In a cold case defrosted this winter, jury selection begins this morning in Scottsboro, Ala., in the murder trial of Barry Van Whitton. Whitton is charged in the 1997 beating death of his first wife.
Whitton’s indictment was issued Dec. 10, 2014, almost 17 years after Michelle Townson Whitton disappeared. The 46-year-old Whitton was taken into custody on Jan. 20, 17 years to the day after her body was found.
When he was indicted, the former resident of Section, Ala., was serving a federal sentence in West Virginia on weapons charges. Few details have been released since. Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange’s office is prosecuting the case, and Circuit Judge John Graham will preside.
Barry Van Whitton faces trial in Scottsboro, Ala., on murder charges filed in the 1997 beating death of his then-28-year-old wife, Michelle Townson Whitton.Court officials could not say on Tuesday how long jury selection might take in the case.
Whitton pleaded not guilty on Jan. 27. He has remained in the Cullman County Jail more than an hour away since being charged.
The indictment charges that Whitton killed Michelle Whitton “by striking her in the head and causing blunt-force trauma,” according to Strange’s office.
She was reported missing Dec. 7, 1997. Her body was found Jan. 20, 1998, near the town of Powell in neighboring DeKalb County. That’s about 15 miles from the Whitton home in Dutton, Ala. Her body had been partially buried in a shallow grave piled with sticks and rocks, according to accounts in the Huntsville Times.
Barry Whitton is also a suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his second wife, Kimberly Compton Whitton, 36, and her 11-year-old daughter, Haleigh Brean Culwell. Kimberly was last seen alive on June 2, 2007, when she left work at a Scottsboro nursing home. It is unclear when Haleigh was last seen.
Whitton was arrested on federal weapons charges during a 2007 search for the missing mother and daughter at his 40-acre farm in Section. Authorities found five weapons during the search. Whitton had convictions at the time for receiving stolen property, resulting in the federal violations. He was still serving time on the federal charge when murder charges were leveled against him.
Whitton netted two new felony charges in June after he allegedly threatened witnesses he expected to testify at his trial, according to officials with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office. He also was charged with first-degree promoting prison contraband in another incident.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com, twitter.com/BenBenton, www.facebook.com/ben.benton1 or 423-757-6569.