MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — One of the men charged with murdering seven people in Valhermoso Springs in the summer of 2020 handwrote a letter to the judge asking for permission to attend fellowship.
22-year-old John Legg was arrested on June 28, 2020, alongside Frederic Rogers in the deaths of Tammy Muzzey, 45, Emily Payne, 21, Roger Jones Jr., 19, Jeramy Roberts, 31, William Hodgin, 18, James Benford, 22, and Dakota Green, 17.
Earlier this month, Legg penned a letter to Judge Brown, asking him to be allowed to attend Sunday church services, after he says “someone” had him removed. He wrote:
I’ve made some mistakes since I’ve been in jail, but fellowship is an important part of being a Christian. I’m trying to better myself through attending church and other faith based classes. Please don’t let my lapse in judgment affect my growth in grace.
John Legg
Editor’s Note: News 19 has redacted the names of jail personnel to protect their privacy.
Prosecutors say Legg and Rogers were in a club called the Seven Deadly Sins and some of the victims were apparently members as well.
In what Morgan County authorities called the worst crime in the county’s history, investigators say all the victims were shot multiple times.
On the night of June 4, 2020, Morgan County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a home on Talucah Road. When they arrived, part of the house was on fire. Inside, they found seven people and one dog dead.
It was almost three weeks after the killings when authorities found Legg and Rogers in Oregon.
Once extradited back to Morgan County, Rogers said in an interview that he and Legg had started a motorcycle club called the “7 Deadly Sins,” and they served as president and vice president, according to testimony. Authorities said both suspects are originally from Morgan County and knew everyone in the house. They also did not have a criminal record at the time.
Rogers has filed a mental health defense with the court. The judge has also ordered that he undergo mental health testing as well.
Legg has also since been charged with second-degree escape after authorities said he “basically stole the trustee uniform without someone knowing and then put in on under his clothes, his uniform.”
In a fall 2021 hearing, Legg’s attorneys told the court that he needs a mental health evaluation and they don’t believe he is competent to stand trial.
In their court filing raising the issue Legg’s lawyers said he was 18 at the time of the killings and has an eighth-grade education, that he’d been hospitalized multiple times for mental health treatment including for depression and PTSD, that his family believes he has undiagnosed mental health problems and his lawyers argued that based on their dealings with him, they don’t believe he can assist with his defense.
A status call hearing has been set for both Legg and Rogers on October 2 at 11 a.m.
