Crowder v. State

Hill, Justice.

Defendant Claude Thomas Crowder, Claude Berry, and Ava Johnson were indicted on November 12,1974, for the murder of Ruth Park Crowder, the defendant’s wife. Mrs. Crowder was found on May 28, 1974, in bed, murdered with an ax. At the trial co-indictee Ava Johnson testified as a witness for the state. Shortly after being indicted and prior to defendant’s trial, co-indictee Berry died as a result of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. Statements made by the deceased Berry and his confession taped by police at Grady Hospital 9 days prior to Berry’s death were admitted into…