Tortured & killed

Torturing andd killing a 13- yearold orphan was just one part of this twisted couple’s crimes

The STORY

When Judith Adams met Alvin Neelley, 26, she was only 15.

Alvin was already married, but split from his wife to pursue a love affair with Judith in Rome, Georgia, USA.

The age difference was no barrier for this loved-up couple.

Already a car thief, Alvin had been in trouble with the law many times.

But, for once-innocent Judith, meeting Alvin set her on a path of crime. In 1980, she robbed a woman at gunpoint, and her law-breaking life had begun.

Carrying out armed robberies across the country, with Alvin by her side, the duo soon called themselves the next Bonnie and Clyde.

They also forged cheques, harassed people Judith didn’t like and committed petty crimes.

Sometimes arrested, sometimes not, the couple were mainly free to lead a life of crime. Even Judith becoming pregnant failed to put them on the right path.

Judith gave birth to twins while in detention at Rome’s Youth Development Center...

In September 1982, two employees of the centre were targeted in attacks.

A male employee’s home was shot at four times and a woman’s house was petrol bombed.

It’s believed the Neelleys were behind both attacks.

Later that month, their crimes revved up to an even more sick and twisted level.

On 25 September, Lisa Ann Millican, an innocent 13-yearold orphan, was browsing the Riverbend Mall in Rome.

She was with staff and fellow residents of the Ethel Harpst Home, a facility for neglected and abused children in Cedartown, Georgia.

But Judith and Alvin were also in the mall that day – and not looking to buy clothes. They were looking for a girl. It seems vulnerable Lisa was the perfect target.

Spotting her in the gaming arcade, they lured Lisa into their car and drove for almost 80 miles to a motel in Scottsboro, Alabama.

The couple had robbed and committed other crimes in the Riverbend Mall, but kidnapping Lisa and the horrors that ensued were something new.

Over the next three days, Alvin raped Lisa four times. Judith helped, beating her, handcuffing her to the bed.

Lisa had no way to escape their evil. And the wickedness didn’t end there. They didn’t plan to let Lisa go – once they were tired of their sick attack, they conjured up a murder plot.

Injecting Lisa with a drain cleaner, they hoped the dose would prove lethal.

They jabbed her six times in her arms, buttocks and neck, but it failed to kill her.

Instead, they shot the 13-year-old in the back, then threw her body from a cliff.

In a strange move, Judith then made a number of calls to police and news agencies to report the location of Lisa’s body.

The twisted duo weren’t arrested at once – on the run from the law, they were able to commit another murder.

On 4 October the Neelleys targeted their next victims – young, recently engaged couple Janice Chatman and John Hancock.

They were out walking when a car pulled up beside them.

Judith was at the wheel and told the couple she was lonely, wanted someone with whom to drive and talk.

At first, Janice and John refused. Then, feeling sorry for the woman, they got into the car.

Judith drove to a road where Alvin was waiting. John was shot in the back, but survived. Janice was taken to a motel room, tortured and murdered.

With the police investigation into Lisa’s death already underway, on 9 October, days after the murder of Janice, the Neelleys were arrested in

It seems vulnerable Lisa was the perfect target...