The first marriage breaking up due to his wife’s deception left Jason Crawford feeling sad and angry. So, when Jason discovered his second wife was also having an affair, he was furious and told a friend that he “couldn’t go through this again.”
Midnight Death
At just past 11 p.m. on May 2, 2017, Jason Crawford dialed 911. Upon hearing the dispatcher’s voice, the 37-year-old man immediately reported, “My wife has been shot. I need someone to come here, please!”
Upon arriving at the scene just outside Jason’s home in the city of Cullman, Alabama, police found 32-year-old Tiffiney Crawford slumped over in the driver’s seat of her car.
In Tiffiney’s left hand was a pink handgun that Jason said she typically kept in the door by the driver’s seat for self-defense. When an officer checked Tiffiney’s pulse on her left wrist, the gun slipped from her hand.
Jason, 37, explained that the two had been arguing earlier. He had not let his wife into the house and instead went in to pack some clothes for her. The last thing he remembered was Tiffiney telling him that she loved him. “As I was walking into the house, I heard a gunshot, a scream, and then another gunshot,” Jason told the police.
Medical personnel confirmed that Tiffiney had two gunshot wounds to her head, one on the left side of her jaw and one on the left temple. They tried to save her, but it was too late. At that moment, everyone at the scene suspected it was a suicide.
The Car Cleaned Up
Tiffiney and Jason had been married for over six years. Tiffiney was described as a standout, beautiful woman with an outgoing personality.
When they started dating, Jason had been divorced for a few years and had a son named Logan, 14. Jason and his first wife had split because she had deceived him. Tiffiney had also been divorced. The couple married in 2011 and subsequently had two children together, a 5-year-old boy and a 4-year-old girl.
On the night of the shooting, their children were all at home. At that time, the two younger ones were sleeping in the room, while Logan was awake, so Jason told him to call his grandparents.
When Jason’s parents arrived, the police recognized Jason’s mother as Ronda Crawford, the office manager at the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office. Due to the involvement of a family member of a police officer, the Sheriff’s Office also quickly responded to the scene that night. Investigators told him that Tiffiney’s death appeared to be a suicide, with the only strange thing being the two gunshots.
The sheriff suggested conducting an autopsy and transferring the case to the Alabama Bureau of Investigation to avoid any lack of transparency because Jason’s mother had a connection to the sheriff’s office.
Officer Joe Parrish took over the case and immediately requested a search warrant for Tiffiney’s car. However, an issue immediately arose. The car had been returned to Jason’s family. Less than 24 hours after Tiffiney’s death, the car had been thoroughly cleaned by Jason’s relatives. They had received permission from the sheriff’s office, stating that all necessary evidence had been collected.
Explaining this, Jason Crawford said, “I didn’t want the kids to see anything. I was very worried about them waking up in the morning and knowing their mother was dead.“
However, Officer Joe Parrish still found the quick cleaning of the car after such a serious incident to be extremely suspicious.
The Strange Death
Examining the clues surrounding Tiffiney Crawford’s death, Officer Joe Parrish noticed several odd details. Firstly, the fact that the car in which Tiffiney was found dead had been quickly cleaned by her husband, Jason Crawford, was suspicious. Additionally, finding the gun in the victim’s left hand was perplexing as she was right-handed. Along with this, firing two shots to the head is rare in suicide cases. Therefore, it was nearly impossible for Tiffiney to use her non-dominant hand to pull the trigger twice.
Through investigation, Joe discovered that Tiffiney was having an affair. Lyndsy Luke, Tiffiney’s close friend and one of the few who knew about it, revealed that Tiffiney had mentioned planning to leave Jason and get a job at a local grocery store to save money for her new life.
Reviewing footage from police interrogation cameras and the 911 call, investigators noticed Jason’s demeanor was rather cold, unlike someone whose wife had just died unexpectedly. He also didn’t mention his wife’s infidelity.
Suspicious Story
During further questioning, Jason claimed to have noticed changes in Tiffiney in the months leading up to her death, such as her increased alcohol consumption. Jason recounted that on the day Tiffiney died, he discovered messages on the computer indicating she was having an affair, so he called Tiffiney to confront her. A few hours later, Tiffiney returned home with their two young children. Jason took the kids inside and told Tiffiney to stay outside.
