AL - AL Christopher Willingham, 49, Spouse & Five officers indicted and arrested on multiple charges, Hanceville, Aug 2024

[TwinkieDefense]

Feb 19, 2025 article

5 police officers charged following dispatcher’s death

Five officers with an Alabama police department, including the police chief, are facing charges following the death of a dispatcher.

www.wsmv.com

[…]

A grand jury on Wednesday said Willingham’s death was a direct result of “negligence and disregard for life” by the police department.

[…]

 

[TwinkieDefense]

Feb 21, 2025 article - appears quite a bit going on in this small town.

‘Culture of corruption’ may destroy Hanceville Police Department: Scandal shocks small college town

The death of a dispatcher and drug-related arrests of police officers thrust an Alabama town into the national spotlight.

www.al.com

[…]

Six days after Willingham’s death, former custodian of evidence Lowell Adam Hadder filed a lawsuit claiming the mayor fired him on April 10, 2024 with no valid reason after a heated exchange with Wilcox, the city clerk.

[…]

“We don’t know how long this has been going on, but after the dispatcher, Chris Willingham, died in August, I insisted on the State Bureau of Investigation coming in and doing this investigation, and through that process, we discovered a lot of troubling things which are the subject of these indictments,” District Attorney Champ Crocker said in an interview Thursday night on NewsNation’s Banfield.

[…]

The records spell out the disturbing allegations against Hanceville’s police chief, 51-year-old Jason Marlin, officers Cody Alan Kelso, 33, Drew Shelnutt, 39, Jason Wilbanks, 37, Eric Michael Kelso, 44, and his wife, 63-year-old Donna Kelso.

[…]

 

[TwinkieDefense]

Feb 21, 2025 article

Alabama police force put on leave after grand jury says it operated like a "criminal enterprise"

The Hanceville police chief and four of his officers are accused of mishandling or removing materials from the department's evidence room.

www.cbsnews.com

[…]

A small Alabama city placed its entire police force on administrative leave a day after a grand jury recommended the department be disbanded, saying it has "operated as more of a criminal enterprise than a law enforcement agency."

[…]

They have been charged with a variety of offenses, including misuse of state criminal databases and distribution of controlled substances to each other, according to the indictments.

[…]

 

[vls12345]

Hanceville Police Department employee claims he was unjustly fired by mayor amid five officers' arrest

In the lawsuit, it said during the 10 years Lowell Adam Hadder worked with the city, he was never disciplined, written up or suspended.

www.wvtm13.com

 

[vls12345]

Hanceville man seeks to use police corruption indictments as evidence in federal excessive force lawsuit

He claims police put him “in a choke hold pulling him to the ground very aggressively and forcefully grabbing his neck.”

www.al.com

A Hanceville man who filed a federal lawsuit three years ago accusing three police officers of excessive force is asking a judge to accept as evidence indictments finding a “rampant culture of corruption” in the department.

Roderick Van Daniel, a civil rights lawyer and the lead attorney for Hanceville resident Joshua Phillips, labeled the Cullman County grand jury’s indictments and District Attorney Champ Crocker’s statement on Wednesday’s developments as “Exhibit A” in a Wednesday filing.

 

[TwinkieDefense]

March 14, 2025 article

Hanceville officers plead not guilty to multiple charges, trials set

Two Hanceville police officers indicted last month have entered pleas of not guilty and have waived their arraignments, according to court documents.A wife of o

abc3340.com

 

[TwinkieDefense]

March 14, 2025 article

All Hanceville Police Department staff terminated, according to letter from mayor

In a significant development, Mayor Jim Sawyer has announced a reduction in force for the Hanceville Police Department, due to decreased service capability.

abc3340.com

[…]

All Hanceville Police Department staff terminated, according to letter from mayor​

[…]

 

[TwinkieDefense]

Aug 26, 2025 article

Trial for former Hanceville police chief Jason Marlin rescheduled |…

The trial for former Hanceville police chief Jason Marlin has been pushed back to November 17. | Alabama News

1819news.com

[…]

Marlin, officers Cody Kelso, Eric Kelso, Jason Wilbanks, William Shellnutt and an officer's wife, Donna Kelso, were indicted on multiple charges.

[…]