Husband's 911 call key in reaching verdict in Alabama mom's murder, says juror

This story originally aired on March 25, 2023. It was updated on Jan, 27, 2024.

It was just after 11 p.m. on May 2, 2017, when then-37-year-old Jason Crawford called 911 from right outside his home in Cullman, Alabama, about 50 miles north of Birmingham.

911 DISPATCHER: 911, where is your emergency?

JASON CRAWFORD: Uh, my wife is shot. I need someone out here, please

911 DISPATCHER: Sir, is she breathing?

JASON CRAWFORD: I don't know … I'm trying to pick her— lift her up so I can see.

Jason remembers that night vividly.

Jason Crawford: It felt like it was taking longer and longer for anybody to get there … And eventually, I saw some headlights.

Body camera footage shows what Cullman County Sheriff's deputies found when they first got to the scene.

DEPUTY: EMS is on their way, OK?

Jason's wife, 32-year-old Tiffiney Crawford, was slumped over in the driver's seat of her own van. There was a pink revolver in her left hand, which Jason says she kept in the driver's side door of her vehicle for protection. When one of the sheriff's deputies tried to check Tiffiney for a pulse, the gun fell out of her hand.

DEPUTY: What happened tonight?

JASON CRAWFORD: Uh, I—We were arguing. … I gave her—her stuff, so she can go. I didn't let her in the house. … And the last thing I remember, she said she loved me, and I was going in the house, and I heard a shot, a scream and then another shot.

Tiffiney had been shot twice in the head. Paramedics tried to revive her —

Jason Crawford: And I was thinking that maybe there's a chance she's still alive.

—but it was too late.

Jason Crawford: And they come over and told me that she was dead … It just made me feel sick in my stomach.

To at least one of the deputies on the scene that night, it appeared pretty clear that this was a suicide.

DEPUTY: There's nothing here so far that says anything to me other than a suicide.

And it wasn't long before deputies realized who Jason Crawford was — the son of Ronda Crawford, who works as an office manager at the sheriff's office.

DEPUTY: You know it's Ronda's daughter-in-law.

Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry soon got word.

Sheriff Matt Gentry: The chief deputy called me … and said, 'Hey … it appears that … Ronda's daughter-in-law … had shot herself." ... I said, "I'll go out there and check on them."

By the time the sheriff got there, Ronda Crawford was already on scene. It was Ronda – Jason's mother – who called Tiffiney's mom, Cheryl McGucken to tell her what happened.

Cheryl McGucken: I felt like I was kind of frozen in time in that moment. … And I said, "Is Jason there? Can I talk to him?" And he was already speaking with the police.

Cheryl McGucken: And so, um, I got off the phone and … I tried to figure out what my next step was (cries).

Cheryl's thoughts soon turned to Tiffiney and Jason's children. They shared a 5-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter. Tiffiney was also stepmom to Jason's then-14-year-old son, Logan. All the kids were inside the house that night; the two youngest were asleep. For Cheryl, life really hasn't been the same since then.

David Begnaud | "48 Hours" contributor: What are the things that you miss about her?

Cheryl McGucken: You know, the things I miss about her is her spontaneity. … Tiffiney was an individual that had a huge heart, and she just wanted to engulf everyone around her and help them find joy.

That is why Cheryl says Tiffiney devoted much of her spare time to a support group that she had started on Facebook called "Mothers Helping Mothers." 

TIFFINEY CRAWFORD VIDEO: We're there to laugh with each other, to love each other, and to just build you up in everyday motherhood.

Cheryl McGucken: She saw a vision that there were … other mothers … that needed somebody to talk to … And that group took off like a wildfire and spread all over the country.

Tiffiney and Jason had been married a little more than six years when she died.

David Begnaud: What did you think of Tiffiney when you first met her?

Jason Crawford: I thought she was striking and beautiful. She was outgoing. A lot of things I wasn't, you know? So, it was more of, like, I guess opposites attract kind of thing.

When they started dating, Jason had been divorced for several years. His first wife, he says, had cheated on him. Tiffiney was in a relationship at the time — married, in fact. It wasn't exactly a fairytale beginning from the outside looking in, but Jason says, for the two of them, it was.

