Jewish Threats

Bomb threats forced evacuations at Jewish schools and community centers in 11 states Monday, February 27, 2017, with the Jewish Community Center Association confirming threats in states ranging from Florida to Michigan. In Ann Arbor, Mich., police gave the all-clear after a Hebrew day school was threatened, forcing students to leave.

Some of the February 27, 2017, threats

"Today, bomb threats were called into schools and/or JCCs in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia," the JCC Association of North America says. "Many affected institutions have already been declared clear and have returned to regular operations. All previous bomb threats to JCCs this year were determined to be hoaxes."

In Ann Arbor, police are working with the FBI after receiving an "unusually specific" threat about a bomb in a backpack, Michigan Radio's Kate Wells reports. After detection dogs were brought in, police allowed students to return to school — but Wells calls the scene "surreal," with news crews and police still hovering around the school.

"My instincts tell me this is all part of a coordinated effort," an Ann Arbor police detective tells Wells, saying that there have been at least two bomb threats against the Ann Arbor Jewish Community Center.

January 18, 2017 Jewish center threats around the country.

January 31, 2017 threat locations in the two above maps.

February 20, 2017 threat locations

Bomb threats forced evacuations at Jewish schools and community centers in 11 states Monday, February 27, 2017, with the Jewish Community Center Association confirming threats in states ranging from Florida to Michigan. In Ann Arbor, Mich., police gave the all-clear after a Hebrew day school was threatened, forcing students to leave.

"Today, bomb threats were called into schools and/or JCCs in Alabama, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia," the JCC Association of North America says. "Many affected institutions have already been declared clear and have returned to regular operations. All previous bomb threats to JCCs this year were determined to be hoaxes."

In Ann Arbor, police are working with the FBI after receiving an "unusually specific" threat about a bomb in a backpack, Michigan Radio's Kate Wells reports. After detection dogs were brought in, police allowed students to return to school — but Wells calls the scene "surreal," with news crews and police still hovering around the school.

"My instincts tell me this is all part of a coordinated effort," an Ann Arbor police detective tells Wells, saying that there have been at least two bomb threats against the Ann Arbor Jewish Community Center.

The Anti-Defamation League says there have been reports of bomb threats at a wide range of locations in and around New York, including "three in Staten Island, one in New Jersey, one on Long Island, one in Westchester."

The ADL confirms threats were made Monday against a Jewish day school in Miami, a JCC in Asheville, N.C., and the upper school of Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Md. It also says there are unconfirmed reports of a threat in Birmingham, Ala.

Vandals knocked over headstones the weekend of February 18-19, 2017, in the Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery, University City, a suburb of St Louis, Missouri.

Vandals attack tombstones at the Jewish Mount Carmel Cemetery 

on February 26, 2017, in Philadelphia.

The threats come after a weekend in which vandals damaged approximately 100 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia — an act that came less than a week after a similar attack on a Jewish cemetery near St. Louis, where more than 150 graves were targeted.

Since the start of 2017, dozens of bomb threats have been made against Jewish community centers; this is at least the fifth wave of threats in the past two months.

President Trump, who had been criticized for not vigorously responding to earlier threats against Jewish community centers, took on the issue more directly last Tuesday, saying the threats "are horrible and are painful, and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil."

As news of Monday's wave of threats spread, David Posner, director of strategic performance at the JCC Association of North America, issued a statement that reads, in part:

"Anti-Semitism of this nature should not and must not be allowed to endure in our communities. The Justice Department, Homeland Security, the FBI, and the White House, alongside Congress and local officials, must speak out — and speak out forcefully — against this scourge of anti-Semitism impacting communities across the country."

Phantom Clowns: Greensboro + Green Name Game

 I

First there were a Stalking Clown seen in Green Bay, Wisconsin, at the beginning of August 2016.

Then late in August, into the first half of September 2016, Phantom Clowns made appearances in Greenville, South Carolina; Green Havel, Alamance County, North Carolina; Greensboro, North Carolina; and now Greensboro, Alabama.

"Green" is, in addition to a Masonic one (Macon, Fayettevile, LaGrange), certainly a Name Game thread throughout. As seen below, the mapping as been incomplete and inconsistent.