They argued for over an hour about Tiffiney’s infidelity, and when Jason insisted on not letting Tiffiney inside, she asked him to get her clothes. “I went inside, just closed the door, then heard a gunshot, a scream, and then another gunshot,” Jason told the agent. Jason said he then rushed outside, opened the car door, and called 911.
Checking fingerprints and DNA on the gun, authorities found only minor traces, leading them to suspect the gun had been deliberately wiped clean and placed in the victim’s hand to simulate a suicide.
Like Joe, Dr. Valerie Green – the medical examiner conducting the autopsy – doubted Jason’s story about the fateful night.
Dr. Valerie noticed something unusual about the gunshot wound on the left side of the victim’s head. Based on the absence of gunpowder residue and abrasions around the wound on the left temple, she concluded that the gunshot was fired from at least 25cm away. According to Valerie, the victim extending her arm more than 25 cm and attempting to shoot herself is unlikely, as Jason reported finding Tiffiney in the driver’s seat with the gun in her left hand and the car door closed.
Dr. Valerie found no blood on the driver’s side door or on the window through scene photos. This led Valerie to believe that the door was not closed when Tiffiney was shot. Valerie speculated that the door was open because Jason was standing there.
Shocking Crime
Nearly 10 months after the tragedy involving Tiffiney Crawford, on March 8, 2018, her death was officially declared a homicide. Tiffiney’s husband – Jason Crawford was charged with murder.
This information came as a shock to many. Tiffiney’s mother – Cheryl McGucken, stated that she didn’t believe her daughter committed suicide, but she also never imagined her son-in-law would be a suspect in her murder.
Defense attorneys argued that authorities found no blood or anything on Jason indicating his involvement in the murder. However, in reality, Jason had never been tested for gunshot residue on the night of the murder, and his house had never been searched for evidence.
In November 2022, over 5 years since Tiffiney’s death, Jason stood trial for her murder. The prosecution argued that Jason was the only one with a motive to kill Tiffiney, fueled by anger upon learning of her infidelity.
A friend of Tiffiney testified that after discovering his wife’s deception, Jason called her. “He said he couldn’t go through this again,” the witness said, alluding to the fact that his first wife had also cheated. However, Jason denied making such statements.
DNA analyst Angela Fletcher, who examined Tiffiney’s gun, stated that only a very small amount of DNA was found on it, making it uncertain whether there was female DNA present. However, she was certain that both the gun grip and trigger contained male DNA. With so little DNA found, the prosecution argued that Jason had wiped the gun and placed it in Tiffiney’s hand deliberately.
Before the court, Forensic Medical Examiner Dr. Valerie Green reiterated her opinion that the gunshot wound to Tiffiney’s temple was inflicted from a distance of over 25cm.
Valerie also noted that she had reviewed photographs of the driver’s side door of the car, where Tiffiney sat when she died, and found no blood on the door, window, or windowpane. “That leads me to believe that the door wasn’t closed when Tiffiney died. It was open because Jason was standing there,” Valerie said.
99 Years for Wife Killer
In court, Dr. Lauridson, former director of the Alabama forensic agency, believed that Tiffiney shot herself in the left cheek and then in the left temple, with no way to know how far the gunshot to the temple was as it involved hair.
Jason’s lawyer argued that Tiffiney was experiencing psychological issues. She had seen a counselor just one day before her death. Friends also testified that she drank excessively and was very upset over a recent breakup with her lover.
Tiffiney’s diary had an entry dated the day she died. In it, she wrote that she was “struggling to figure out what to do with herself” and that she was “trying to avoid a breakdown.”
Jason stated before the jury that he loved Tiffiney and denied killing her. He admitted to yelling at his wife, feeling regretful for contributing to her tragedy.
The jury deliberated for several hours before requesting to replay the 911 call recording and some footage from police interrogation cameras. They heard the dispatcher repeatedly asking Jason, “Who shot her?” and when questioned about the gun’s location, Jason said, “The gun is next to her,” but it was actually in Tiffiney’s hand.
On March 10, 2023, the jury ruled Jason guilty. He was sentenced to 99 years in prison despite maintaining his innocence and denying any involvement in his wife’s gruesome death. Currently, Jason is behind bars at the Kilby Correctional Facility in Montgomery, Alabama, and will not be eligible for parole until 2038.
