Fayette Man Pleads Guilty to Killing Young Mother Found Dead Last Summer

A west Alabama man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a young mother whose body was discovered in Fayette County last summer, and he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Andy Hamlin, the district attorney in Fayette County, said 37-year-old Michael Wade Tucker has pleaded guilty to killing 21-year-old Laci Whitson last July, wrapping her body in a blanket and hiding her near his home. 

Whitson went missing after leaving a rehabilitation facility in Lauderdale County with Tucker last July, and her body was recovered days later, concealed in a boat on his property on County Road 52.

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Tucker pleaded guilty Friday morning, and Hamlin said Judge Sam Junkin ordered him to serve life in prison, the maximum possible sentence for murder.

“This was a horrific and senseless crime, and while nothing can ease the pain Laci’s loved ones continue to carry, I hope this plea brings them a measure of justice and peace,” Hamlin said. “I want to thank her family for their strength and patience as we’ve worked through this investigation and the court process. We continue to pray for them.”

Hamlin thanked the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office, the Alabama State Bureau of Investigation, the District Attorney’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, Chief Assistant District Attorney Jack Nolen and others who helped bring this case to closure.

“We’re incredibly grateful to the witnesses who came forward and the law enforcement agencies that worked this case so thoroughly,” he said. “Because of their efforts, we were able to build a solid case that the defendant had no choice but to plead guilty.