Alabama Inmate Convicted of Kidnapping Lawyer Escaped

Imagine waking up to the news that someone serving a life sentence for a horrific crime has escaped. That’s exactly what happened when Karen McPherson, 63, briefly fled during a work release in Birmingham.

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McPherson was seen leaving a McDonald's in Hoover around 5 a.m., setting off alarms. Assigned to a work release program, she was quickly apprehended by authorities around 9 a.m. What makes this story even more unsettling is the crime McPherson was convicted for: the 1991 kidnapping of Carrie Lawson, a young Jasper lawyer, whose body was never found.

On the night of September 11, 1991, Carrie and her husband, Earl, received a phone call from a woman claiming to be a nurse with urgent news about a family member. As they left for the hospital, a gunman appeared, restraining Earl and kidnapping Carrie. Despite a ransom demand that was paid, Carrie vanished without a trace.

The investigation pointed to McPherson’s cousin, Jerry Bland, as the main suspect. Before police could arrest him, he took his own life. A search of Bland’s property found most of the $300,000 ransom, but Carrie’s body was never discovered. Two years later, she was declared dead.

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McPherson has been serving a life sentence ever since. In 2022, her parole was denied. Her escape on Monday serves as a chilling reminder of the crime that still haunts Carrie Lawson’s family—and a question: Will justice ever truly be served?

Source: WDHN