Jason Crawford: It was like fireworks from — in the beginning.

Tiffiney eventually got divorced, and that is when she and Jason married and started their family. Just what led up to her death on that night in May 2017 would be up to the investigators to find out. Sheriff Gentry remembers a conversation he had on the scene with the coroner.

Sheriff Matt Gentry: He says, it appears to be a suicide. He said the only weird thing is there's two shots.

David Begnaud: What do you recall about what you thought in that moment?

Sheriff Matt Gentry: Well, that's weird. It's strange. … Now, has that happened before? Yes. But it's not normal.

One of the shots was to her left jaw area, the other was to her left temple.

Sheriff Matt Gentry: I said because of his mother's connection to our office, for transparency, there has to be an autopsy done.

Sheriff Gentry says his investigators went on to process the scene that night.

Sheriff Matt Gentry: We investigate every suicide like a homicide … So, the van was searched. Evidence that was needed to be was seized.

But the next morning, Sheriff Gentry decided to turn the case over to the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation.

Sheriff Matt Gentry: I could have told our guys to work it. … But because of the potential for conflict … I want full transparency.

Joe Parrish is the state agent who got the case.

David Begnaud: What's the first thing you do?

Joe Parrish: I went to the District Attorney's Office … And asked him about the van.

Parrish wanted to get his hands on that van in which Tiffiney was shot so he got a search warrant for it, but there was just one problem: the van had been released to the Crawford family, and by the time Parrish got to it — less than 24 hours after Tiffiney died — it had already been cleaned by Jason's family members. The sheriff's office had given them the go ahead.

Jason Crawford: I didn't want the kids to see anything. I was worried about them when they woke up in the morning.

David Begnaud: What did you make of that, that the van had been cleaned?

Joe Parrish: It was odd that they would clean it up that quick after something like that.

But Sheriff Gentry defends his decision to release the van.

Sheriff Matt Gentry: There was nothing of evidentiary value to the van. … They processed it, took, uh, pictures. They did everything they normally would do on a crime scene, uh, that night.

David Begnaud: Right. But if you're treating it like a homicide, I'm not turning the van over to the family.

Sheriff Matt Gentry: Sure. So — so and I — I mean, I completely understand. So, it was treated — we worked it like a homicide, but it was treated like a suicide. … Every bit of evidence that was needed was taken.

But as it turns out, that van would be significant. And so would what Jason and Tiffiney were arguing about right before she died.

THE AFFAIR

Jason Crawford says that in the months leading up to his wife Tiffiney's death, he noticed a change in her.

Jason Crawford: Yeah— I could tell something was going on because she was getting more distant…

Jason Crawford: She had been drinking a lot … too … two or three bottles a week sometimes.

David Begnaud: So, you had a feeling something was up?

Jason Crawford: Yes.

And he says his suspicions were confirmed the night Tiffiney died. Just hours before she got home, Jason found messages on their computer suggesting that she was having an affair.

Jason Crawford: I started calling her, you know, just trying to see if she would tell me anything. And… She's like … I don't know what you're talking about, denying it. And I was like, "OK, well, I think you need to get home."

Tiffiney's mom, Cheryl, says she knew about the affair.

Cheryl McGucken: She called to let me know she was on her way home. And that, um, Jason and her were going to have to have a discussion about their problems …

David Begnaud: Did she sound worried?

Cheryl McGucken: She did not sound worried. She sounded kind of hyper and, you know, anxious. … I just said, "Well, I love you. Be careful."

Tiffiney's friend, Lyndsy Luke, says she also knew about the affair. Lyndsy says Tiffiney told her she was making plans to leave Jason, and that she got a job at a local grocery store to save up money for a new life on her own.

Lyndsy Luke: She knew what she needed to leave him and how she was so close.

David Begnaud: Was Tiffiney afraid that Jason was going to find out about the affair?

Lyndsy Luke: Yes. And she didn't want him to because she didn't want to hurt him.

But that night, when he did find out, Jason says he was hurt and angry. This was the second time a wife had cheated on him. When Tiffiney got home, he says that's when he confronted her, and refused to let her go inside.

Jason Crawford: I kept telling her she's not staying the night. … She asked me, "why can't I stay?" I was like … "you've destroyed the sanctity of our marriage."