From Travis Vaughn, Editor:

Amid social media rumors of “creepy clowns” lurking around Tuscaloosa and Hale counties (Alabama), Greensboro Police Chief Mike Hamilton said Thursday morning, Sept. 15, that a woman called that morning to report “someone dressed in a clown suit” in a mobile home park on North Street in Greensboro. The woman told police she was walking with her children before school when she saw the person. No threatening behavior was reported, according to Hamilton.
So far, no reports have been made with Moundville Police, and we are awaiting responses from both the City of Tuscaloosa Police Department and the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's Office.
Clown sightings have been reported throughout the Southeast over the last few weeks, with the initial reports coming from the Carolinas. Facebook posts about the sightings in west Alabama increased Wednesday, Sept. 14. Some reported clowns simply making appearances in public, but others claimed clowns were trying to lure kids into vans.
Acting Chief Keith Burch with the Moundville Police Department said citizens should, as always, take responsibility for the safety of themselves and their families and report any suspicious activity to the police. He also urged citizens to use common sense and consider that some of the sightings may simply be harmless pranksters. 
We will follow this story and will update as circumstances warrant. We will have a full update in the Sept. 21 edition of the Moundville Times.

Furthermore, there was a clown-related clown school closure: 

FLOMATON, AL (WALA) -

Flomaton schools were put on lockdown for more than an hour Thursday morning, September 15, 2016 after school officials said a threat was made against a student on social media.  The source of the threat came from a Facebook page featuring clowns.   That had the whole community talking and the FBI involved. 

“You don’t take it lightly.  That’s my gut feeling.  You know, you just have to be cautious these days,” said the grandmother of one student.

“Yeah, I’m worried.  I’ve never heard of such a thing as that,” said another.

That summed up how parents and grandparents were reacting Thursday morning after the two schools in Escambia County went on lockdown and others had stepped up police patrols.  

School officials said a student received a serious threat through the Facebook page, Flomo Klown.  That, coupled with supposed clown sightings and pictures circulating in the county over the last couple of days heightened those concerns.

Some of the early mapping:

UK's The Sun published a map showing other sites for clown sightings.

Some of the humor is certainly less than funny to those reporting the clowns.

Phantom Clowns: Alabama

A reporter associate writes me: "I'm investigating rumors of clown sightings in Tuscaloosa and Hale counties, Alabama."

"Of course, along the 33 degrees line..."

Active reports are coming in from elsewhere in the state:

Chief Deputy Ronnie Williamson says the McDuffie County Sheriff's Office has received two calls reporting clown sightings in the county. At 11:46 p.m. on Sept. 11, a caller reported seeing a clown standing on the side of State highway 221 between Hobbs Road and the Jefferson County line. And on Sept. 13 at 6:37 a.m., a caller reported at clown chasing children from a school bus stop in the area around Davis Circle.
"Both of them were running, he's like 'mom mom there's a man chasing us in all black and a clown suit,'" said Caris Frails, who called the police after the sightings.
Frails couldn't believe what she was hearing from her kids. Two people -- dressed as clowns, standing near the bus stop, scaring kids.
"There are these sightings out about clowns here, clowns there, but when it hits close to home, that's a whole different story," said Frails.
Frails called the McDuffie County Sheriff's Office and they are taking the report very seriously. The school board and sheriff's office both monitoring
the stop until further notice.
"We didn't think it would happen in McDuffie County but it seems like it has," said Major Ronnie Williamson.
Major Williamson says even if these clowns are just clowning around, it could wind up with someone getting seriously hurt, as people try to protect themselves.
"It's going on throughout the country it seems like, and what could be an innocent scare could lead to someone getting hurt," said Major Williamson.
One mom at the bus stop this morning says she couldn't make out a description since it was dark out, but they were there.
"We came out right here, and the clowns were standing right here behind this house and they were scaring the kids," said Brenna Dove.
Frails will be taking her kids to the bus stop herself from now on.

"When you get to my kids, and they were as terrified as they was this morning, you have crossed the line," said Frails.
Chief Deputy Williamson says the sheriff's office is taking the sightings seriously and will press criminal charges once the suspect or suspects are caught.
In the state of Georgia, it is illegal to wear a mask, hood or any other device that conceals the person's identity while in public or on private property without the owner's permission. Source

Decatur Again In Weird News

Stephen Decatur.

The Commodore's power moniker is appearing lately in conjunction with some disturbing stories.

