Tony Harrelson

In October of 2009, 46-year-old Tony Harrelson was shot and killed in Camp Hill, Alabama. A truck driver for the U.S. Postal Service, Tony is believed to have fallen prey to a gunman who had been robbing postal workers throughout eastern Alabama between 2008 and 2009.

Listen to "Short Stories #2 (Tony Harrelson & Robert Pillsen-Rahier)" on Spreaker.

The U.S. Postal Service is an independent agency of the executive branch, which provides postal service to every corner of the country - no matter how isolated or rural. Despite being seen as one of the many extraneous services of government, the U.S.P.S. is actually one of the few governmental bodies laid out in the U.S. Constitution, with Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 ("The Postal Clause") laying out pretty clearly:

"The Postal Service shall have as its basic function the obligation to provide postal services to bind the Nation together through the personal, educational, literary, and business correspondence of the people."

From the very beginning of the United States, the postal service has been a bedrock of the government, with noted patriot Benjamin Franklin being appointed the first postmaster general during the Second Continental Congress in 1775. Despite attempts by many to politicize the Postal Service and its mission, it remains a valuable cornerstone of American life - being how many of us continue to receive goods, medications, meals, and even our voting ballots - and handles as much traffic in just a few weeks as its privatized competitors handle in an entire year. Through decades of interference and political sabotage, the U.S. Postal Service perseveres.

Despite this, though, the Postal Service has not been a stranger to human influences, with the phrase "going postal" becoming a common expression in the latter half of the 20th century due to a rash of workplace violence incidents involving postal workers. But today's story doesn't center around that. Rather, the exact opposite: a public servant, whose 2009 death remains clouded in mystery over a decade later.

This is the story of Tony Harrelson.

By 2009, Tony Wayne Harrelson had entered into a comfortable life with his wife, children, and grandchildren. He had been married to his wife, Dinah, for several years now, and the couple had six children: Richard, Dustin, Amy, Jennifer, Brittany, and Jessie. The couple also had nine grandchildren - although that number has grown in the years since.

Born and raised in Dadeville, Alabama - a small town in Tallapoosa County, with a population of around 3200 people, located about 90 miles southeast of Birmingham - Tony was what you'd expect from most men in the region. He was a big Alabama football fan, he enjoyed watching NASCAR races, and his favorite hobbies including playing pool with his children and grandchildren as well as spending time with his wife and the basset hounds he was raising. But what really set Tony apart was his sense of humor, with Tony being able to find the humor in almost anything. According to a former-coworker, James Williams, who had known Tony for decades:

"No matter how bad the situation, he would find a way to laugh about it."

Despite living in Dadeville, Tony would end up working a lot in the surrounding area as a truck driver for the U.S. Postal Service. This work would end up taking him out to regions like Camp Hill, an even more rural town about 10 miles away from home... where Tony's life would come to a tragic and sudden end.

On October 2nd, 2009, sometime between 5:45 and 6:15 PM, 46-year-old Tony Harrelson was shot and killed at the Camp Hill Post Office, which was (and is) located in a heavily-forested part of town.

Police were notified of the shooting with a 911 call that afternoon, but specific details about the crime - or the 911 call - have never been released. Authorities have not disclosed any details about the crime scene or the crime itself (including details about where the shooting specifically took place, or the circumstances that had led up to it), but would later reveal that "postal property" was stolen during the attack.

Unlike other crimes I've covered in the past, the investigation into this incident was headed by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, who would oversee this investigation because Tony was on-duty at the time of the shooting. It's worth pointing out that - despite being almost unheard of in most peoples' lives - the Postal Inspection Service is one of the most respected investigative services in the country, and is actually the oldest continually operating law enforcement agency, dating back to the late 18th century. From the origin of the United States, the Postal Inspection Service has been tasked with supporting and protecting not only the mail system, but any "crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail, the postal system, or postal employees."

The Postal Inspection Service would set up a mobile command center behind the post office in Opelika, Alabama, which would remain active for months after Tony's shooting. And despite heading this investigation, they would be joined by members of the Camp Hill Police Department, the Tallapoosa County Sheriff's Department, and the Alabama Bureau of Investigation.

In an effort to gain the attention of potential witnesses, authorities would engage in a weeks-long public awareness campaign which involved hanging up tens of thousands of flyers throughout the region, and a letter-writing campaign - both of which asked for anyone with information to come forward, no matter how big or small it may seem. They would even begin putting up billboards throughout eastern Alabama months later, hoping that the awareness might knock loose a memory or two from someone that had seen something.

Yolanda Burns, a U.S. Postal Inspector & Public Information Officer, would tell reporters at the time:

"We don't want anyone to think that they can commit this kind of offense against a federal employee and get away with it... We need witnesses to come forward who were in the Camp Hill area at the time or days prior to the (shooting) who may have noticed any type of suspicious activity in the area."

While investigators would never reveal much in the way of details about the crime, the fact that they were never able to ascertain a motive is in itself rather noteworthy. Investigators were unable to find any animosity towards Tony from people in his life - at least, nothing that would rise to this level - which seemed to rule out potential personal motives rather quickly. As I've already stated, though, authorities would reveal months after the shooting that "postal property" had been stolen during the commission of this crime, but would never declare what this was, exactly - leaving the possibility open that the offender might have been searching for something of value (or even something in particular).

