drove off the beaten

42:45

path, and met the two others in the Mazda

42:48

by the roadside. All four

42:50

of them then drove off in the dead of night, just

42:52

having committed a horrific double

42:55

murder.

42:56

After fleeing the scene the group traveled 20 miles

42:59

from the gravesite to Sanderson, Florida.

43:02

Once they arrived at the remote spot they wiped

43:04

down the Lincoln and dumped the car where it would

43:07

eventually be discovered by the off-duty

43:09

police officer.

43:10

All four then got into the Mazda and took

43:13

off.

43:14

From there they drove just over a half an hour

43:16

to Jacksonville where Michael Jackson began

43:18

withdrawing more money from the summoner's bank

43:20

account. Later on the same night

43:22

of the murders the group settled at a nearby

43:25

hotel.

43:26

Tiffany Cole then went back to Walmart where

43:29

she purchased a bottle of Clorox bleach and

43:31

more latex gloves.

43:33

Brazenly that very same evening Tiffany

43:35

Cole and Alan Wade went back to

43:37

the summoner residence before anyone even

43:40

knew the couple was missing.

43:41

Alan Wade and Tiffany Cole attempted to

43:44

clean the inside of their home before stealing

43:46

the summoner's computer and some additional

43:48

jewelry.

43:49

All of these items would later be brought to

43:51

a pawn shop and sold for cash.

43:54

The following morning on July 9th 2005 Bruce Nixon left the

43:58

group and returned to his home. in Baker County,

44:00

Florida. That evening, he attended

44:03

a house party where he proceeded to take

44:05

drugs from an assortment of multicolored

44:07

pills he had in a Ziploc bag. Throughout

44:10

the night, Nixon allegedly bragged about

44:12

how he had just killed an older couple to

44:15

his friends and revealed that they'd been

44:17

buried alive. Nixon

44:19

also allegedly flashed over $200 in

44:21

cash in the form of $20 bills,

44:24

flaunting the stolen money that belonged

44:26

to the Sumner's.

44:28

In regards to defendant Michael Jackson,

44:30

well, he was screwed, arguably

44:32

more than anyone. His

44:34

co-defendant Bruce Nixon would

44:36

ultimately be the proverbial nail in

44:38

his coffin,

44:39

or the pounds of dirt in his proverbial

44:42

shallow grave, if you will.

44:44

But even if Nixon hadn't rolled on his partner

44:46

in crime, there was more than enough

44:48

evidence to solidify Jackson's fate.

44:51

Despite having hastily scrubbed

44:53

down the Lincoln before abandoning it, Michael

44:55

Jackson and Tiffany Cole's fingerprints were

44:58

found all over the unused roll of plastic

45:00

wrap located in the Sumner's car. The

45:03

jury would also hear and watch recordings

45:05

of Michael Jackson meeting with Jacksonville

45:07

detectives,

45:08

one interview that he specifically requested

45:11

himself.

45:12

After his arrest, Jackson wanted to make

45:15

a deal. In the

45:16

beginning of the tape, before investigators

45:18

even entered the room, he can be heard laughing

45:20

and singing to himself.

45:22

Once the interview begins, Jackson asked

45:24

detectives what he can do in order to

45:27

receive a lesser sentence.

45:29

Plain and simple. What do I gotta do? What

45:32

do I gotta say? Point this, this,

45:34

and this.

45:35

And the recording investigators can be heard telling

45:38

him there's no way he's getting out of this,

45:40

at which point Jackson begins to deflect

45:43

blame off of himself and paint

45:45

Tiffany Cole as the alleged mastermind

45:47

behind the evil plan.

45:49

That's when she started telling me about how much

45:51

money these people had. He was

45:53

right about one thing.

45:55

Tiffany Cole was the only true link

45:57

to the Sumner's.

45:59

No one else knew that.

45:59

them personally before she introduced

46:02

them to Jackson. Still,

46:04

that fact wouldn't help him much in the

46:06

end.

46:07

During Michael Jackson's trial, Bruce Nixon

46:09

was eventually cross-examined.

46:12

The defense made sure to make note that it was

46:14

actually Nixon driving the Lincoln, which

46:17

carried the victims, and that he was the one

46:19

to back the car up to the makeshift grave.

