Episode 72: Guest Service Station Murders - Attalla, AL | “There Was Going to Be Trouble” On August 25, 1984, four people were killed at a service station on U.S. Highway 431 north of Attalla, Alabama. They were Ronald Michael “Mike” Guest, Wilbur Tilden Nelson, William Robert “Bobby” Payne, and Nancy S. Brandon Payne. Episode Summary Guest Service Station was owned by Mike’s father, Alvis Guest. The family home stood about 75 feet behind it. Wilbur, 51, was working. Mike, 21, stopped with his girlfriend, Tracy Henry Wood, to buy a Coke. Bobby, 43, and Nancy, 31, stopped for soft drinks and cigarettes. Mike entered the station, returned to Tracy, and told her there was going to be trouble. He sent her to get his father, then went back toward the business. Tracy heard gunshots from the Guest home. When she returned, she found all four victims. The prosecution believed a robbery was underway and that Nancy was shot while trying to escape. No surviving eyewitness saw the entire sequence, so the reconstruction relied on physical evidence, Tracy’s partial observations, and later statements. The investigation first went in the wrong direction. Authorities searched for two suspects, suspected a .357 Magnum, and indicted four men based on a juvenile’s accusation. None were prosecuted after investigators learned the juvenile had lied. The case changed in March 1985 when James Jenkins found a .44-caliber Ruger Super Blackhawk near Black Creek. On April 22, firearms examiner Lawden Yates identified it as the murder weapon. It was traced to a repair business connected to Thomas Jerry “Tommy” Fortenberry’s father, and witnesses placed it with Tommy shortly before the crime. From May 2 through May 4, Tommy gave conflicting accounts. He first admitted taking and disposing of the gun but accused Harvey Underwood of the murders. He later confessed to planning the robbery and shooting all four victims. At trial, Tommy withdrew those confessions, blamed Harvey again, and alleged police coercion. The courts ruled his statements were voluntary. No eyewitness identified Tommy as the shooter, and no fingerprints were recovered from the gripless revolver. The prosecution relied on the weapon trail, disposal location, witness statements, and repeated confessions. On February 15, 1986, the jury found Tommy guilty and unanimously recommended death. After years of appeals, he was executed by lethal injection at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore on August 7, 2003. At the center of this case are four people who were at the station for ordinary reasons. Wilbur was working. Mike stopped for a Coke. Bobby and Nancy were running an everyday errand. Click here to check out our new merch! A percentage of all proceeds is donated to Safe Alliance, Charlotte. Connect With Us: • Instagram: @TrueCrimeUnwind • TikTok: @TrueCrimeUnwind • Facebook @TrueCrimeUnwind Support the Show: • Rate & review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify • Share with fellow true crime fans • Tag us while you listen and let us know your theories!