Friday, September 19, 2014. Decatur, Georgia. Friday afternoon around 2:00, Decatur (Georgia) Police got several phone calls that a man acting in a "bizarre" matter, running into traffic near B&B Trailer Park. One caller reported the man, later identified as Jose Dorsett, said "someone" was trying to kill him. He reportedly ran into traffic, and several cars had to swerve to avoid him. He was said to be foaming at the mouth. Dorsett charged the officer who responded to the scene, and the officer used his K-9 to detain him. The K-9 bit Dorsett in his thigh, and the officer was able to get him down. Another officer arrived to help handcuff Dorsett. He was taken to the Decatur Morgan Parkway Campus Emergency Room. According to hospital staff, Dorsett was under the influence of cocaine and was likely experiencing a drug overdose. On Saturday, Dorsett was declared brain dead. Source.

Sunday, September 21, 2014. Decatur, Indiana. Stephen Cox, 30, of Decatur, Indiana, died Sunday at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, according to the Hamilton County Coroner. The crash in which he sustained his injuries occurred September 14 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Ohio. the crash occurred during an event called the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience. During the event, which is offered at the speedway on most weekends, people can pay to ride in or drive race cars. Source.

Monday, September 22, 2014. Decaturville, Decatur County, Tennessee. The latest suspect, John “Dylan” Adams, 26-year old younger brother of earlier suspect Zachary, in the Holly Bobo case was arraigned in Decatur County Court. Holly Bobo, a 20-year-old nursing student, was abducted from her home outside Parsons, Tennessee, about 100 miles west of Nashville, on the morning of April 13, 2011. Her remains were found by two farmers in a rural area outside Holladay, Tennessee, in Decatur County on September 7, 2014. The timeline of the events can be found here and here.

Monday, September 22, 2014. Decatur, Alabama. A toddler found submerged in a tank of baptismal water in an Alabama church died of accidental drowning. Brayden King, who was two months shy of his second birthday, was under the supervision of a sister in her early teens when he fell into the tank on Friday at the Pentecostal House of Prayer in Decatur, about 75 miles north of Birmingham. The toddler was found in 33 inches of water and declared dead after unsuccessful attempts to resuscitate him. Source.

The Rebirth of Pan (1st edition, Firebird Press, 1983)

Mysterious America (1st edition cover, Faber & Faber, 1983)

Decatur again. Yes. We are aware that Decatur interacts with bizarre news. Jim Brandon pointed out "Decatur" as a "power name" in his The Rebirth of Pan in 1983, and I wrote about it as part of the "Name Game" in Mysterious America, also first in 1983.

Decatur, Illinois's iconic Transfer Station use to be located in Lincoln Square, named after the assassinated Illinois president, Abraham Lincoln.

My old hometown’s name, Decatur, (of Decatur, Illinois) has a Fortean mystique and synchromysticism about it that has created all kinds of synchromojo.

Several locations are named "Decatur" across the United States of America. Such sites are named after the War of 1812′s Navy hero, Stephen Decatur, who also fought against the Barbary pirates. Stephen Decatur at one time conducted tests in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey in 1804, and allegedly fired on the Jersey Devil. The records say that Stephen Decatur identified the winged creature as a “devil” – pale in color, with leathery bat-like wings. Decatur perforated one of the thing’s wings with a fired cannonball, but it seemed unfazed, which disturbed everybody who was there at the time. It flew off.

The word decatur (French in origin) is loosely translated as “dweller at the sign of the cat.”

Stephen Decatur, a Masonic figure of some noteworthiness, is responsible, as well, for the Stephen Decatur House in Washington D.C., which is located on Lafayette Square.

The USS Bainbridge, which organized the 2009 US Navy rescue of an American ship captain (Captain Richard Phillips) from Somali pirates, was named for Commodore William Bainbridge, who was held prisoner by North African Barbary pirates from 1803 to 1806.

Commodore Bainbridge commanded several famous naval ships, including the USS Constitution and saw service in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812. Bainbridge was also in command of the USS Philadelphia when it grounded off the shores of Tripoli in North Africa, resulting in his capture and imprisonment for many months. In the latter part of his career he became the U.S. Naval Commissioner.

Lieutenant Stephen Decatur commanding the USS Intrepid executed a night raid into Tripoli harbor on February 16, 1804 to destroy the Philadelphia. Admiral Horatio Nelson is said to have called this "the most bold and daring act of the Age."