46:22

The defense asked Nixon on the stand

46:24

if he was on drugs during the kidnapping

46:26

and murders, specifically if he

46:28

were under the influence of methadone.

46:31

Nixon admitted that he was at the time,

46:33

thus questioning his credibility as

46:35

a witness. Nixon also admitted

46:38

that he was the one to obtain the shovels for

46:40

the purpose of digging the grave.

46:42

Michael Jackson's trial would last less

46:45

than a week,

46:46

and on May 7, 2007, the jury returned

46:49

a verdict of guilty on all six counts,

46:52

including the two counts of first-degree

46:54

murder.

46:55

Jackson would motion for a new trial several

46:57

months later, but that motion was denied.

47:00

A dispenser hearing held on June 18,

47:02

less than a month before his sentencing,

47:05

Jackson apologized to the victim's family.

47:08

However,

47:08

in the very same breath stated

47:10

that he could not be remorseful for crimes

47:13

he did not commit.

47:15

On August 29, Jackson would face

47:17

the penalty phase. The jury was

47:19

split 8-4 on a death penalty recommendation,

47:22

but in the end, the judge determined that

47:24

the aggravating factors far outweighed

47:27

the mitigating circumstances in this case,

47:29

and Michael Jackson was subsequently sentenced

47:32

to death. He would begin his

47:34

appeal process right away, and his

47:36

girlfriend Tiffany Cole was up next,

47:39

as it was her time to face the music.

47:45

Later that fall in October of 2007, her trial would

47:47

begin.

47:50

Tiffany Cole maintained that she was influenced

47:52

by her boyfriend Michael Jackson, and

47:54

that she had no knowledge that an abduction

47:57

or murder was ever set to take place.

48:00

She testified that she believed they'd only

48:02

be stealing money and valuables. When

48:04

the prosecution asked her to explain what

48:06

the pre-dug grave was all about, Tiffany

48:09

Cole said she thought it was simply a

48:11

scare tactic, that they would force

48:13

their victims into the hole and once they

48:15

received the ATM PIN number,

48:17

they would then let them go.

48:19

Her lawyers also added that Tiffany

48:21

thought the hole would be used to hide stolen

48:24

evidence and not for disposing

48:26

of two living, breathing human beings.

48:29

Sadly, as we know, this

48:31

was far from what actually ended up happening.

48:34

The result would be that two innocent people

48:37

were heinously killed over a sum

48:39

not of $50,000 cash,

48:42

but of approximately $5,000.

48:45

Tiffany Cole's defense would try to portray

48:47

her as a misguided youth and

48:49

a victim of circumstance who had a troubled

48:52

home life. They brought up the fact

48:54

that her father, David Duncan, was in prison

48:56

at the time she was born and

48:58

that she and her mother, Shirley, lived with Tiffany's

49:00

grandmother for much of her early years. Her

49:03

attorneys went on to tell the court that when her father

49:06

was released from prison, Tiffany's

49:08

parents' relationship became extremely

49:10

volatile.

49:12

Tiffany Cole was allegedly sexually

49:14

abused by her father as well.

49:16

She and her mother moved around a lot due to

49:18

the tumultuous environment in the home until

49:21

her father eventually died in 2005. Later

49:25

that very same year, Carol and

49:27

Reggie Sumner were kidnapped and murdered.

49:31

Cole's lawyers would also bring up the fact that

49:33

she had no prior criminal record. They

49:35

highlighted how she was a Girl Scout, how

49:38

she played the flute in high school, and

49:40

was even at one point a cheerleader. While

49:43

this was certainly a valiant attempt at

49:45

tugging on the heartstrings of the jurors, there

49:48

was still one more piece of critical evidence

49:50

revealed in court that Tiffany Cole's

49:52

defense team would have great difficulty

49:55

simply explaining away.

49:58

The state entered photographs taken

49:59

from a disposable camera into evidence,

50:02

pictures that were taken of the entire

50:04

group immediately following the murders.

50:07

In the images, Tiffany Cole, Michael

50:09

Jackson, and Alan Wade can be seen

50:12

flashing a wad of stolen cash

50:14

while laughing, sipping champagne,

50:16

and partying in a rented limousine, while

50:19

Reggie and Carol Sumner slowly suffocated

50:21

to death beneath the soft soil somewhere

50:23

in the remote woods of Southern Georgia. Witnessing

50:27

these photographs is just one added

50:30

layer to the existing depravity of this

50:32

horrific crime,

50:33

and the jury would ultimately agree.

