By Mike Simmons
The SOD Defense
Ever heard of it? The SOD Defense. It’s used a lot. Many times, when a law enforcement officer questions a suspect, their answer is, “It wasn’t me. It was Some Other Dude. That is the defense that Ed Bradley used when he was asked if he murdered Andrew Nall.
On September 29, 1935, a couple from Luverne, Alabama made the 130-mile trip to “Bay Beach” on the Santa Rosa peninsula (present-day Gulf Breeze) to enjoy a picnic on the beautiful shores of Pensacola Bay beside the Pensacola Bay Bridge. After they ate, they took a stroll along the beach when they walked up on a human hand sticking out of the sand. As they looked closer, they saw a foot. Startled, the couple called in the local police.
Santa Rosa Sheriff Joe Allen had the body dug up. There was no identification, but the body appeared to be a man of about 50 years of age. The sheriff had the body examined by the local coroner, Perry Waters, who determined that the victim had been shot and then struck across the forehead with a heavy object and then buried several days earlier. It looked like hogs had eaten part of the hand and foot. The victim, dressed only in his underwear, had several gold-capped teeth and a scar on his hip.
The occupants of the nearby summer cottages said that two men were camping at that spot a few days earlier. A car had been parked nearby but it was gone when the body was discovered. A “money rod” had been found nearby. A money rod was reportedly an instrument used to find buried treasure. The sheriff’s investigation revealed no one reported missing, and the other party could not be identified.
“Have y’all seen our relative, Andrew Nall?” a voice on the telephone asked Sheriff Allen. “He has been missing for about 10 days. The last we heard from him, he was headed to go camping with a buddy on Bay Beach, near the Pensacola Bay Bridge. He’s a farmer, about 50 years old, had a lot of money with him, has some gold on his teeth and a deep scar on his hip from surgery about four years ago.” They went on to say that Nall had taken about $500 with him to locate suitable land to build a farm on in Santa Rosa County.
On October 2, 1935, Sheriff Allen headed to Red Level, Alabama, to pick up the relatives of the missing man. An identification was made as soon as they arrived in Santa Rosa County and viewed the body.
A couple of days later, Nall’s nephew, L. L. James, who lived in Pensacola, called Escambia County Sheriff Hamp Gandy and explained that he last saw Nall about two weeks prior. He said Nall and a buddy stopped by his home and told said they were going fishing on Bay Beach.
Ed Bradley was working on a car in Panama City when the police came up to him. When they asked him if he knew Andrew Nall, he told them no. The officer looked at for a minute and said, “Then why are you working on his car?”
Ed said, “Oh, yeah, I remember now. We were camping beside the Pensacola Bay Bridge and he let me borrow his car.”
The officer told him that Andrew had been killed and was buried without his pants or shirt and that his money was missing. When he asked Ed if he knew anything about that, Ed said he didn’t. “Then why are you wearing his pants and shirt?” Ed figured he was in hot water, so he kept quiet. When the officer arrested him and searched him, he found…a lot of money.
The trial began on January 30, 1936. Fifteen witnesses were called for the state and one – Bradley – testified in his own behalf. He insisted he struck Nall but he said it was in self-defense. He didn’t explain burying the body and fleeing with the car, the money or the clothes.
The trial lasted two days. At the end of the second day, the jury retired to deliberate. 40 minutes later they had a verdict – Guilty. Bradley was automatically sentenced to die in the electric chair.
Three things happened on June 29, 1936. Ed Bradley was strapped into “Old Sparky,” Sheriff Joseph Allen threw the switch, and Ed Bradley met his maker.
Interesting
Mike Simmons
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