Jury acquits Beverly Jean Long in case of her husband's death in fire

“It was pretty horrifying to see someone with burns like that,” recalls firefighter Robert Ridgeway. An inferno that ravaged a couple’s home in Georgia raised so many questions that investigators were left reeling.

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Accident, suicide or murder, Broadcast Saturdays at 8/7c on oxygen, Ffollows the tragic story of James Long, the 53-year-old victim, and his wife Beverly Jean Long, who escaped the fire almost unscathed. With evidence burned and investigators unable to agree on what had happened, expert testimony and police recordings became crucial to the case. But twenty years after the verdict ASM Police are still on the case following the discovery of the mysterious fire.

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What happened to James Long?

On January 23, 2003, a distraught Beverly Jean Long called police to report that a fire had broken out in the house she shared with her husband, James, a truck driver. It was a massive building: a converted hangar with a living area upstairs and a sprawling workshop downstairs where James stored equipment for his tree-trimming business. It was freezing cold that night in Butts County, Georgia, and James had just filled a kerosene heater with fuel when it exploded, she told police. As flames engulfed the workshop, Beverly retreated to her car and called 911.

“He was badly burned. Some of his facial features were unrecognizable,” recalled Ridgeway, who helped put out the fire. “He was so badly burned you could see the bones. That suggests that something very hot was involved in the body itself, perhaps even an accelerant.”

Jim Greep, who grew up with James in Kansas, reflected melancholy on his friend’s death. “I thought, there goes a good man. Everyone called him Jim. He was just that kind of guy. He was always working on the farm and helping the family,” Greep said.

The fire scene was in chaos. Tree pruning equipment, lawn mowers, various tools and petrol cans were scattered throughout the workshop. James’ body was found next to three hammers. “The first thing the coroner noticed was that he was lying on his back. His arms were stretched out above his head,” Ridgeway said. It was a bizarre position, he noted, as most burn victims curl up into a protective fetal position.

The firefighter believed he was either thrown or dragged that way. Rescue workers also discovered signs of a “pour pattern” from the body to the door, suggesting he had been doused with fuel. “A pour pattern is when you pour gasoline, kerosene or some kind of accelerant into it and light it, and you see a distinct pattern of where that liquid is on the floor,” Ridgeway explained.

Signs point to Beverly Long’s guilt

Police immediately refuted Beverly’s statement and she became the prime suspect. That night, she suffered a graze on her chin and had blood on her lips, but no burns or signs of smoke inhalation. What was particularly notable to police was that she did not cry at the scene of the fire. “She did not appear to be overcome with grief or worry,” said Chief Rod Demery, a retired homicide detective. Accident, suicide or murderHowever, this could be due to trauma and shock.

When the police brought Beverly in for questioning, she broke under the pressure and began to refute small details of her story. Police footage on Accident, suicide or murder shows the petite woman desperately trying to sort out details, her voice shaking. She has failed a lie detector test twice. “I noticed you weren’t crying. I was just curious if you were in pain?” the investigator asked, referring to her chin abrasion.

When asked if James had hit her in the face before he died, she denied it. Investigators did not believe Beverly had the strength to overpower her husband. But could it be that she was protecting the killer?

The mysterious Frank Howard

As Fire Inspector Ken Wright searched the garage for clues, a neighbor named Frank Howard suddenly showed up. He introduced himself as a close friend of the couple and said his son was married to James’ daughter.

Howard spoke about James’ careless behavior in the workshop and how James often made the dangerous mistake of putting kerosene in gas cans. “The problem is that kerosene does not have the same fire behavior as gasoline. As soon as gasoline gets into an appliance with an open flame, it explodes,” Wright explained.

Howard admitted that he had borrowed one of the kerosene cans but returned it full of gasoline – providing a plausible explanation for the fire. But Howard kept showing up to ask police “brave” questions. He claimed James had abused Beverly and said she had planned to leave him. Before police could get to the bottom of the matter, Howard tragically committed suicide a month after the fire. In his cryptic suicide note, he wrote: “I’m sorry.”

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“It made him seem at least partially responsible for James’ murder. Why would he say that?” Wright asked. “The only reason I can think of is that he filled a can of gasoline and brought it back.”

The autopsy results contained some surprises. James had suffered multiple rib and skull fractures, as well as mild smoke inhalation. “Most people who die in fires die from smoke inhalation, not from the flames themselves,” Wright noted.

Months later, in June, a forensic anthropologist determined that James had suffered blunt head trauma, not heat injury. In October, the cause of death was finally determined: heat injury and blunt head trauma. The cause of death? Homicide.

Beverly was charged with murder and tried in May 2004.

New evidence points to Beverly Long’s innocence

During his investigation of the fire scene, Wright found gasoline in the smoke pot, supporting the theory that James had committed a careless and dangerous mistake, according to neighbor Frank Howard. He also noted, “There are cases of bones breaking from the fire itself. It is possible that the skull was split by the heat of the fire.”

As for the theory that James was doused with gasoline, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s analysis found no flammable liquids on James’ clothing. Additionally, the Fire Marshal’s office found there were no pouring patterns near his body. Fire Inspector Ken Wright ultimately said it was highly unlikely that James was set on fire and he believes his death was an accident.

Beverly’s defense attorney Barbara Moon described Accident, suicide or murder how she “fell in love” with her client.

“She just looked so fragile, she had never been arrested before and was not familiar with the process at all,” Moon said. “She told me her side of the story and it was very believable. I’m sure the trauma had an effect on the lie detector test. They are not scientifically reliable. I don’t put much stock in it.”

Expert statements and video convince the jury

An arson expert testified at the trial that the fire spread quickly because of the debris in the hangar, “like a domino effect,” Moon said. Beverly retreated quickly after the explosion to avoid serious injury or smoke damage to her lungs, and the inconsistencies in her memory were attributed to her state of shock.

A “very significant” moment during the trial came from an unexpected quarter. Moon showed jurors the video of Beverly’s police interrogation in which she was criticized for not crying. But after the officer left her alone in the room, she completely broke down and cried: “Oh God, help me. Help me explain it to them. You know I didn’t do that.”

“She was just very alone, very lost, very sad and it was a very powerful moment,” said Moon, who made the risky decision to call her client to the witness stand in court. With all “eyes on her,” Beverly relived the trauma of “watching her husband burn. That takes a lot of courage,” Moon explained.

She was found not guilty on all charges.

But as Police Chief Demery put it, Frank Howard’s “over-involvement” in the case was never resolved, and to this day some police officers disagree about what really happened that night in the hangar.