50:36

It would take just 90 minutes of deliberations

50:39

for them to return with their verdict.

50:41

Tiffany Ann Cole was inevitably found

50:44

guilty on all six counts, including

50:47

two counts of first-degree premeditated

50:49

intentional homicide, just

50:51

like her boyfriend, Michael Jackson.

50:54

The jurors would also recommend she receive

50:56

the death penalty in a vote of nine to three.

50:59

Five months later at her sentencing, she

51:02

begged the judge to spare her life.

51:04

But please remember that I didn't

51:05

do this. I'm not the monster

51:08

that created this, but I am sorry I met him.

51:10

Judge, rather be, I'm not asking for justice, but

51:13

rather mercy, the same mercy that

51:16

God has continues to give me. I

51:18

believe that there are many more people that I can reach out

51:21

to with God's guidance and your mercy. In

51:23

the end, the court would show Tiffany Cole

51:26

the same amount of compassion and human

51:28

decency

51:29

that she had shown her elders, Carol

51:31

and Reggie Sumner. According

51:34

to the state, 26-year-old Tiffany Cole got

51:37

exactly what she deserved, and

51:39

she was sentenced to death on March

51:41

6th, 2008. As

51:44

for Alan Wade, his fingerprints were

51:46

also found on the abandoned Mazda

51:48

that was left in the rundown parking lot.

51:51

Of course, this was just the tip of the iceberg

51:53

for Wade.

51:54

At his trial, he would decline to testify

51:56

in his own defense, despite a similar

51:59

sob story that of co-defendant

52:01

Tiffany Cole. Wade would also

52:03

be found guilty on all counts. And

52:05

on March 4th, 2008, during the

52:07

penalty phase of his trial, Alan

52:09

Wade received a death sentence of his own.

52:12

The jury had previously made this recommendation

52:15

in a vote 11 to one. At

52:18

the time of her sentencing, Tiffany Cole was just

52:20

one of three women on death row in the entire

52:22

state of Florida.

52:24

She was also the third youngest woman on death

52:26

row in the entire United States.

52:29

In 2015, she became the subject

52:31

of an ABC production entitled A Hidden

52:34

America hosted by Diane Sawyer.

52:37

Tiffany spoke on camera a

52:39

decade after the murders, still

52:41

refusing to take full responsibility for

52:43

her involvement in the crimes.

52:45

During the syndicated broadcast, she continued

52:48

blaming her incarceration on her ex-boyfriend,

52:51

Michael Jackson,

52:52

but also stated that she was somehow

52:55

a changed woman.

52:56

I didn't know what was coming, and that's all I'm gonna

52:58

say about that. I am not the same

53:00

person anymore. I have peace,

53:03

I have joy, I have

53:06

a sound mind. It's

53:08

not over. There is forgiveness

53:10

and there is hope.

53:11

Unfortunately for Reggie

53:13

and Carol Sumner, there is no peace,

53:15

joy, or hope.

53:17

But you might be asking, where did Bruce

53:19

Nixon end up in all of this? The

53:22

one man who decided to plead guilty for

53:24

his second degree murder in order to get

53:26

a better deal.

53:27

Well, during his 2016 hearing, prosecutors

53:30

asked the judge for a minimum sentence

53:33

of 52 years in prison.

53:35

The judge addressed the court stating that

53:38

he originally intended on handing down a

53:40

life sentence for Nixon,

53:41

but was somewhat swayed by his genuine

53:44

remorse displayed in the courtroom,

53:46

as well as what Carol Sumner's daughter,

53:48

Rhonda, had to say. To

53:50

everyone's great surprise, Rhonda spoke

53:53

on Nixon's behalf, stating that he

53:55

did the right thing by testifying against the

53:57

others and explaining that she

53:59

forgave them.

53:59

him. The fact that Bruce

54:02

Nixon had aided in the investigation,

54:04

helping to bring justice in the case to his other

54:06

three co-defendants,

54:08

was strongly considered by the court, and

54:11

in an act of great leniency, Bruce

54:13

Nixon was ultimately given a 45-year

54:16

sentence for his role in the kidnapping

54:18

and murders of Reggie and Carol Sumner.

