Officer, wife charged with killing Frederick couple in custody dispute (127193)

A former police officer and his wife were charged with capital murder yesterday in the slaying of the woman’s former husband and his new wife.

Authorities in Alabama said Jeff McCord, 31, and Jessica McCord, 30, were jailed on charges of killing of Alan Bates, 30, and Terra Bates, 31, both of Frederick.

Mrs. McCord and Bates divorced in 1995 and had been fighting in court over custody of their two daughters.

Police said Bates and his wife were shot and placed in the trunk of a rental car, which was found smoldering Saturday near Rutledge, Ga. The couple had come to Birmingham the day before for a custody hearing.

The Pelham Police Department fired McCord on Wednesday after he failed to attend a disciplinary hearing.

The killing allegedly occurred in Hoover, which adjoins Pelham in suburban Birmingham.

The Birmingham News reported that Birmingham Police Chief Mike Coppage fired Mrs. McCord in 2000 from a police job for an alleged physical attack on Bates and for being absent without leave.

“You went to the home of your ex-husband and you admitted you hurt him to keep him from hurting you,” Coppage wrote in the termination letter.

The McCords declined comment Wednesday after meeting with criminal defense lawyer David Cromwell Johnson at his Birmingham office.

Johnson said the couple had been staying with relatives in Florida. He did not immediately return a telephone message left yesterday after their arrest.

Authorities have said the two daughters may have been with McCord relatives Feb. 15 when Bates was supposed to pick them up.

Court records show Mrs. McCord repeatedly violated orders for Bates to be with his daughters and talk to them on the phone. She spent 10 days in jail in December for refusing to comply with a custody order.

The McCords, who met while both were working at the Birmingham Police Department two years ago, got their marriage license in June 2000 in neighboring Shelby County.

Bates and Mrs. McCord were divorced seven years ago, with Mrs. McCord granted custody of the girls and Bates given standard visitation rights.

Bates sought custody of the girls in November, saying he had been denied contact with his daughters for more than a year, including court-ordered weekly phone calls.

A custody hearing had been set for next month.