ALABAMA (WHNT) — Three convicted murderers from North Alabama will learn on Tuesday if they will be granted an early release, according to the Alabama Bureau of Pardons & Paroles (ABPP).
Israel Ortiz, DeKalb County
51-year-old Israel Carrion Claudio Ortiz of Fort Payne was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was convicted of killing his wife, Maria Garcia in 2005.
Ortiz told investigators that he stabbed his wife to death on Valentine’s Day after leaving him and refusing to be with him.
Authorities at the time stated that Ortiz picked up Garcia and their two children from a relative’s home and then drove together to Sylvania School to drop the kids off. As Garcia got out of the passenger seat, authorities said Ortiz stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife.
An investigator with the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office at the time said Ortiz told him that Garcia begged for her life as he stabbed her. Cuts on her arms and hands would later prove that she tried to fight him off. That investigator says Ortiz then put Garcia’s body in the trunk and drove to a beer store.
Ortiz then drove around the rest of the day, drinking beer, with his wife’s body in the car, according to the investigator. When Garcia’s brothers asked where she was, Ortiz reportedly told them that he didn’t know. So they got into the car with him to drive around and look for her.
A fight would later break out between the men, and law enforcement responded.
When they arrived, they found blood on the passenger seat of Ortiz’s car. Shortly after, they discovered Garcia’s body in the trunk.
The investigator said Ortiz and Garcia were both citizens of Mexico and were in the U.S. illegally, saying that he wasn’t sure of Ortiz’s true identity.
Ortiz pleaded guilty to killing his wife on February 10, 2006. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison that same day. As of September 2022, he has served 17 years and seven months of his sentence.
Jimmy Dollar, Madison County
58-year-old Jimmy Darrell Dollar pleaded guilty to killing his estranged wife on October 22, 2009. Dollar was charged with shooting and killing his wife, Wendy Whaley Dollar on Easter Sunday in 2007.
Investigators at the time said the two were going through a bitter divorce after 16 years of marriage, when Dollar drove to the home where Wendy Dollar was staying with their two sons and another man.
Police said Dollar was angry when he pulled up to the house and knocked on the door.
When Wendy Dollar answered, authorities say Dollar shot her once with a shotgun at “very, very close range,” one investigator said. Dollar would later admit to ambushing his wife.
Dollar peacefully and immediately turned himself over to deputies at the scene.
A Madison County Judge sentenced Dollar to life immediately following his guilty plea.
As of September 2022, Dollar has served 15 years and five months of his life sentence, according to the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Wayne Cole, Franklin County
73-year-old Wayne Cole was convicted of killing his estranged wife and mother-in-law in 1975 when he was just 24 years old, according to court documents.
On August 28, 1974, Cole went to the home of Fayrene Wilson, his mother-in-law, in the Blue Springs community near Russellville. Cole’s wife, Merita, their one-year-old son and Merita’s grandmother were all inside the house.
Reports say that Cole went into the home, shooting and killing Merita Cole and her mother Fayrene Wilson. The grandmother and infant were in the next room.
Investigators said both victims were shot multiple times.
According to the report, Cole then took the one-year-old from the grandmother after threatening her and fled the area.
Cole was given two life sentences at his 1975 hearing. He applied for parole in 2016, but that request was denied. As of September 2022, Cole has served 47 years and seven months of his sentence.
All three men are expected to go before the ABPP on Tuesday, September 27.