On Tuesday, Jimmy Ray Steed was sentenced to a prison term of 105 years by Circuit Judge Brian Howell for the 2009 murder of Carla Cook Fuqua.
Fuqua was last seen October 4th that year (2009), and her remains were finally discovered on December 4th of 2012, in a wooded area just south of Piedmont off of Alabama Highway 21.
Investigators learned that the last call made from Fuqua’s cell phone was logged at 9:21pm and she had told her roommate that she was going to meet someone; she was reportedly dropped off at Steed’s home that night by a friend, however Steed claimed he never saw her that night.
That same roommate was later charged with using Fuqua’s debit card at several locations, following her disappearance.
Over time investigators developed evidence which led to Steed’s arrest and he was indicted in August of 2013, in connection with Fuqua’s death. He entered a guilty plea in December (2014) to murder charges; he also pled guilty to Possession of a Controlled Substance and Manufacturing Methamphetamine.
Steed, age 55, was sentenced to 75 years on the murder charge and to 30 years on the drug charges.
Calhoun County Sheriff Larry Amerson said he hopes this conviction will open up new leads in three other missing persons cases where Steed remains a suspect.
James Patrick Burrows went missing on August 21, 1990; Jeffery Scott McFry was reported missing approximately one month later; and Steed’s wife, Karen, was last seen at her home in Piedmont on November 23 of 1997. Her car was later found about a month later on I-20 in Cleburne County.
Investigators say Steed has never been ruled out as a suspect in those cases, adding that he was known by all three victims.
(al.com/www.al.com)