Northport Police Department and DCH Medical Center Records Contradict Tuscaloosa Police Department's Account of Adam Bailey's Death
By Donald V. Watkins
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on December 17, 2017
©Copyrighted and Published (via Facebook) on December 17, 2017
On August 7, 2016, Adam Bailey was administered an overdose of GHB that was unobtrusively slipped into his drink while he was at a local Tuscaloosa, Alabama bar with Caleb Payne Legrone. Adam died several hours after he was drugged and subsequently strangled. The records of two Tuscaloosa-area police agencies and one hospital shine much-needed light on what happened to Adam Bailey on the night he was killed.
The Northport Police Department ("NPD") was the first police agency to respond to a 911 call from Caleb Legrone while he was at Adam Bailey's house on August 8, 2016. The call was placed at 1:46 a.m. Paramedics also responded to the 911 call and tried to revive an unconscious Adam Bailey. Upon arrival at DCH Medical Center at 2:21 a.m., paramedics provided hospital staff with a timeline and patient history that had been supplied to them by Legrone.
The timeline of events in the NPD report and Medical Center records directly contradicts the timeline provided by Legrone in interviews conducted by the Tuscaloosa Police Department ("TPD") on August 15th and 24th.
The central witnesses in Adam's homicide case are Caleb Legrone, Matthew Hartley, Joseph Alan Cook, and Victoria Love. They were with Adam at some point on the night in question and have conflicting accounts of Adam's drug overdose and death.
By August 14, 2016, TPD Investigator Jonathan C. Bryant had become the lead investigator assigned to Adam Bailey's case for the Tuscaloosa Metro Homicide Unit. Bryant's anemic police report never reconciled the glaring contradictions between (a) the timeline established for Adam's overdose and death in the witness interviews conducted by the TDP and (b) the timeline of events established in the NPD report and DCH Medical Center records. Furthermore, Bryant's interviews with Legrone, Hartley, Cook, and Love were soft in nature and devoid of any real substance or depth.
Key evidence regarding Adam Bailey's murder appears in: (a) text messages between Caleb Legrone and Victoria Love, (b) Adam's medical records after Legrone's 911 call, (c) the NPD incident report, (d) post mortem photographs of Adam's body, (e) witness interviews with Legrone, Hartley, Cook, and Love, and (f) an audiotape of Caleb Legrone's 911 call in which one of the persons present at the house can be heard telling Legrone to characterize Adam's death as a "suicide" in response to a question by the 911 operator.
Caleb Legrone's Mutating Accounts of What Happened to Adam Bailey
During his interviews with Investigator Bryant on August 15 and 24, 2016, Caleb Legrone told Bryant that Adam left him at a local bar at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of August 7, 2016, to go pick up Victoria Love and return to the bar. Legrone also said Adam called him at 7:30 p.m. to let him know he (Adam) would be late coming back to pick him up. Legrone also claimed that Victoria Love called him from Adam's phone at 8:30 p.m. to inform him that Adam had passed out in his truck and that the two of them were at Adam's house in Northport. Ms. Love left Adam alone in the truck and went home. Legrone said he then went over to Adam's house to try to help him. Legrone also told Bryant that he tried to resuscitate Adam. When Adam flatlined, Legrone said he administered CPR on Adam and then called 911.
When NPD officers arrived at Adam's house, Caleb Legrone and Matthew Hartley were present. An unidentified woman can be heard in the background on the 911 audiotape, but she is not identified in the police files. Legrone provided NPD Officer S.G. Westbrook with a version of the timeline that is materially different from the one he later gave the TPD. According to the NPD police report, Legrone told police:
"Mr. Bailey had been out with his girlfriend (Ms. Love) and she brought him home at approximately 2300 hours [11:00 p.m.]. Mr. Legrone stated that no one was at home and that Ms. Love called him to tell him that Mr. Bailey was passed out in the passenger seat of his truck and that she had to leave for work so she left. Mr. Legrone stated that by the time that he and Mr. Hartley arrived Mr. Bailey was still passed out in the truck. Mr. Legrone stated that they took Mr. Bailey inside to try to wake him up but he wouldn't wake up. Mr. Legrone stated that he was checking Mr. Bailey's vital and that he had a good pulse but that it completely stopped so he called 911….".
Contrary to Legrone's statement, Ms. Love's work schedule shows that she was off work that night. Furthermore, this timeline is strikingly different from the one Legrone gave to the TPD.
Last month, an independent analysis of Adam's blood chemistry revealed that Adam had been dead for approximately fifty minutes before Legrone called paramedics to the house. Legrone's nearly one hour-long delay in calling 911 is not explained in the TPD police report.
