After 20 years, hope rewarded

By Brian McNeill and Tasha Kates | 978-7266 | 978-7265
Published: May 21, 2008

For 20 years, Earl “Picky” Shifflett never gave up hope that police would arrest someone in the execution-style killing of his brother.

“It’s been very hard on me. Very rough,” said Shifflett, a retired railroad worker from Crozet. “I never let the thing go.”

On May 15, police arrested an Albemarle County man in connection with the decades old slaying of Roger Lee “Rabbit” Shifflett. The man accused, Alvin Lee “Butch” Morris, married the victim’s widow nearly a year-and-a-half after Shifflett’s killing, court records show.

In 1988, Shifflett was raising five children with his wife, Barbara. The two owned the Southwind Gas and Grocery on Route 20. Each morning, he would open the store between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. before heading down to the train depot, where he also worked as a maintenance foreman with Norfolk Southern Railway.

On the morning of June 20, 1988, Shifflett arrived as usual. He unlocked the door, turned on the lights, made the coffee. And then someone shot him four times with a .22-caliber pistol, at least once in the back of the head.

A family friend and employee arrived at 6 a.m. and discovered Shifflett in a pool of blood. Missing from the cash register was $135.

Investigators with the Albemarle County Police Department chased down more than 100 leads in the case, set up roadblocks to canvass potential witnesses and offered a $5,000 reward for useful tips.

“Our case file looks like a Richmond phone book,” Albemarle police Cmdr. Courtney Craft said in the weeks after the slaying.

Roger Shifflett’s widow, Barbara Shifflett, was devastated.

“His memory is something I’ll never get over,” she told The Daily Progress at the time. “For right now, I’m just trying to get a normal routine going. … What I remember most about my husband was his love for me and the kids. Everything he did was to make life easier for us.”

A grieving family

Like the victim’s brother, Barbara Shifflett vowed to never give up hope her husband’s killer would one day be discovered.

“Nothing is going to make me feel better about it, but I do want to see whoever did it get caught,” she said at the time. “Whoever that person is will have to live with the fact that they have destroyed five young lives, not to mention my own.”

Jody Shifflett, the victim’s eldest son, had a deep respect for his father.

“Daddy was one of the hardest working men I’ve ever known,” he said Tuesday. “He was well respected. Hard working. I am everything I am today because of what he taught me. He taught me my work ethic. He taught me to provide for my family. He was just a stand-up guy.”

In the aftermath of her husband’s death, Barbara Shifflett took over management of the family’s convenience store. She said at the time that she was keeping in regular contact with the detectives assigned to her husband’s case and paying close attention to every news story about him. At home, she cared for their 7-year-old twins and 3-year-old son.

Barbara Shifflett’s life changed again in 1989, when she and Morris — a longtime employee of Safeway grocery stores — wed in a civil ceremony in Orange. A marriage certificate filed in Charlottesville shows that Shifflett and Morris wed Sept. 1. Records also show that Morris had divorced his first wife in April of that year.

Over the next two decades, the case turned cold. No arrests were made, though police detained four suspects, only to release them with no arrests.

For Earl Shifflett, the unsolved homicide gnawed at him constantly. He called up Unsolved Mysteries on a number of occasions, but the show never filmed a segment on his younger brother and best friend.

Jody Shifflett said he also never felt right about the circumstances surrounding his father’s death.

An arrest

Several months ago, the investigation into Shifflett’s death was reopened. Lt. Greg Jenkins, head of investigations for Albemarle County police, declined Tuesday to say what new information had surfaced.

“I’m not going to get into the investigation,” he said. “The investigation is still ongoing.”

In February, Morris voluntarily gave DNA samples to police. Police sources have said that Morris remained a person of interest in the case over the years, though Jenkins declined to say how long Morris had been a suspect.

The two original Albemarle County investigators assigned to the case declined to comment this week.

Morris was arrested last week and charged with first-degree murder, robbery and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. If convicted of the murder charge, he could serve the rest of his life in prison.

Morris, who is being held without bond at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail, declined an interview request from The Daily Progress. He will appear June 26 in Albemarle General District Court.

Morris’ wife, Barbara Shifflett Morris, did not return several phone calls seeking comment. She appeared with one of her sons Friday in support of her husband during his first court hearing.

Jody Shifflett, however, is glad that his father’s unsolved killing may finally find some closure.

“We’re living a day I thought would never come,” he said. “I just hope justice is served. My hat is off to the Albemarle County Police Department.”

Earl Shifflett is similarly relieved.

“It’s been 20 years,” he said. “I don’t even have to say the words.”