Co-defendant gets death in buried-alive slayings
By Schuyler Kropf
Alan Lyndell Wade
The third of four people convicted in the murder of a former Ladson couple found buried alive was given the death penalty in Florida this week.
Alan Lyndell Wade, 20, showed no emotion as Circuit Judge Michael Weatherby on Tuesday sentenced him to die for his role in the July 2005 killings of Carol and James "Reggie" Sumner.
"This court has had a hard time in coming up with a manner of death that could be more heinous, atrocious or cruel, or more painful and vile," Weatherby said, according to the Florida Times-Union newspaper. "Perhaps watching oneself set aflame would be worse."
Wade and his co-defendants kidnapped the couple from their Jacksonville, Fla., home in a scheme to drain their bank accounts, police said. The kidnappers forced the Sumners, both 61, into the trunk of a car and drove them to a remote spot in Georgia, where they were buried alive in a pre-dug grave.
Bruce Nixon, 20, who led authorities to the victims' grave, was sentenced to 45 years for his role. He testified against his three co-defendants and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Weatherby already has sentenced the reputed mastermind of the crime, 25-year-old Michael Jackson, to death. A jury also has recommended death for the final co-defendant, Tiffany Cole, 26. She will be sentenced today.
If Weatherby agrees to the death-penalty recommendation for her, Cole would become the only woman currently on Florida's Death Row, according to media reports.
In court, Carol Sumner's daughter asked Weatherby not to sentence Wade to death. She also had asked for leniency for Nixon, saying the two had been manipulated by Jackson and were too young and on drugs at the time of the murders.
"They were used in the worst way," said Rhonda Alford of North Charleston. "Solving two deaths with more deaths does not make me happy," she said, while admitting her view was in the minority of what was felt by other family members.
Police made arrests in the case after tracing Wade, Jackson and Cole to a North Charleston motel following their use of the Sumners' bank cards.
Reach Schuyler Kropf at skropf@postandcourier.com or 937-5551.
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Comments
DanniD (anonymous) says...
Good...they deserve to be punished to the fullest extent for what they did! Preying on those who can not defend themself is disgusting.
March 6, 2008 at 7:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
How many people have not thought about the horror of being buried alive? They will have a much easier death than the Sumners suffered.
I too, don't understand the daughter's reluctance to see these animals put to death, but I guess this is just her personal belief.
March 6, 2008 at 9:15 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
georgebushsux (anonymous) says...
Please don't waste the taxpayers money of Florida citizens by keeping these folks alive any longer than need to.
March 6, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
quickthought (anonymous) says...
Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Bury them alive as well.
March 6, 2008 at 9:55 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Girleygirl (anonymous) says...
He looks bugged out even in this picture.....
I think the daughter is still mourning 10x worse than ever now & I feel so sorry for her.
March 6, 2008 at 11 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
mac0cm4 (anonymous) says...
I worked with Carol on the AFB - she was always very nice and willing to share a few minutes for a chat. Her and Reggie did not deserve this (who does?) and death is an appropriate punishment for the perpetrators. Hopefully it will occur soon and they won't sit on death row for 30 years.
March 6, 2008 at 11:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ImplantedYankee (anonymous) says...
I think the basis on what is judged "cruel and unusual" should be the crime being punished. Since the crime is murder by burying, nothing short of doing the same should be considered cruel and unusual. Lethal injection is too good for this kind of scum.
March 6, 2008 at 12:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ImplantedYankee (anonymous) says...
Just in: Tiffany Cole also sentenced to death.
March 6, 2008 at 1:51 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
grannyofsix (anonymous) says...
i have a mean strick here these scums as they were called shoud be burried alive BUT they should have a straw in thier nose and cover all but the straw then every 5 mins cut of the air and do this for a few times then remove the straw and let them DIE the same way. sorry i hate what these lower then dog S**T did and makes my blood boil
March 6, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
RTC (anonymous) says...
I am glad that the state of Florida was taking care of this. They don't fool around. Just ask Ted Bundy....oops sorry, he can't tell you. LOL
Seriously, if this trial had been in SC, I doubt that there would have been any death sentences handed down.
March 6, 2008 at 7:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
walleyedwoman1215 (anonymous) says...
Maybe I'm having a crisis of faith at the keyboard, but can someone tell me where God was while these innocent people were suffering? I'm a third-generation Episcopalian and I do not question God's will. I know these deaths are a part of his master plan. I just want to know WHERE HE WAS while these blameless victims endured terror and a truly agonizing death.
I believe, I really do. But more and more I am stunned by how depraved this life has become.
March 6, 2008 at 7:42 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
lillycollette (anonymous) says...
These people -- murdered -- this couple and they have -- killed -- themselves. Their conviction is the pronouncement of the end which they brought to themselves. No matter how it came about this was their free choice.
I cannot wish any more or less for them than the end they brought down upon themselves. I just pray for the sake of their souls that they find God before they receive the execution they sought. They already forfeited their lives when they committed this murder.
March 7, 2008 at 6:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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