The hospital's patient history presents another version of the timeline and events leading up to Adam's death. It was based upon information gathered from paramedics from Legrone. The patient history states as follows:
"Per patient's friend [Caleb Legrone], they were out drinking yesterday afternoon, then around 2030 [8:30 p.m.] last night the pt left the bar with his girlfriend [Victoria Love]. The pt was supposed to return to the bar around 2200 [10:00 p.m.] to pick up his friend [Legrone] but did not…. At 11:06 the pt's girlfriend called the [Legrone] and told him the pt was passed out in the truck and she couldn't wake him. [Legrone] returned and the pt was unresponsive, but was breathing and had a 'strong pulse'. The pt was gargling with his breathing, but did not vomit. [Legrone] stuck his finger down the patient's throat in an attempt to clear the throat. [Legrone] turned [Adam] on his side and held his wrist to maintain that [Adam] had a pulse and at 0130 [Adam's] pulse stopped suddenly so EMS was called and [Legrone] started CPR."
The objective evidence from the witness interviews, medical records, police files, autopsy report, and photographs in Adam Bailey's case indicates the following:
Adam passed out from a GHB overdose that was administered to him on August 7, 2016, while he was in the presence of Caleb Legrone. After Adam left Legrone, his physical condition changed dramatically. Adam lapsed into a state of unconsciousness while he was in the company of Victoria Love. Adam showed all of the signs of a classic GHB overdose during this two-hour period.
At some point after Adam passed out, he was strangled. Post mortem photographs show the presence of clearly visible choke marks on both sides of Adam's neck. Brett Patrick Davis, a close friend and drug-trafficking partner of Caleb Legrone, has admitted that Legrone made the choke marks on Adam's neck.
Caleb Legrone and Matthew Hartley (Adam's roommate) arrived at Adam's house before NPD officers were called. Depending upon which version of Legrone's mutating story is true, Adam passed out as early as 8:30 p.m., or as late as 11:06 p.m. Yet, Legrone did not make his 1:46 a.m. 911 call until Adam had been dead for fifty minutes.
While Adam was laying in a comatose state in the hospital, Legrone sent Victoria Love a text message stating that he (Legrone) had made up a false story to cover up for what really happened to Adam on August 7th. The TPD asked a couple of cursory questions about this text message but never drilled down on this aspect of the case.
Adam's medical records did not show the presence of GHB in his body. No test was ordered to check for the presence of GHB in Adam. Furthermore, Legrone's 911 call was made after the six-hour period had passed for reliably detecting the presence of GHB in Adam's blood stream.
Adam's urine tested negative for opiates and cocaine. His alcohol consumption was minimal. Adam's urine screen found trace amounts of Vyvance and other medications that were used to treat his attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder.
NPD police officers searched Adam's truck and room during the early morning hours of August 8th and did not find any illegal drugs at the scene. When Investigator Bryant and another TPD officer searched the unsecured crime scene on August 14th, they reportedly found illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia, and two prescription drug bottles in Adam's room. Adam was in the hospital during this period, but Matthew Hartley and Caleb Legrone had access to Adam's house at that time.
Close Connections to Law Enforcement Officials Mattered in Adam Bailey's Homicide Case
Tuscaloosa attorney Mary Turner Roberts represented Matthew Hartley during his August 23, 2016, TPD interview. Matthew is the nephew of well-known former TPD captain C.J. Hartley, who now works as a police officer in Shelby County, Alabama.
Mary Turner is the former law partner of Hays Webb. Governor Robert Bentley appointed Webb as Tuscaloosa County District Attorney, effective September 6, 2016. Webb was a member of Turner's law firm on the date Adam was murdered and when the TPD questioned Matthew Hartley about Adam's death.
On January 26, 2017, Hays Webb was sworn in for a full six-year term as DA. Investigator Bryant presented Adam's homicide case to Webb after he became DA. On March 10, 2017, Adam Bailey's case was closed. Hays Webb failed to bring criminal charges against any suspect in Adam's murder case.
On a separate note, Attorney Mary Roberts is married to Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge James H. Roberts, Jr. Judge Roberts is listed on the Court's docket sheet as the assigned judge in a November 13, 2017, defamation lawsuit filed by Matrix, LLC, and Tuscaloosa-native Joe Perkins against me in connection with my reporting on the 2015 rape case involving University of Alabama honors student Megan Rondini and Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr.
The Tuscaloosa News, which published a Bunn family attack ad against Megan Rondini and her family, broke the story about this lawsuit on November 15th. The News also reported that "Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge John England will preside" over the case. Interestingly, the docket sheet in the case does not disclose how, why, or when the case was transferred from Judge England to Judge Roberts.
To date, the Matrix plaintiffs have not served their lawsuit on the named defendants.
Tim Bailey Arrested for Pursuing Justice in Adam's Homicide Case
Earlier this month, the TPD began to mobilize its resources and efforts toward arresting Tim Bailey (Adam's father) on a highly questionable misdemeanor charge of harassing communications. Reportedly, the alleged "victim" in his case is Victoria Love.
On December 14, 2017, Tim Bailey voluntarily surrendered to TPD officers. Despite his repeated requests, and in violation of his constitutional rights, the TPD refused to provide Tim Bailey with a copy of his arrest warrant. Tim Bailey is free on bond.
Stay tuned.
Cell phone extraction records show that one of the key witnesses in Adam Bailey's homicide case had phone calls, text messages, and IMG images transmitted from 176 different cell phone tower locations in three states between August 6 and 9, 2016. We will report what this means in a series of exclusive upcoming articles.
