Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Attorney: accused oak poisoner attacked

Harvey Updyke, the Alabama fan accused of trying to kill the historic oaks at Toomer's Corner in Auburn, had a really bad Wednesday.

First, his attorney announced that prosecutors have rejected a plea in which Updyke would avoid additional jail time.

Then later in the day, a TV station reported, the attorney says his client was attacked in an Opelika, Ala., convenience store and needed hospital treatment for the resulting head wound.

For more than 40 years, the trees have been the traditional celebration spot for Auburn students after big victories. Reports have said that Updyke, a former Texas state trooper who moved to Alabama in 1983, poisoned the oaks because he believed Auburn students rolled them in toilet paper to celebrate the death of legendary coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.

There's no proof such a celebration took place.

Here's the latest

5 comments:

Alex said...

This story is already being debunked all over the internet. No witnesses, the timeframe doesn't make a lot of sense, and Updyke and his lawyer can't seem to get the story straight.

Anonymous said...

Execute him.

marcusclarkus said...

The poisoning of the trees sounds like a hate crime to me.

Anonymous said...

There seem to be a great many inconsistencies in the story. I will say that I have no problem believing there are plenty of Auburn fans down there that are just as stupid as he is and would gleefully beat him up if they saw him.

Here's the really big question, whether the attack happened or not: Knowing how toxic this rivalry is, taken to another level by Updyke himself, why the hell would he ever allow himself to get within 100 nautical miles of the Auburn campus?

Alex said...

Well, he was there for his preliminary hearing in the tree poisoning case. Wondering why he would STOP FOR GAS in the Auburn/Opelika area, at a gas station called TIGER EXPRESS no less, and then claim he was attacked, really generates even more questions.