54:26

Alan Wade, Tiffany Cole, and Michael

54:28

Jackson were all headed toward exhausting

54:30

their respective appeals.

54:32

And while they'd all been denied on claims of ineffective

54:35

counsel, the law would soon pass

54:37

in the state of Florida that could save all

54:39

three of them from lethal injection.

54:42

Today in Duval County, a high-profile

54:44

death penalty case is going back to trial.

54:47

As two men convicted in the 2005

54:49

murder of an elderly Jacksonville couple

54:52

are re-sentenced, Alan Wade

54:54

and Michael Jackson were sentenced to death along

54:56

with Tiffany Cole. After they were

54:58

convicted of murdering Carol and Reggie

55:01

Sumner by burying them alive.

55:03

In 2017,

55:03

all three would be granted

55:06

re-sentencing trials.

55:08

This came as a direct result of a decision

55:10

made by the Supreme Court.

55:12

The year before a 2016

55:14

law passed, ruling that anyone who was sentenced

55:17

to death after the year 2002, but did

55:19

not receive a unanimous jury recommendation,

55:23

would

55:23

now be eligible for a new trial

55:25

in the state of Florida.

55:27

These prior sentences in question were

55:29

ultimately deemed unconstitutional and

55:31

a violation of Sixth Amendment rights,

55:34

which meant at the time that a total of 150 felons

55:37

were to be re-sentenced. This,

55:40

in turn, included the likes of Tiffany

55:42

Cole, Michael Jackson, and Alan

55:44

Wade. One individual

55:46

who vehemently disagreed with this decision

55:48

was Reggie Sumner's sister. In a 2019

55:51

interview, she

55:53

expressed her disappointment in the Florida

55:55

justice system.

55:56

that

56:00

they got the

56:02

right, you know, what was due

56:04

to them. Most people are going to try to

56:06

come back with something like that after the fact,

56:09

because they're going to try to find a loophole to get off.

56:12

But justice has a voice in justice that has to be served.

56:14

I have family members that are still not the

56:17

same and never will be the same. In

56:19

fact, I don't like to involve them too much into

56:22

things like this because I can't deal

56:23

with it. As a result of the new law,

56:25

the victim's family would be forced to relive

56:28

these brutal murders all over again.

56:30

In June of 2022, the

56:32

resentencing trials for all three were

56:35

scheduled to begin. But after an

56:37

emotional outburst from Alan Wade during

56:39

jury selection, Michael Jackson's

56:41

attorney requested they be tried separately

56:44

and at a later date. The judge

56:46

ultimately granted the request and Jackson

56:48

and Cole's trials were to be held at a later

56:50

date, while Alan Wade's was first

56:53

to get underway.

56:54

But there would be even more theatrics

56:56

to be had in the courtroom.

56:58

Bruce Nixon, the star witness

57:00

from the very beginning,

57:02

decided to change his testimony live

57:04

on the stand,

57:05

going back on his original claims made

57:08

over a decade ago. This

57:10

was in relation to why he and his co-defendants

57:13

were digging the graves in the first place before

57:15

the murders,

57:16

which he apparently now had a different

57:18

explanation for almost 20 years

57:21

later.

57:22

Nixon was now claiming that he was pressured

57:24

by his attorneys back in 2007 and that he was

57:27

not in the right state of mind,

57:29

stating that he was on Xanax, methadone,

57:31

and in and out of consciousness.

57:33

While on the stand at the beginning of Alan Wade's

57:35

trial, he said that his previous

57:38

attorney quote filled in the blanks

57:40

for me on what to say.

57:42

Nixon, now 35 years old,

57:44

said that he didn't care what happened to him at this

57:47

point.

57:47

The judge informed Nixon that his actions

57:50

could result in perjury charges, that

57:52

he was jeopardizing his original plea

57:54

agreement and that it could be revoked if

57:57

he was to be resentenced like the others.

57:59

could also face the death penalty

58:02

all over again himself.

58:04

Nixon was subsequently removed from

58:06

the courtroom and did not return.