David Begnaud: You were really angry.

Jason Crawford: Uh, yeah, I was angry, but I was controlled anger.

Jason claims they argued for more than an hour, and when he remained insistent that Tiffiney was not going inside, he says she asked him to go and get her work clothes.

Jason Crawford: I went in and grabbed some clothes and threw them to her. And then … I told her I'm done talking. Um, so, I went in the house. And as soon as I went in the house … I heard a shot, her scream, and then another shot.

David Begnaud: And then you did what?

Jason Crawford: Went right back outside.

David Begnaud: And what position was the door in — the car door?

Jason Crawford: The car door. It was pulled to or closed.

Jason says that's when he called 911. But in that call and the police body camera footage from that night, Jason never mentioned an affair.

JASON CRAWFORD (dash cam video): Last thing I remember, she said she loved me ...

Lead investigator Joe Parrish says authorities didn't learn about the affair until the next day. Also, when Parrish listened back to that 911 call, there was more that caught his ear.

Joe Parrish: It was very cold … It didn't sound like somebody that was worried about his wife.

911 DISPATCHER: I'm gonna need some more information from you ...

And there was one question that the 911 dispatcher kept asking Jason that he wouldn't answer.

911 DISPATCHER: Who shot her in the head?

Joe Parrish: Who shot your wife? … He was avoiding the question.

David Begnaud: I would like to play the 911 call for you.

Jason Crawford: OK.

911 DISPATCHER: 911, EMS and Fire, where is your emergency?

JASON CRAWFORD: Uh, my wife is shot.

David Begnaud: You seem cool as a cucumber.

Jason Crawford: Well, maybe that's just the way my tone of voice is.

911 DISPATCHER: She's been shot? Who's she been shot by?

JASON CRAWFORD: Please send an ambulance now, please.

David Begnaud: She asked you who's she been shot by. And you didn't respond. Why not?

Jason Crawford: Yeah. I just felt like if I said it into existence, it'd be true.

JASON CRAWFORD: She's been shot in the head.

911 DISPATCHER: Did she shoot herself in the head?

David Begnaud: This lady gave you an opportunity to say yes.

Jason Crawford: Yeah.

David Begnaud: And you didn't respond?

Jason Crawford: Well, I don't know how many more times I can tell you. … I just froze in thought.

David Begnaud: Do you understand how somebody listens to that and says, yeah, 'cause he did it?

Jason Crawford: Yeah. I can understand that.

And that's exactly what Joe Parrish thought. A week after Tiffiney died, and with her autopsy results still pending, Parrish decided to bring Jason in for questioning.

During that interview, Jason spoke in detail about discovering the affair and the argument that he had with Tiffiney:

JASON CRAWFORD: I said, "You've ruined our home." I was like, "You're no longer a part of this ..."

And he also answered a question that Parrish believed was key:

AGENT JOE PARRISH: Was she left or right-handed?

JASON CRAWFORD: She's right-handed.

AGENT JOE PARRISH: Right-handed.

JASON CRAWFORD: Yeah.

Tiffiney was right-handed, but the gun had been found in her left hand.

David Begnaud: How often, in your experience, do suicides happen where the individual uses their non-dominant hand?

Joe Parrish: I've never seen it personally.

Jason Crawford: It's not like I know she's like so predominantly right-handed that she couldn't use her left hand.

But why would Tiffiney, a woman who devoted so much time to helping others, suddenly kill herself?

Lyndsy Luke: There was nothing suicidal about her.

Even Jason finds it hard to explain.

David Begnaud: Had she ever spoke about wanting to kill herself?

Jason Crawford: Not that I know. Not to me.

After Parrish interviewed Jason, he was free to go. But about a week later, he was brought back in for questioning —- this time by Parrish's colleague. Jason agreed to take a polygraph, and investigators told him he failed.

POLYGRAPH EXAMINER: Your reactions were off the chain. OK? … You're saying that there's no way that you shot your wife?

JASON CRAWFORD: Correct.

It wasn't long before things turned contentious.

INVESTIGATOR: I don't want to hear that — that, "I didn't shoot my wife ..." … Because I know that's a f