Serial killing couple Alvin and Judith NEELLEY

Alvin Howard Neelley, Jr. (1953-2005) and Judith Ann Adams Neelley (1964-) are an American couple responsible for two torture murders. They each were convicted of the kidnappings and murders of Lisa Ann Millican and Janice Chatman. Judy Neelley was sentenced to death by the state of Alabama in 1983, but her sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment in 1999. She is serving her sentence at the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women in Wetumpka, Alabama. Alvin Neelley was serving a life sentence at the Bostick State Prison in Hardwick, Georgia at the time of his death in 2005.

Early lives

Alvin Neelley

Alvin Howard Neelley, Jr. was born in Georgia in 1953, where he was a car thief during his teenage years. He met his second wife Judith Ann Adams when he was 26 years old and she was 15. Alvin divorced his first wife shortly before eloping in 1980.

Judith Ann Neelley

Judith Ann Adams was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee in 1964. Her father, an alcoholic, died when she was nine. After meeting Alvin Neelley, she began her life of crime, committing armed robbery across the country for which she was later caught. She gave birth to twins while incarcerated at Rome's Youth Development Center.

Youth Development Center Crimes

On September 11, 1982, a Youth Development Center employee, Ken Dooley's home was shot through four times. The following day, fellow employee Linda Adair's home was firebombed with a Molotov cocktail. Phone calls were made to the victims following the attacks by a female who claimed to have been sexually abused at the Youth Development Center, but neither victim could identify the caller's voice.

Lisa Ann Millican

Lisa Ann Millican, a 13 year-old girl from Cedartown, Georgia was abducted by Alvin and Judith Neelley from the Riverbend Mall in Rome, Georgia on September 25, 1982. She was taken to a Murfreesboro, Tennessee motel where the Neelleys held her captive. During her captivity, Lisa was molested by both Neelleys, and Judith injected her with Drano. On the 28th, Lisa was shot in the head by Judith and her body was thrown in the Little River Canyon in Fort Payne, Alabama. Judith even called police to report Lisa's body.

Janice Chatman and John Hancock

Janice Chatman and John Hancock were a young engaged couple from Rome, Georgia. On October 4, 1982, they were abducted by Judith Neelley. John Hancock is shot while Janice Chatman was abducted and brought back to the Neelleys' motel room, where she was tortured and murdered. John Hancock, however, did not die, and was able to point to Alvin and Judith Neelley as his assailants.

Arrest and Trial

Judith Neelley was arrested on October 9, 1982, and Alvin was taken into custody a few days later. Judith was deduced as being the perpetrator in the YDC employee attacks.

To avoid the death penalty, Alvin Neelley pled guilty to murder and aggravated assault in Georgia. He was not tried for the Lisa Millican murder.

Judith Neelley's trial began on March 7, 1983. Before her trial however, she gave birth to a third child behind bars. After a six-week trial, Judith was convicted of the torture murder of Lisa Ann Millican. Despite a jury's recommendation to sentence Judith to life in prison, judge Randall Cole sentenced the 18 year-old mother of three to death in Alabama's electric chair.

Following her first conviction, Judith pled guilty to Janice Chatman's murder.