58:08

He did settle down eventually, however,

58:11

and even though he wasn't allowed back in the

58:13

courtroom, Nixon did provide written

58:15

testimony that would be read aloud several

58:18

days later, not by himself, but

58:20

by a member of the state's attorney's office

58:23

via a written transcript.

58:25

The following audio is not Bruce Nixon's

58:27

voice, but that of a member of the prosecution

58:30

team speaking from that pre-recorded

58:33

transcript.

58:50

In

58:56

short, Bruce Nixon ended up sticking to his

59:20

original

59:24

testimony and abiding by his plea

59:26

agreement,

59:27

thus avoiding any additional charges.

59:29

Next to speak was Reggie Sumner's sister,

59:32

Jean Clark.

59:33

She told the court how her brother was one

59:36

of 11 children,

59:37

explained that his father died when he was

59:39

just six weeks old after a motorcycle

59:41

accident.

59:43

He was described as meek and gentle,

59:46

someone who would eventually become a father

59:48

figure,

59:49

and the rest of his younger siblings, who were

59:51

born after the loss of his father.

59:53

Jean told the court just what it meant losing

59:55

her brother and sister-in-law, Carol.

1:00:00

I know my brother and

1:00:04

my sister-in-law are gone and

1:00:07

will never return. Where

1:00:09

are they now? Can I see

1:00:11

them? Can I call them on

1:00:14

the phone? No, I cannot.

1:00:17

Can I send them a birthday card to wish

1:00:19

them happy birthday? Yes,

1:00:22

I can. Only to have the

1:00:24

card returned stamped. No

1:00:27

such person's address

1:00:29

is unknown. Return to

1:00:31

sender. James Reginald

1:00:34

Carroll and Oxford Sumner, or

1:00:36

both have been missed by more than just our

1:00:38

families through the years. Their

1:00:40

love for people, their humility, their

1:00:43

generosity will be continued through the lives

1:00:45

of those he touched now, but

1:00:47

now is void in the communities

1:00:49

and lives of others.

1:00:51

The giving, quite peaceful, moral

1:00:54

kind, upright couple are not here

1:00:56

to help those who are down and out anymore.

1:01:00

Our family as well as

1:01:02

the community has lost a valuable couple.

1:01:06

To Reginald Carroll, I'd like to say thank

1:01:08

you for all you've done, both done, for

1:01:11

helping mankind. To

1:01:13

my brother Reginald, I would

1:01:15

like to say thank you for all you did for

1:01:17

me in my childhood and

1:01:19

after the last years. Thank you for loving

1:01:21

me unconditionally. I still

1:01:24

miss you and love you dearly, even though

1:01:26

many years have gone by.

1:01:28

You will always be the part of my heart.

1:01:30

I still hold fast to the memories of your

1:01:32

nurturing love in my

1:01:35

heart and my memories. I

1:01:37

hold fast until them till we reunite

1:01:39

in heaven.

1:01:40

As Alan Wade's resentencing trial continued,

1:01:43

his defense team would ask the court to

1:01:45

consider his own troubled background. They

1:01:48

brought up the fact that Wade was allegedly

1:01:50

sexually abused by a babysitter,

1:01:53

that his father left him at an early age, and

1:01:55

that his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer

1:01:57

when he was just 13.

1:01:59

His mother also testified in court, admitting

1:02:02

to abuse in the home and that she had even

1:02:04

blamed Alan Wade for her cancer

1:02:06

when he was just a boy.

1:02:09

That same year, he began using cocaine.

1:02:11

He was also kicked out of the home and left to

1:02:13

fend for himself at age 15.

1:02:16

Wade failed in school and was forced

1:02:18

to repeat the sixth grade twice. He

1:02:21

was also later denied admission to the United

1:02:23

States Army after failing a drug test.

1:02:26

The defense argued that these events

1:02:28

influenced Alan as a person at the time

1:02:30

of his crimes,

1:02:32

as did his friendship with Michael Jackson

1:02:34

specifically.

1:02:36

His attorneys also asked the judge

1:02:38

to consider his age, as Wade was

1:02:40

the youngest of his four co-defendants at

1:02:42

the time of the murders, just 18 years old.

1:02:45

The prosecution would argue that Alan Wade

1:02:48

knew exactly what he was doing

1:02:50

and that his age had no relevance or bearing

1:02:53

in the murders. The

1:02:54

clinical psychologist would also take to

1:02:56

the stand offering his professional opinion

1:02:59

that Alan Wade did in fact know

1:03:01

right from wrong at the time of his participation

1:03:04

in the murders.