I have discovered that at the time of Tony's murder, the Camp Hill Post Office did a surprising number of money order transactions each day. In case you're not familiar with money orders, they are basically certified checks: people would bring in their money or paychecks, and then transfer this money into money orders in order to pay bills or make payments. This made up a surprisingly good chunk of the Camp Hill facility's business at the time (but, of course, debit cards and other digital payment methods have changed that over the past eleven years).

On the day of Tony's murder, October 2nd, a large amount of cash was going to be moved from the Camp Hill location, and it's possible that his killer(s) knew that. To me, this would indicate some familiarity with that post office - or at least, some kind of loose connection - and would become noteworthy because of additional information released by authorities.

Months after Tony's murder, authorities would reveal that a string of armed robberies had taken place at post offices throughout Alabama, which bore significant similarities to Tony's murder. The first robbery had taken place in Smiths Station, Alabama - about 40 miles southwest of Camp Hill - on July 23rd, 2008. In that case, an armed gunman had approached the driver of a postal truck at around 6:00 PM, demanding several postal bags and then fleeing from the scene with an undisclosed amount of cash. Before leaving, though, the gunman would lock up the driver in the back of the truck, who was found several hours later (in the early morning hours of July 24th). The driver would describe his gunman in pretty average terms - he stood about six feet tall, weighed about 190 pounds, and was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, as well as sunglasses and a bandana (which obscured his features).

Subsequent robberies would take place in Troy in August of 2008 and Hope Hull in December of 2009, with authorities believing that these crimes could be related; having been carried out by an opportunist that simply felt no remorse. Perhaps Tony had been the only driver to push back against this gunman and had been shot as a result.

With this crime spree coming to a supposed end in December of 2009 - just months after Tony's murder - it was theorized that the person(s) responsible may have fled the state, with U.S. Postal Inspector Tony Robinson warning the offender(s) of this crime:

"Running to the next state isn't going to help. We'll just follow them there too."

One year after Tony's death, a vigil would be held at the Camp Hill Post Office to remember the person he had been. Friends and family would gather to recall memories about the 46-year-old, whose shocking death had left many of them adrift - including Tony's widow, Dinah, who spoke to reporters with the Alex City Outlook and stated:

"We just want everyone to remember, and him not be forgotten."

Roughly two years after Tony's death, Dinah would file a suit against the U.S. Postal Service, claiming that it had done an inadequate job in protecting its employees. In her suit, she hoped to seek changes as well as $2 million in damages due to Tony's murder, but the case was dismissed in 2012, with Judge Charles S. Coody dismissing the case with prejudice, citing the U.S. government's argument of sovereign immunity.

And that is, unfortunately, where the story kind of just... ends. A few stories would come out about this case in 2018 and 2019, as the ten-year mark of Tony's murder came and went, but that's virtually it.

If the person(s) responsible for Tony's death are ever caught, their punishment will likely vary between one of two possibilities: death or life imprisonment, which are the two punishments set aside in the U.S. penal code for those that commit murder against an officer or employee of the Postal Service. That would, of course, depend on the circumstances of the case and which murder charge they would receive - 1st or 2nd degree - and would depend on the details of their capture and how cooperative they are with authorities.

A $100,000 reward exists for any information that might lead to an arrest; including information about anyone that might have been an accessory to the crime, might have conspired with the killer(s), or received any items stolen during the murder. If you know anything at all - or simply think that you might know something - I would advise that you reach out, if only to make yourself rich. If it's proven that Tony's murder is related to other robberies from the region - the three robberies from Smiths Station, Troy, and Hope Hull - then the reward could reach as high as $300,000. That's how eager the U.S.P.S. is to bring a resolution to this case and obtain justice for Tony and his loved ones.

If you know anything and would like to claim this hefty reward, then please reach out to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 877-876-2455. You can also reach out to the Tallapoosa Sheriff's Department at 256-825-4264 or the Secret Witness number at 256-827-2035 (if you would like to remain anonymous).

I would like to end this episode with words spoken by Tony's best friend, Reverend James William, who spoke at Tony's vigil on the one-year mark of his death:

"Tony Harrelson was not just my very best friend in the whole world. He was also a father. He was also a husband. He was a son. He was a grandpa. He was a brother. He was an uncle. He was a cousin. He was somebody's coworker. So you see, it's when you think about him in this way, there's no way that he's ever going to become a number or a statistic."

The story of Tony Harrelson remains unresolved.

Episode Information

Researched, written, hosted, and produced by Micheal Whelan

Published on October 18th, 2020

Producers: Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Gabriella Bromley, Peggy Belarde, Quil Carter, Laura Hannan, Damion Moore, Brittany Norris, Amy Hampton, Steven Wilson, Scott Meesey, Marie Vanglund, Scott Patzold, Astrid Kneier, Travis Scsepko, Aimee McGregor, Sydney Scotton, Sara Moscaritolo, Sue Kirk, Thomas Ahearn, Bryan Hall, Seth Morgan, Marion Welsh, Jo Wong, Patrick Laakso, Alyssa Lawton, Meadow Landry, Tatum Bautista, Teunia Elzinga, Michele Watson, Ryan Green, Stephanie Joyner, Dawn Kellar, and Elissa Hampton-Dutro