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 ...