List of homicides in 1978
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This is a List of homicides in 1978. It includes homicide cases occuring throughout the Birmingham area during the calendar year. Note that not all homicides are ultimately ruled to be murder in courts of law.
Blount County
- November 10: Willene Nelson and her husband, Carl, were shot and stabbed to death in a robbery at their Blount County home. Two children, aged 10 and 13, were critically wounded but survived. Their 21-year-old brother and their grandmother also survived. Aaron Lee Jones and Arthur Lee Giles were convicted separately of both murders and sentenced to death. Jones was executed by lethal injection on May 3, 2007. Giles died in September 2020 while on death row at the Holman Correctional Facility. (report)
- November 10: Carl Wilson was killed in the same incident.
Jefferson County
Birmingham
Birmingham had 74 homicides in 1978. (list)
Fultondale
- December 15: Ruth Burgett, 63, was found raped, stabbed and beaten to death. Her grandson, David Wayne Camper, was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. His petitions for parole have been denied eight times since 1988. (report)
Kimberly
- January 1: Wilson W. Thompson was shot and killed by David Larry Nelson while he was engaged in oral sex with Nelson's girlfriend (who was also injured in the shooting). Nelson was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. His execution was twice stayed, and he died of natural causes while on death row at Holman Prison in November 2009. (report)
Tuscaloosa County
- April 15: Teresa Carol White was found strangled to death near Lake Nichol Dam. She had been reported missing and was last seen leaving the Supermarket Lounge. James Michael Hayes, a suspect in other attacks originating at the same bar, was indicted for capital murder in 2013. (report)
- August 28: Regina Quarles was found strangled to death near Alabama State Highway 69 near the Branscomb Apartments. She was last seen at a disco on Greensboro Avenue in Tuscaloosa three days earlier. James Michael Hayes was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison. (report)
References
- Birmingham News reports accessed at the microfilm room of the Birmingham Public Library