It is worthy of pointing out that James Shelby Downard's research in King Kill 33 notes that Bain relates to Bane (fatal cause of mischief), and in Scottish legend, the Bain Fairy is a death fairy who is the keeper of the Bain Bridge. King Kill 33 noted the American battleship Bainbridge, which was dedicated by Lyndon Baines Johnson, is a harbinger of death, according to Downard.

On March 22, 1820, Commodore Bainbridge served as the second for Commodore Stephen Decatur (a Brother Mason) in the duel with fellow Navy officer James Barron that cost Decatur his life at the age of 41. His wife Susan called the seconds Decatur's assassins. The Decatur name game is a book unto itself.

Decatur's name dots the landscape of America.

U.S. Naval Academy

117 Decatur Road

Annapolis, Maryland

The chorus: "That Decatur old Neptune's proud trident shall bear, And the laurels of Vict'ry triumphantly wear" appears in the song Stephen Decatur, as noted in The Life and Character of Stephen Decatur; Late Commodore and Post-Captain in the Navy of the United States, and Navy-Commissioner by Samuel Putnam Waldo (1822).

(Thanks to Robert Schneck for pointing out the Decatur, Alabama story to me.)

UPS Shooter Identified

Just before 9:30 am, on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, a United Parcel Service employee fired on Monday, returned to his place of employment to kill two supervisors and himself. The UPS customer service center and warehouse is at 4601 Inglenook Lane, Inglenook, near Birmingham, Alabama.

After the "active shooter" call was received, officers arrived and entered the building. They soon discovered three dead people inside the business. "It appears it was the shooter still wearing his UPS uniform and two other employees,'' Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper said.

"We are deeply saddened by today's events and offer our condolences to the families and employees impacted by today's tragedy. Chief Roper and the BPD have our full support as we investigate and get answers for all involved," said Birmingham Mayor William Bell (pictured). (More on the Bell syncs of late, see "The Bell Tolls....")

The shooter is a 45-year-old white married father, identified late in the day as Joe Tesney. He is said to be from the Argo area. You may recall, in Greek mythology, the Argo (in Greek: Ἀργώ, meaning "swift") was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was named after its builder, Argus. For more about the links found with the name Argo, see "Argo, Aurora, and AARGAU."

This is the second shooting at a delivery company facility this year. In April 2014, a 19-year-old FedEx Corp. package handler opened fire at a ground facility in Kennesaw, Georgia, injuring six people and leaving one in critical condition. The alleged shooter, identified by police as Geddy L. Kramer of Acworth, Georgia, died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. See more at "Rambo-Style Shooter Goes Postal at FedEx," and "Aurora Name Game & FedEx."

Smurfs Smash in Oz

First it was Leprechauns in the USA, Oompa Loompas in the UK, and now comes a report of Smurfs bashing a man in Oz.

Are we seeing a multiple continent invasion?

The Smurfs made their alleged assault on December 16, 2012, in Pascoe Vale, Victoria, Australia. Australians pronounce Australia as "Ozstralia," and thus so "Oz" is a shortened version of referring to the country, especially by Aussies (Australians) and Kiwis (New Zealanders.

Pascoe Vale was named after the John Pascoe Fawkner Estate, which was originally a holding of 709 acres (2.87 km2). The estate, established in 1839, was bounded by the Moonee Ponds Creek to the west, Gaffney Street to the south, Northumberland Road to the east and Rhodes Parade to the north. John Pascoe Fawkner built a timber house overlooking the creek, in the Marie Street area of Oak Park.
John Pascoe Fawkner (20 October 1792 – 4 September 1869) was an early pioneer, businessman and politician of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In 1835 he financed a party of free settlers from Van Diemen's Land (now called Tasmania), to sail to the mainland in his ship, Enterprize. Fawkner's party sailed to Port Phillip and up the Yarra River to found a settlement which became the city of Melbourne. Sources: 1, 2 & 3.

The Oompa Loompas attacked on December 27, 2012, in Norwich, UK.

The Leprechauns made their appearances in Belltown, Washington State on June 16, 2012, and earlier in March 2006 in Crichton, near Mobile, Alabama.

The Crichton Leprechaun has taken on legendary status, with over 22 million YouTube views of the report. One on-site reporter named Scott Walker remembers that

...the report didn't start out to be about a leprechaun. The TV crew was dispatched to find out why crowds were gathering in the Crichton community. Pronounced Crigh-ton, the area near Toulminville is divided by Spring Hill Avenue into North Crichton and South Crichton, bounded generally by Mobile Street, Dauphin Street and Interstate 65.

