Warning: reading not for the faint of heart.
In Feb 1999, Billy Jack Gaither, 39, was led to the woods where two good ol’ Alabama boys Steven Eric Mullins, 25, and Charles Monroe Butler, 21 killed him.
Mullins is the one who charged with the murder. His “sidekick”, Butler, claimed he didn’t know Mullin’s intentions that fateful night. His side of the story was that the three went to the woods and when Gaither started talking “queer stuff”, anger seized the both of them and they killed him.
In a plea bargain, though, Mullins testified Butler knew he intended to “do away with” Gaither before they even asked Gaither to join them in the woods, a place known by the local young people as a “party place.”
The killing hardly reflects a spontaneous act of anger. Mullins sliced Gaither’s throat, beat him, stabbed him, and threw him in the car. Gaither tried to escape so Mullins beat him with an axe handle that was conveniently leaning against the car. As Mullins dragged the bloody Gaither to a clearing, Butler had set two tires on fire with kerosene. They threw Gaither’s body on top of the burning tires.
Here’s the clincher: as the investigation unfolded, Mullins, the local skinhead with SS tattoes on his hand, apparently was gay himself and may have had an affair with Gaither. No one, including Butler, knew this until after the fact.
Both were sentenced to life in prison with no parole.
Below is the chilling details in Mullins’ and Butler’s own words, compliment’s of PBS’ Frontline Special, Assault on
Gay America, yes, the PBS - the one the republicans want to shut down for their liberal bias. The link, by the way, has much useful information on homophobia including the characteristics shared by homophobes, e.g. Republican, conservative, Christian, little or no gay acquaintances etc. No wonder the republicans want the station shut down.
Mullins confession, in his words:JEFF MOBBS, SYLACAUGA POLICE DEPT: Today is March the 3rd, Wednesday, 1999. It’s 6:03 p. Steve, we’re here on the death of Billy Jack Gaither. Can you tell us what happened back on, February 19, 1999?
STEVE MULLINS: Yes, I can. Uh, I called, I called Billy Jack about four o’clock and asked him to come pick me up so we could go out to the bar. Um, he came and picked me up about seven (7:00). From there, uh, he had already bought a six pack of beer and we rode around and I drank it, some of it. Rode around and, uh, then about 8:30, 8:45 he was gonna go in the Tavern and try to collect $20.00 from this guy. Um, I stayed in the car because I didn’t have any money to get in and didn’t really want to go in. Um, He came back out about an hour later which was about 9:15 or 9:30. We, uh, went to the 11th Frame, told Charles Butler that I was there with Billy Jack and he knew Billy Jack was . . .
JM: What do you call, what do you call Charles Butler?
SM: Charlsey.
JM: Charlsey?
SM: Charlsey.
JM: What is his real name?
SM: Charles Butler.
JM: Is it Sr. or Jr.?
SM: Jr.
JM: Charles Butler, Jr.
SM: Yeah.
JM: Okay.
SM: Um, told him who I was with, told him what I was thinking about doing.
JM: And that was?
SM: Um, killing Billy Jack. Um, it was after a few minutes and I went back outside and was waiting, we were waiting on Charlsey; waiting on him and then we went, went back or I went back inside to see if he was coming on or about ready to go and he finished up his game of pool and he come out and he got him some beer out of the back of his daddy’s truck, six pack took him a shot of moonshine, asked me if I wanted some, I didn’t, we left, uh . . .
JM: You, you told him that you were with Billy Jack Gaither? Is that correct?
SM: Right.
JM: Okay. And you told him what you were planning on doing?
SM: Right.
JM: And that was?
SM: Killing Billy Jack.
JM: And why were you planning on doing that? Why, why did you tell him that too?
SM: Because, I thought I could trust him and I knew he didn’t like queers either.
JM: So, what are you saying? Are you saying that he, he?
