Welcome to Sweet Tea Murders – A Sweeter, Broader Southern True Crime Home
Announcement: A New Chapter – Sweet Tea Murders Dear Readers, I am writing to inform you of a big change in this platform. As of yesterday, Old Gulf Coast Crime […]
Murder Under the Blue Moon
The Smith Family Massacre, Pensacola — 2015 “It happens once in a Blue Moon”… The blue moon rises slow over the pines, hangs silver above the bays, and shines the
Peter Alba: Pensacola’s Most Colorful Mayor
By Michael Earl Simmons In 1762, in the sun-washed town of Vélez-Málaga on Spain’s southern coast, Pedro de Alba and Monica Lopez welcomed a son into the world. The village,
Blood on the Platform: A 1917 Murder in Bay County
By Michael Earl Simmons The Gulf Coast’s secrets aren’t forgotten; they tend to hang around, like humidity settling into your bones after a long afternoon. Down in the Panhandle, where
The Boy Who Lived 63 Hours
By Michael Earl Simmons From the “Old Gulf Coast Crime Stories” chronicles, here is a story that highlights the spirit of the Florida Panhandle in its early years. Panhandle Lawmen
The Badge Has a Memory
Why Training New Criminal Justice Officers in Department History Shapes Pride, Ethics, and Leadership By Michael Earl Simmons When a new recruit pins on a badge for the first time,
The Acreman Massacre
A Night of Fire in Allentown There are places along the Gulf Coast where the pines grow tall and the wind carries secrets. North of Milton, beyond the sandy roads
The Robichaud Dynasty
A Family That Shaped West Florida’s Criminal Justice Training In West Florida, we grow many things well—longleaf pine, stubborn pride, and young men and women who feel the pull of
Blog Post 2: Salt Air, Back Alleys, and Chief O’Connell’s .38
By Michael Earl Simmons This is Part two of a two-part story. If Part One was cold steel and northern highways that never warmed, this part is pure Gulf Coast:
Ice Boxes, Bullet Holes, and a Road That Wouldn’t End.
Worcester to Springfield to Pomfret — where fame turns into murder By Michael Earl Simmons This is Part 1 of a two-part story… Pensacola didn’t meet Roland Lalone first. Connecticut