Former Llano rancher found shot to death under Alabama interstate
By Carol Robinson
Alabama Media Group/AL.com
A retired Texas cattle rancher has been identified as the man found shot to death early Friday, Sept. 2, under a Birmingham, Alabama, interstate.
The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the victim as Jerald Douglas Wade. He was 64.
Birmingham police received a call just after 1:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 2, of a person down in the 1900 block of Ninth Avenue North. Officers and Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service responded to the scene at 1:38 a.m. and tried to revive him, but their efforts were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:47 a.m.
The adult white male was found at 1:38 a.m. under the interstate in the 1900 block of Ninth Avenue North.
Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said the victim had been shot multiple times. He said it appeared the victim was transient, but at least one friend said he had an apartment.
His brother, John Wesley Wade, told AL.com his brother spent several years in the U.S. Army and then returned to Texas where the two worked together as ranchers in the small town of Llano.
"He was just a good, honest, hardworking guy that worked on a ranch for most of his life,'' John Wade said.
He said his brother left Llano a couple of years ago, traveling to Odessa and Midland, and then on to California, Illinois and Kentucky. "He had been wanting to leave Texas for a long time,'' John Wade said. "He was traveling around, moving from state to state to figure out where he wanted to take it easy for the rest of his life."
Jerald Wade would write to his mother often, updating her on his whereabouts. Those letters stopped about four months ago, and his family had no idea he was in Alabama. "Then I got a call this morning about the situation,'' John Wade said. "The Llano police chief called me and we met. Then he came back here to tell my mother about it."
John Wade says he doesn't know why anyone would kill his brother. "He wasn't mentally ill and he never used drugs,'' he said. "He got paid (social security) on Aug. 24, so this might be about money."
He said he is puzzled about the slaying. "Normally he's not out at that time of the night,'' he said. "I don't know what drug him out there and at that time."
He said his brother will receive a county burial here because the family can't afford to bring him home to Texas. "I'm just heartbroken that it happened the way it did,'' he said. "He was just a good man."
Jerald Wade is the second person killed in Birmingham in recent weeks under an interstate bridge. James "Street James" Griffin, 58, was found shot to death Wednesday, Aug. 19, under a different overpass. Police have not announced any arrests in Griffin's death.
"James was homeless by choice, not circumstance,'' said Todd Denaburg of Levy's. "He was a free spirit who wanted to live life his way by his choices."
The slaying is Birmingham's 66th homicide victim this year, the 98th homicide victim in all of Jefferson County. Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