SM: So we left, uh, went back to his daddy’s house, Charles Butler, Sr. and he started getting ready and we discussed what, you know, what we were going to do, we talked about it. Um, we got Billy Jack to go out to the boat launch on Millerville Highway and Charles, Charlsey was taking a, relieving hisself at the front of the car. Me and Billy Jack was standing at the back and Billy Jack was watching him when he was taking a leak and I grabbed Billy Jack and threw him on the ground, cut his throat, and uh, he was just sitting, he was knelt on his hands and knees. I told Charlsey to open the, to pop the trunk and he went around and popped the trunk and Billy Jack tried to get up. I stabbed him twice in the rib cage and told him to stay where he was. Charlsey popped the trunk I told Billy Jack to get in the car. He did. We shut the trunk. I drove us to 165 Cedar Creek Circle and uh, got two tires, and a gallon of kerosene, box of matches and an ax handle.
JM: What did you use to, uh, cut his throat?
SM: A pocket knife. A plain old pocket knife.
JM: What did you do with it?
SM: I threw it in the river.
JM: Okay.
SM: Uh, got the two tires, the ax handle, the gallon of kerosene, the box of matches and went to Peckerwood Creek Road, um, uh, got the tires out of the trunk, the ax handle, propped it up against the car. Charlsey was lighting the, lighting the tires. Uh, I drug Billy Jack out onto the ground and uh, had my back fumed to him, he out of the blue knocked me down the hill into the creek um, and when I finally got back up to the, to the top he was trying to leave in the car. He was laying across the seats. Charlsey was gone. I found out later he had hit him and he took off running, um, I told Billy Jack that he couldn’t go nowhere or anywhere cause I didn’t have, I had the keys and I grabbed him by his pant’s legs and drug him away from the car and got the ax handle which was leaned up against the door of the car and started beating him with it and Charles, Charlsey showed back up and I took my shirt off and told him to get the blood out of the car and we talked and I was still beating him and when 1, I gave; out of energy and couldn’t do it anymore, um, the fire got to going and the tires started burning real well and I drug him into the flame and uh, we stood there for a few minutes and then we left. Went to the Exxon, no, went to the trailer at 165 Cedar Creek Circle, went there, I went inside and uh we both, me and Charles Butler both went inside and uh, he sat in the kitchen and I went back to my bedroom and got some things to take a bath with and took a, took a shower, got cleaned up, changed clothes and l asked Randall Jones if I could use his car to take this guy home and go out to the bar for a little while and um, we left, I uh, I drove Randall’s car and Charlsey drove Billy Jack’s car. We went . . .
JM: What happened to the clothes?
SM: Um, my pants and shoes and socks were left in my bedroom and the shirt was
burned.
JM: Where did, where did it get burned?
SM: On the fire.
JM: Okay.
SM: Along with the ax handle. Um, we left and went to the Exxon in Sylacauga on 280. Um, Charles parked the car on the left end of the building and sat there and waited and gave me the $20.00 to go in and get a gallons, a gallon or a dollars worth of gas, um, I did that, went in and got the gas, paid for it, got my jug, went back and got in the car, met him around on the end of the building, discussed where we were gonna go with the car and we left and we went to, out Millerville Highway to the trash dump and he took, drove the car back off into the mud and um, got, you know, I he, I gave him the gas and he started pouring gas all over the car and I was back in the car waiting on him and he set it on fire and we left and went to the Southern Station for about a hour and uh, took him home and I got back home about 3:30 a.m.
JM: Where are the pants at now?
SM: There in the trash. Superior Garbage picks the trash up and they carried them
off.
JM: What day do they pick up?
SM: 1, I don’t know, we, our trash they hadn’t paid the trash bill down there and so you know, the trash can got gone with it and it was probably last week, last Tuesday, I don’t, I don’t know what days they run 1, you know, Randall worked with them for a little while and we were supposedly getting free garbage pick up and he quit and they disposed of the garbage can, I guess last Tuesday.
JM: Say you called B. J.?
SM: Yes, yes I did.
JM: What was the conversation?
SM: Just, we were talking about going out to the bar.
JM: And when he got to pick you up, did he already have some beer? Do you know what kind it was?
SM: Bud Lite in bottles, six pack.
JM: You know where that watersheds place is? Boat launch, I think you called it.
SM: 1, I don’t know how to get to it I mean 1, you know, I know, well, I know, you know the road that carries you out that away, but I don’t know how to get exactly to it.
JM: What’s the name of that road?
SM: Alls I know is you go out Millerville Highway and you’ll see a little brown sign that’s got a boat ramp on, a boat being launched and that’s where you turn at. You go down to where it T’s and take a right.
