Who was Johnny Whited and what happened to Christopher Alvin Dailey?

JOHNNY WHITED waited 25 years to confess the truth about the murder of Christopher Alvin Dailey.

Dailey died in 1995 but it wasn't until 2020 that the truth about his death was revealed.

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Who was Johnny Whited?

On November 19, 2020, Johnny Whited, then 53, confessed to the murder of Christopher Alvin Dailey, which took place in 1995

He told Decatur police in Alabama that he had killed Dailey - who was 26 at the time.

When he confessed, police struggled to connect him to the murder because he couldn't remember the date and year when it happened.

Decatur Police Detective Sean Mukaddam said: "The first thing out his mouth was: 'I want to confess a murder I did years ago.'

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"It's the kind of phone call you don't get every day."

Initially sceptical, Mukaddam then carefully questioned Whited about things that only the killer would know.

Mukaddam added: "On the phone, I was a little pessimistic; this kind of thing just doesn't happen.

"Confessions take time to get to that point - you don't start with the confession and work backward."

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Whited then showed the exact location of where he murdered and submerged Dailey's car.

Mukaddam said: "He gave me the specifics about the vehicle and how it entered the river - things only crime scene techs would know.

"He said he was sorry multiple times.

"He was embarrassed about it; I can tell it had been weighing on him for a long time.

"It’s not an excuse. He killed somebody. He should have come forward all those years ago.”

What happened to Christopher Alvin Dailey?

On April 26, 1995, Dailey's family reported him missing after he was last seen at an employee meeting at the Huntsville Hilton Hotel, where he worked as a server.

The same day Decatur police were alerted to a body in the Lake Chula Vista area after it was discovered by two teenagers.

The victim had died from a single gunshot wound in the head.

Then-Coroner Gene Shelton identified the male body as Christopher Alvin Dailey. His ID and wallet were found in his car.

His vehicle - a 1983 tan Toyota Tercel - was found half submerged in the Tennessee River in Mallard Fox Industrial Park.

According to police, the car had a rock tied to the accelerator.

At that time, the police didn't have any suspects, witnesses, discovered weapons or any motives.

They described it as a "real whodunit" and couldn't move forward for years.

What happened to Johnny Whited?

Whited posted bail of $15,000 a few days after his confession in 2020.

He was indicted on a murder charge in March 2022 - 14 months after his confession.

Whited was terminally ill when he confessed.

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He died aged 55 on June 27, 2022, after he had been suffering from lung cancer.

The murder charge was dismissed by a Morgan County judge a few days after his death.