It was when the TV crew arrived to find out why people were all gathering that 'things sort of snowballed,' Walker said. 'People were looking up at a tree and saying there was a Leprechaun in it,' he wrote. Source.

Now comes the report from Australia of the Smurfs. Most accounts track back to this version of what occurred, which I summarize here:

A Pascoe Vale, Australia man, 37, bought a packet of cigarettes from a convenience store at the intersection of West and Pascoe streets at about 1:00 am on December 16, 2012. After he left the store an apparent human dressed as a Papa Smurf approached him and asked for a cigarette. The man offered him a smoke but the Smurf insisted it be lit before he handed it over. The man refused and noticed the thing dressed as a Smurf was with three other entities, who were also dressed as Smurfs. The Pascoe Vale man was then smashed and bashed but the police initial reports said they were unclear if the alleged offenders were the "group in fancy dress," as the Australian media called them.

"We are trying to piece it all together to determine the exact circumstances surrounding the assault," the police spokeswoman said. "Because the men dressed as Smurfs spoke to the man before the assault we are interested in talking to them to find out what happened."

The "group in fancy dress" (the Smurfs) apparently tried to jump start a white VS Commodore and had asked for assistance from a woman at a nearby car park before they met the Pascoe Vale man. Source.

Later four teenaged suspects were arrested. Source.

Earlier reports said three Smurfs are still being hunted. 

Photographs were released by Victoria Police from CTV screen captures.

Coastal Empire Fair Shooting

In Alabama, the shooter had on a devil's mask. A few days later, a Georgia gunman wore a mask and a black jumpsuit.

Police are searching for at least one gunman who opened fire last night, wounding seven, at a crowded fair in Savannah.

A large crowd had gathered at the Coastal Empire Fair, located on Chatham County's Savannah, Georgia's suburban south side, when witnesses heard gunshots about an hour before the fair's 11:30 p.m. closing time.

No one was killed during the late-night shooting at the Coastal Empire Fair on Saturday, November 3, 2012, but seven people have been treated for gunshot wounds at area hospitals. All victims are expected to survive, and none of the injuries were considered life-threatening.

Six of the victims were teenagers between the ages of 14 and 19, said police. The seventh victim was identified as a 36-year-old woman.

The fair was reopened on Sunday. The shooter remained at large in Georgia.

About two weeks earlier, on Friday, October 19, 2012, in Jefferson County, Alabama, a lone gunman wearing a devil's mask was the problem.

A masked man armed with a rifle -- possibly a shotgun -- robbed Rogers convenience store in 6700 block of Old Springville Road at about 11:22 p.m. A Winn Dixie at 2402 Old Springville Road was robbed about 10:45 p.m. by a man armed with a rifle and wearing a devil mask. Armed with a rifle, he burst into the store, went to a cashier and demanded money. He fled with an undisclosed amount of cash from the register.

A 53-year-old Jefferson County man, a customer at the Rogers convenience store on Old Springville Road, was shot in the stomach or chest area Friday night when he tried to chase down the gunman in a devil's mask who had just robbed the store. He has undergone two surgeries at UAB Hospital since the shooting.

The gunman, Jefferson County sheriff's officials said today, remains at large.

"This is obviously a very dangerous suspect,'' said Chief Deputy Randy Christian. " We are working diligently to ensure he is found and arrested."

The Bishop Shootings

A female shooter was in custody and three are dead. A campus shooting incident occurred about 4:15 pm on February 12, 2010, in Alabama.

Three people were killed and several more injured in the shooting Friday in a science building at the University of Alabama's Huntsville campus, university officials said. (Also known as the University of Alabama in Huntsville.)

Trent Willis, chief of staff for Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle, said several other people had been shot in addition to the four reported, but he did not have an exact number or their conditions.

Huntsville Hospital spokesman Burr Ingram said the hospital was treating three victims. Two were in critical condition and one was in stable condition. It was not clear if the three included the one injured person university officials announced.

Sophomore Erin Johnson told The Huntsville Times a biology faculty meeting was under way when she heard screams coming from the room.

The shooting happened in the university's Shelby Center, a science building. University police secured the building and students were cleared from it.

The Huntsville campus has about 7,500 students in northern Alabama, not far from the Tennessee line.