JM: Left or right?
SM: Left. Uh, go down and you’ll come to that road will dead end to where a road T’s off and you take a right down to I don’t, you know, 1, I don’t, I know it’s out that away, I don’t know exactly where. I’ve been out there swimming but not to the boat ramp. That was .
JM: Whose idea was that to go out there?
SM: Charles’s. It was his idea to go to the boat ramp cause that was, that was his idea to go out there, I didn’t know where to go.
JM: And what happened to the, the uh, knife that you had?
SM: Threw it in the river.
JM: And you don’t know what kind it was?
SM: Uh, black handle, uh, stainless steel blade. That’s all I know, regular, regular size, you know, probably three inch blade, I guess. Three or four inch blade on it.
JM: How far out did you throw the knife?
SM: Uh, not being able to see, guessing by hearing the splash, probably twenty, thirty feet.
JM: So it’s pretty close to the bank?
SM: I guess, you know, its pitch black dark and I just chunked, you know it could be fifty feet. I just threw it and you know, I didn’t close it up or nothing, I just slung it and . . .
JM: Which side of the boat ramp you on?
SM: Uh, the right side. As you, where you launch your boat, its right off at an angle.
JM: Where did you pull the car at? Towards that boat ramp?
SM: Uh, I didn’t, Billy Jack was driving and he circled around and pulled it up as you’re facing towards the boat ramp on the right side, on the edge of some woods, this big open area right there.
JM: Was there anybody else out there?
SM: No.
JM: Did you meet any other cars coming in or out of the roads you took?
SM: No, I didn’t.
JM: When you, when you left there, you said earlier that Billy Jack was in the trunk, is that correct?
SM: Right.
JM: You leave there and where do you go?
SM: Back to the 165 Cedar Creek Circle.
JM: Okay, and tell me again what you do there?
SM: I got the two tires that were around back, two of the tires that were around back, um, an ax handle, a box of matches, and a gallon of kerosene.
JM: Where do you put ‘em?
SM: I put it all in a, well, I put the two tires in the trunk and put the rest in the back seat.
JM: Describe the box of matches that you . . .
SM: It’s a large box of matches. I guess the biggest ones you can buy in a store.
JM: Do you remember the name?
SM: Huh-uh.
JM: Where were they at inside the house?
SM: Uh, on top of the, above the cabinets. Couple other boxes there now.
JM: Did you go back, um, did you go back to the scene or have you been back to the
scene since it happened?
SM: No, I haven’t.
JM: Either, have you been to either place?
SM: No.
JM: Since it happened?
SM: No, I haven’t.
JM: When you get down to Peckerwood Creek Road, is what you’re calling it. Is that correct? Is that the only name of the road you know?
SM: Yeah.
JM: Alright, you call the road that you come in on as “One Minute Road.?
SM: Yeah. You take One Minute Road to Talladega Springs, go down and it will cross a, a fairly new bridge and it’s the first dirt road to your left.
JM: If um, if I’m coming down Fayetteville Road from Sylacauga, I come through Fayetteville and I come to the forks right?
SM: Uh- huh.
JM: I take the left fork. That’s the One Minute Road you’re talking about right?
SM: Uh, yeah, you go down that away. That One Minute Road comes out right there and where the some kind of monument or something is in Talladega Springs.
JM: Which, do you turn left or do you turn right off the Talladega Springs Road?
SM: Left.
JM: Turn left?
SM: Right. Then at the bridge, you turn left.
JM: You go to the end of the pavement to the bridge and then you turn left.
SM: Right.
JM: When you’re down on, at Peckerwood Creek, you say Charlsey was starting the
fire. .
SM: Yes.
JM: And he puts some kerosene on the tires and starts it?
SM: Yes.
JM: And you’ve gotten Billy Jack Gaither out of the trunk already?
SM: Yes.
JM: Okay. And then next thing you know, you go falling down the, the hill?
SM: Yes.
JM: Did you go into the water?
SM: Yes, I did.
JM: What were you wearing at that time?
SM: Pair of blue jeans uh, a white sweatshirt, and a pair of socks and a pair of tennis shoes, underwear.