1:03:06

So I wanna make sure that I understand

1:03:08

that people in late adolescence, 18, 19, 20,

1:03:12

that they are capable of empathy,

1:03:14

correct?

1:03:16

Yes. And they understand

1:03:18

the difference between right and wrong, correct? Absolutely.

1:03:21

And they would intellectually be able to

1:03:23

understand the concept of death. Absolutely.

1:03:26

And understand the permanence of death. Absolutely.

1:03:29

And that they would have the ability to

1:03:31

know that murder is wrong. Yes.

1:03:35

Which means Alan Wade would have had those capabilities.

1:03:39

Unless there's something wrong with him that

1:03:42

would limit that intellectual capability, yes,

1:03:44

he would. Well, have you looked at any of the

1:03:46

intellectual capabilities of Mr. Wade?

1:03:48

I mean, I believe from what I read is

1:03:50

of normal intelligence, so yeah.

1:03:53

There's no defect of your way? No. Okay.

1:03:56

Eventually, Wade's niece took the stand to

1:03:58

speak in his defense.

1:03:59

leaving her murdering yet apparently remorseful

1:04:02

uncle in tears there in the courtroom.

1:04:05

What is your relationship with Alan meant

1:04:07

to you, Jade? More

1:04:09

than I can express, just having someone.

1:04:13

He was there for me more than my own father

1:04:16

was, even just through letters and summer

1:04:18

visits. Do

1:04:20

you love Alan? Very

1:04:23

much. Will you

1:04:25

continue to love Alan if he spends

1:04:27

the rest of his life in prison? Very

1:04:30

much.

1:04:31

It was at this point the jury had to be dismissed

1:04:33

due to Wade becoming overly emotional.

1:04:36

During closing arguments, the prosecution

1:04:39

was sure to remind the jury that this

1:04:41

was not a man who deserved life in prison,

1:04:44

but instead one who should remain

1:04:46

on death row, urging the court

1:04:48

to uphold his original sentence.

1:04:51

Spitting those last minutes and

1:04:53

seconds of their lives, clinging

1:04:55

to their love, and that

1:04:58

torture, that

1:05:01

terrifying ordeal is

1:05:04

contemplated by our law

1:05:06

objectively,

1:05:08

as a reason to be charged

1:05:11

with murder.

1:05:14

Alan Wade was then granted his opportunity

1:05:16

to speak. He addressed the court insisting

1:05:19

that he was not the monster everyone

1:05:21

made him out to be.

1:05:23

Nothing I say here today is meant

1:05:25

to justify, excuse, or

1:05:29

defend my cowardly crimes. Reggie

1:05:33

and Carol, if there's a

1:05:35

window or a connection

1:05:38

to the afterlife or some sort

1:05:40

of cosmic consciousness, I

1:05:43

know you can see tremendous

1:05:46

regret and shame in

1:05:50

my heart. Every

1:05:53

day I'm tormented by my

1:05:55

cruel and careless actions against you. I

1:05:59

should have helped. instead of hurting you. I'm

1:06:01

forever sorry for my senseless, unprovoked,

1:06:04

undeserved actions against

1:06:08

you. This is the most passionate

1:06:11

regret and the biggest mistake

1:06:13

in my life. I'm

1:06:15

also sorry for the pain and loss I've

1:06:17

caused the Southerners family and friends. I'm

1:06:20

sorry for dishonor and disrespect. I've

1:06:23

shown to both their families and my own. And

1:06:26

to both of these families, my apologies

1:06:28

are without end. I'd like to

1:06:30

thank the judge and this court for allowing me

1:06:32

this opportunity. I apologize to the prosecution

1:06:36

in the state for not being more cooperative.

1:06:39

Also to the Southerners family, this apology

1:06:42

is long overdue. I'm

1:06:45

sorry to the jurors for any trouble

1:06:47

and inconvenience for you being here. I'm

1:06:49

sorry you have to be exposed to the horrific

1:06:51

things that I've done. When

1:06:53

I was 20 years old, I arrived to

1:06:55

prison. I turned 21 a couple

1:06:57

months after. And

1:06:59

for about a year, I couldn't stand to

1:07:02

look at the man in the mirror.