The university posted a message on its Web site Friday afternoon telling students the campus was closed Friday night and all students were encouraged to go home. Counselors were available to speak with students.

The shooter has been identified as Dr. Amy Bishop, a Harvard-educated neurobiologist who joined the faculty of UAH in 2003.

Her development with her husband, Jim Anderson, of a "portable cell incubator" placed third in a state-wide competition, and won the couple $25,000 of seed money in a business competition.

Mr. Anderson, also reportedly in custody, is said to be the chief science officer of Cherokee Labsystems in Huntsville.

Dr. Bishop's profile has been pulled from UAH's site, but Google's cache reveals her areas of research focussed on the role of gasses on the central nervous system, especially nitrous oxide.

Her lab was working on the development of a "neural computer," the "Neuristor," which would use living neurons—taken either from stem cells or fish.

She also developed the InQ, a "precision instrument designed to increase the precision and consistency of cell growth in laboratory experimentation."

Dr. Bishop has numerous articles in journals to her credit, including studies in the International Journal of General Medicine and Toxicology.

Alabama Mass Violence: 9 Dead

Five new shooting deaths were discovered in rural Alabama, April 7, 2009, which follow in the wake of the stabbing deaths of four people in a home in Hueytown, near Birmingham, on March 7, and the shooting spree deaths of 10 people on March 10 by a gunman in south Alabama who also took his own life.

One question I have: Has the media decided that everyone wishes to read indepth details about every new murder-suicide that occurs?

Events like this happened in the past routinely, quietly and locally, but now each one has been elevated to a national story. As a demonstration of this, I reprint the following example.

The Associated Press covered this expanded domestic violence incident today from near Priceville, Alabama:

A man facing a divorce trial shot and killed his estranged wife, their teenage daughter and two other relatives in rural north Alabama before returning to his home in a nearby town and killing himself, authorities said Tuesday [April 7, 2009].

Kevin Garner's body was found Tuesday afternoon near his Priceville home, which burned to the ground overnight. His divorce trial was to start Wednesday [April 8, 2009].

Garner apparently shot himself in the chest, said Travis Clemmons, chief investigator for the sheriff's office in Lauderdale County, where the four bodies were found earlier in the day in a home in Green Hill, a small community near the Tennessee line.

The victims were identified as Garner's estranged wife, Tammy, 40; their 16-year-old daughter, Chelsie; Garner's sister, Karen Beaty of Illinois; and Beaty's 11-year-old son, whose name was not released.

Investigators said the four were shot, apparently with a handgun, around midnight Monday. They did not know if Kevin Garner was licensed to carry a firearm.

It was one of eight mass shootings around the country and the third in Alabama in the last month that have left grief-stricken communities in shock.

Clemmons said a neighbor visiting the Green Hill house Tuesday morning saw a body through the door and called authorities.

Court officials said the Garners were in court Monday in advance of the trial and nothing seemed unusual.

"I just can't understand it," said Clemmons, "and with a 16-year-old and an 11-year-old kid, there's nothing rational about it."

In the divorce file, Tammy Garner sought custody of their daughter and alleged that her husband "has been both physically and emotionally abusive."

Kevin Garner accused her of adultery and of taking $38,000 out of their joint bank account when they separated May 27.

Michael Corley, chief deputy in Morgan County, where Garner's body was found, said Beaty and her son might have been on the witness list for the divorce case. He said investigators believe Garner was "unhappy" with proceedings and "after court adjourned it appears he set some of his plans in motion."

He said it appears the divorce was filed about a year ago but was just now coming up on the court docket.

"Now that we know the final end of it all it's just going back and putting the pieces together," Corley said. "We feel like this was solely a homicide, that he killed them, then went to the home. He used some type of accelerant that caused the home to burn very, very quickly, then walked about 200 yards back into a wooded area behind the house and took his life."

Jerry Knight, an attorney who represented Kevin Garner in the divorce case, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that Garner "had a terrific work ethic and value system. I was terribly shocked and saddened by this unexpected tragedy."

Kevin Garner had worked at a Decatur chemical plant and Tammy Garner at a Huntsville department store.

Along with Garner's two-story house, which collapsed in the fire, a green Subaru Legacy belonging to Tammy Garner was found burned in the Morgan County community of Somerville, less than 10 miles from the burned house.

by Jay Reeves