JM: Okay. So you basically got pretty wet then?
SM: Yeah. From head to toe.
JM: Alright and then what happened?
SM: I climbed back up to the top and Charlsey is not around and Billy Jack is trying to get. in the car, got the ax handle in his hand um, I tell him he can’t go anywhere because I’ve got the keys and I drag him back out to the back of the car and beat him.
JM: What happens to the your clothes?
SM: Um, my T-shirt or my sweatshirt? I took it off and Charlsey used it to clean up the blood in the car and then he threw it on the fire and the blue jeans were taken off in the trash.
JM: Who put the kerosene on the body?
SM: Uh, I put, well, we both did.
JM: Both of you did?
SM: Both did.
JM: How much kerosene did you have?
SM: It was a gallon.
JM: Full gallon?
SM: Uh- huh.
JM: What did you have the kerosene in?
SM: A red gallon jug, gasoline jug.
JM: You leave there after uh, you’ve already put Billy Jack on the fire? Is that correct?
SM: Yes.
JM: You’re driving the car?
SM: Yes.
JM: Was there any damage to the car then?
SM: No.
JM: No damage to the car?
SM: Just blood. That’s it.
JM: Okay. You leave there and you go where?
SM: Back to the trailer where I lived at and um, that’s where I took a shower and
changed clothes.
JM: That when you- you change clothes? What happens then?
SM: 1, wake up Randall Jones and ask him to borrow his car to go out to the bar for a
riffle while and take a friend of mine home.
JM: What were you wearing then?
SM: Uh, a pair of dress or khaki pants and a sweat jacket.
JM: What did you do with the clothes when you took them off?
SM: The clothes from, the wet clothes, I laid them in the bedroom floor.
JM: Okay, when did you get rid of them?
SM: Uh, last week um, Tuesday maybe Tuesday.
JM: What did you do with them?
SM: I threw them in the garbage.
JM: What did you throw in the garbage?
SM: The pair of pants, the the rest of it was washed in the laundry.
JM: And your tennis shoes?
SM: They were also washed.
JM: When um, when you approach uh, uh, Charlsey in the bar you tell me you tell him something.
SM: Yeah. . . ,
JM: What did you tell him?
SM: Told him that we, you know, he wasn’t comfortable with leaving with Billy Jack because he knew he was queer and you know, I mentioned to him about getting rid of him.
JM: What were your words?
SM: That was basically it. You know.
JM: So, then you planned to what you call, “get rid of Billy Jack” is that correct? .
SM: Um, yeah somewhat.
JM: Did you and Charlsey talk prior to this about getting rid of B. J.?
SM: Yes.
JM: How long?
SM: How long did we talk or how long had it been since we talked?
JM: How long had it been?
SM: Probably a week. Two weeks.
JM: Why?
SM: Just cause he was queer.
JM: How? You said you knew- how did you know Billy Jack before then?
SM: From the Tavern and just acquaintance. Just knew him.
JM: That’s all how you knew him?
SM: You know, a ride home. You know, a ride to the grocery store here and there. Just, you know, just knew him.
JM: And that’s only- only way you knew him?
SM: I didn’t know his last name or anything till this.
JM: You told me that um, that Billy Jack uh, ‘propositioned you earlier. Is that correct? Tell me what he said.
SM: He told me he wanted to suck my click.
JM: And?
SM: 1, I didn’t say anything.
JM: Okay. When did he tell you this?
SM: Uh, he told me a couple of times, but it you know it was probably a week or two before that that he told me and I didn’t say anything and then he told me that night also.
JM: Where did he tell you?
SM: Just riding.
JM: Riding? How much do you think you had to drink that night?
SM: Six pack.
JM: How much did he have to drink?
SM: Billy Jack? Uh, two that I saw of. He bought those separately.
JM: Kelley, you got any more questions?
KJ: No.
JM: Sgt. Nail? This will end the statement. Steve you got anything else to say?
SM: No.
JM: This’ll end the statement. It’s 6:30 p. m. Day is Wednesday, March the 3rd 1999.
Butler’s interview in prison after being found guilty:Before the night of the crime, had you ever heard of Billy Jack Gaither?
No, sir. . . Let’s talk about what happened. Can you do that?