1:07:05

I was disgusted with the sight of myself. And

1:07:07

I felt this way for some years before. But

1:07:10

I really wanted him gone. I

1:07:14

contemplated suicide on several

1:07:16

occasions before I finally accepted my

1:07:18

fate.

1:07:20

At some point around 22 or 23, I tore myself down. Everything

1:07:25

I thought I knew, then I rebuilt

1:07:27

myself. And the views, in

1:07:29

my life views, and I

1:07:32

started to develop a morality

1:07:34

that

1:07:35

fit me.

1:07:39

At the end of his second trial, Alan Wade

1:07:41

was resentenced to life without the

1:07:43

possibility of parole

1:07:45

and effectively removed from death row.

1:07:48

After the verdict was read aloud, he was seen

1:07:50

smiling ear to ear, relieved

1:07:53

that he would not be executed, seemingly

1:07:55

satisfied at an eternity behind bars,

1:07:58

as opposed to meeting a fate similar to

1:08:00

that of his victims. It

1:08:03

had not been for the sole juror who voted

1:08:05

against the death penalty in his case 11-1 back

1:08:08

in 2007, Alan Wade

1:08:10

would remain on death row to this very

1:08:12

day. Instead, his life

1:08:15

will be spared, and he will spend the rest

1:08:17

of his days rotting in prison.

1:08:20

Surprisingly, however, Alan Wade

1:08:22

would go on to get married, and even

1:08:24

become a father while incarcerated.

1:08:27

A woman he had been pen pals with relocated

1:08:30

from France to Jacksonville after just

1:08:32

a year of exchanging letters.

1:08:34

Alan Wade proposed shortly thereafter,

1:08:36

and

1:08:37

the two eventually had a child together. When

1:08:40

asked, she refused to reveal how

1:08:42

she became pregnant, considering conjugal

1:08:44

visits were not permitted.

1:08:47

Nevertheless, they somehow made it happen

1:08:49

and the child was conceived. All

1:08:52

is a result of this woman writing to various

1:08:54

death row inmates, and Alan Wade

1:08:56

just so happening to be the one to respond.

1:08:59

How romantic.

1:09:01

As for Tiffany Cole and her boyfriend Michael

1:09:04

Jackson,

1:09:05

things wouldn't end as, quote, happily

1:09:07

ever after.

1:09:08

Karma would come around in a much different

1:09:10

way for these two, when Florida law

1:09:13

would once again change regarding

1:09:15

the fate of death row inmates.

1:09:17

After the Parkland shootings that claimed 17 innocent

1:09:20

lives, perpetrator Nicholas

1:09:22

Cruz was spared a death sentence due

1:09:24

to a deadlocked jury in October of 2022.

1:09:28

The outcome rightfully caused an uproar

1:09:30

and criticism from the community, forcing

1:09:33

legislators to take yet another hard

1:09:35

look

1:09:36

at how these cases were currently being handled

1:09:38

and in some cases reconsidered.

1:09:40

Michael Jackson was scheduled to be resentenced

1:09:43

in May of 2023, but a month before he was

1:09:45

gearing up for trial,

1:09:47

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would sign

1:09:50

an amended bill in April of 2023, revising the previous 2016 law.

1:09:56

As a result, the jury's death penalty

1:09:58

recommendation no longer exists. needed to be

1:10:01

unanimous, just in the majority.

1:10:04

And in May of 2023, a jury of his

1:10:06

peers would recommend for a second time

1:10:08

that Michael Jackson be put to death.

1:10:12

At the time of this episode's release, Michael

1:10:14

Jackson's official sentencing date is

1:10:17

scheduled for August 11th, 2023. As for Tiffany Cole, her resentencing

1:10:22

is scheduled for that same month. More

1:10:25

than likely, her death penalty recommendation

1:10:27

will remain as well, just like

1:10:29

her boyfriend's.

1:10:31

If there's one thing that can be learned from this case,

1:10:34

it's that no good deed goes unpunished

1:10:37

and that there's no honor among thieves

1:10:40

and even less humanity among anyone

1:10:42

who's willing to bury an elderly couple alive

1:10:45

for the sake of $5,000 split four ways.