Custody Battle Probed in Double Slaying
Annie Gowen · The Washington Post · February 2002
Reported coverage offers a concise introduction.
2002 · Hoover, Alabama; Rutledge, Georgia
Alan & Terra Bates
A custody visit ending in a double homicide
Alan Bates and his wife, Terra, were killed in February 2002 during a custody dispute involving Alan’s daughters. The killings took place at the Hoover home of his former wife, Jessica McCord, and her husband, Jeff; the victims’ remains were later found in Georgia. Jessica was convicted in 2003 and received life without parole. Jeff also received life sentences. Snapped examines the case, while reporting traces the investigation and its impact on the victims’ families.
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The Story
When2002
WhereHoover, Alabama; Rutledge, Georgia
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Snapped — Jessica McCord
Oxygen True Crime · Season 6, Episode 2 · TVmaze listing
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Oxygen True Crime · Season 6, Episode 2 · TVmaze listing
Snapped — Jessica McCord
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3 itemsAnnie Gowen · The Washington Post · February 2002
Custody Battle Probed in Double Slaying
Early reporting on Alan and Terra Bates and the custody dispute. This predates the convictions.
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Wade Kwon · Wade on Birmingham · August 26, 2009
Jeff and Jessica McCord: dated local case overview
A Birmingham journalist’s retrospective records the convictions, sentences and locations associated with the double homicide. This dated overview supplies local context, while the contemporaneous reporting linked here captures the investigation before the criminal proceedings concluded.
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Benjamin H. Smith · Oxygen · August 6, 2018
Oxygen’s account of the Bates case
A companion account includes family interviews and the McCords’ separate court outcomes.
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