I reckon it started when me and Daddy had gotten off work. We had entered in this pool tournament. I’d played maybe two games, and Steve, he’d come in, and he asked me if I wanted to go to The Tavern with him. I told him that I was engaged in this pool tournament. He said, “I’ll be back in a while.” So he went on. I reckon they went to The Tavern, and I went on playing my games. They came back, and he come in and asked me if I was ready to go, and I said, “Sure.” So, we’re going out, and apparently a fight had broken out right there at The Tavern. Steve had some old warrants on him from Sylacauga, and so he didn’t want to go there. So instead, we go out to the Watersheds—this little public place where everybody goes out to have a good time. But it wound up different. Billy Jack started talking about some gay issues. . . . wanting to have a threesome, or whatever. Tempers flared up. Steve jumped on him, and cut his throat there . .
You’re saying Billy Jack basically hit on you, right?
Yes.
And you kicked him. Why?
I don’t know. I’d been drinking a lot whiskey, and just didn’t have no understanding . . . I didn’t even know the man, for him to be hitting on me. . . . Tempers just flared. It’s like he didn’t have no respect.
He was disrespecting you?
Yes.
How?
Well, sir, I don’t know. It’s not like I’m some gay tramp out there, waiting to be corn-holed by some prick.
So if a woman had done that to you, that wouldn’t be disrespect?
No, sir, I don’t reckon so.
Why is it disrespect if a man does it?
Well, sir, why would he want to just assume that I was gay, just like himself, and throw himself on me like he did?
Did he start grabbing you?
No sir, he didn’t start grabbing at me. Nothing like that.
He just asked you? It was just words, right? If a woman did that, you’d think, “That’s pretty cool”?
Yes sir, I reckon so. But he’s a man, and he did it, so it’s disrespect.
Why?
Would you like for a gay man to hit on you? Would you like for him to engage you into a threesome? How would you feel?
I don’t think I would kick him, Charles. What did kicking him did what for you?
Didn’t do a whole lot of nothing. Didn’t do no good, that’s for sure.
But you were clearly angry. What about it made you angry? What had he done?
Well, sir. . . I don’t think I needed to kick him. I don’t reckon he deserved that.
I want you to know, I’m not judging anything. I’m just trying to understand it. One thing that might help is to understand what that feeling is. When he came on to you, that was bad? That crossed a line?
Yes.
What was the line that he crossed? What had he done?
. . . I couldn’t remember what his exact words was. I don’t know. Hell, I don’t know.
You were pissed, flat-out pissed. Right?
I reckon.
At what?
At him coming on to me. It’s just stupidity, I guess. No, no, no. It’s just a feeling, like any other feeling.
He had made you—
Uncomfortable, I reckon.
And not a man—he was trying to make you not a man?
No. I don’t think anybody could ever do that. . .
When you were growing up, were there gay people around?
Yes, sir. I had one friend in particular. He’s lived with us several times, such as Steve himself. Steve even lived around him, and knew him as long as I have, if not longer. I’ve been to gay clubs with him, and all that. But we had an understanding from this guy we met that we was friends, and we was only to be friends.
So you’ve had gay friends. It’s not that you mind gay people.
No, sir. It’s not at all.
Did you think less of gays?
No. No, sir. I don’t they’re think any less than I am or . . . I don’t know.
They’re just the same old people. But I really never give it much thought.
But you went to gay clubs?
Yes.
Now Charles, if you go to a gay club, other men are going to look at you and say, “Well, he’s here. I’m here. He must be gay.”
No, sir. No such thing, especially when a fellow like me walks into a bar. My appearance alone sets me off.
You mean, you don’t look gay?
That’s right.
So if you went to a gay bar, nobody would know that . . .
I reckon. The numerous times I’ve been to a gay club, nobody’s ever hit on me. I’ve had people come to our table and sit down and want to talk to me and such, but they never did lead off to a confrontation, or what have you. They just want to know who I am—just being friendly. . .
So your reaction to Billy Jack then seems extreme. It seems you would be a little sympathetic to him. . . . So something had to snap in you that night, right?
Yes.
Have you thought about what that was?
No, sir. I ain’t never really thought about it. Never.
You thought that he disrespected you.
Yes.
I’m trying to get what that means, for a man to disrespect another man in that way.
I don’t know, man. It’s hard to explain it, I guess. I don’t know.
Are you a Christian?
I wouldn’t call myself a Christian. But I am a believer of God, and I never have forsaken him. And I’ve tried to follow in the right steps. I know I’ve not always been faithful for him. None of us has.
But were you raised in the church, or a Christian?
I went to church regular when I was young. Yes, sir. But I generally grew apart from it, I’ve went off and on ever since then—never was firmly grounded in a church.
So you didn’t study the Bible or that sort of thing, like some people did?
No, sir. No, sir. There are at least some folks who say that homosexuality is wrong, and that they can show you that in the Bible.
Have you talked to folks like that?
Yes.
What do you think of that?
Well, sir, it’s a sin. I never really give it much thought. I don’t know whether it’s . . . just because it’s a sin to be gay, don’t mean a gay person is like Satan himself. . . . They’re just as good-hearted as anybody else. You wouldn’t think of them as being sinners.
But their lifestyle is a sin?
Yes. . .
How come you’d go to gay clubs?
On account of my friend, Steve Edwards. First time I went, it was me, my brother, my sister-in-law, and Steve Edwards. We’d all go and, hell, I had a pretty good time, just getting out there. So Steve offered to go with me again, or invited me to go up there again with him. And I say, “Sure, why not?” I’d sit there, play pool, or sit up there and cut up with the bartender. . . .
What was the club like? Where was it?
It was right there in the midst of Birmingham. . . . They had the loud music going. It’s more like a saloon music type of group in there. They had a little dance floor separate from the bar area. It was a nice place. Outside, they had a privacy fence around, with little tables and chairs and little canopies over the table, for a little private talk, whatever. It was an all-right club.
Was it just men? Or men and women?
There’s women there, too. Men and women.
You say it was a gay club. Were the people who were there almost exclusively gay, or were there a mix of them?
No, there’s straight people there. Anybody could come in there.
So if it was straight people and gay people, why is it a gay club?
Well, sir, I don’t know. It’s just what everybody called it.
Could you look at the men and tell which one was gay?
Some of them, yes, sir. It really was hard to tell which ones were the women.
Why was that hard to tell?
You had your drag queens. They looked just about like a woman.
That could make it dangerous for you?
Oh, yeah.
Did you ever hit on women at the club?
No, on account of I didn’t know which ones were which. . .
Why do you think Steve Mullins jumped Billy Jack Gaither?
I don’t know. I have no idea. I don’t reckon he wanted his sex life to get out to anybody, on account of he’s hiding—he’s kept a secret from me for so long, so I don’t reckon he wanted anybody else to know.
Was something going on between him and Billy Jack?
I reckon. There were rumors. One of Billy Jack’s brothers stated in a newspaper that he knew that Billy and Steve was together. My attorney found another gay man that Steve was involved with. So I don’t know. . . . My attorneys discovered that Steve is flat broke, and wanted some money in exchange for sex. He lured the both of us out there—promised him sex with the both of us. Instead, it just blew up in his face, and he just didn’t know how to handle it. I don’t know.
So the killing was a coverup?
I guess so. I don’t know what to think. . . .
I’m curious about how you feel. It was Steve who attacked him, who beat him with the stick and killed him. What role do you feel you played?
I feel cheated. But I don’t hold no hate for nobody, nor no grudge against nobody. I just feel cheated. . . .I’m torn away from my family on account of something someone else has done. I don’t know.
Do you feel responsible at all?
I don’t reckon I could have stopped him, or stopped what had happened. Should I feel responsible? . . .
I bet you’ve lived through what happened a thousand times. Do you have regrets?
Yes. I have dreams—nightmares—from time to time. But it’s not like it was before. When it was first happening, things played back in my dreams. I’d have nightmares of Steve [Mullins] and us together again. . . I remember when we was at the trailer. Steve opened the trunk of that car, and Billy was laying there on his side. Blood was just covering half of his face . . . . It just sent something all up and down my back. And then, seeing Steve standing over him, beating him like he was. . . . I could feel every thump that went across his body. . . .It’s like a never-ending story. It’s like walking across a bed of glass. It’s painful, every step.
