Thomas Whitehurst saw law enforcement pull behind him two years ago to arrest him for the murder of his ex-wife Starr Mulder.
Thursday and Friday Whitehurst of Redland sat quietly as a jury deliberated his fate — coming back to 19th Circuit Court Judge Bill Lewis with a not guilty verdict.
“I didn’t do anything to Starr,” Whitehurst told law enforcement in a 2016 interview.
And the jury agreed but not without disagreement in the murder trial with only circumstantial evidence tying Whitehurst to the death.
After nearly nine hours of deliberation the jury came to Lewis wanting lunch.
“We just need a break from each other,” a note to Lewis from the jury said.
After lunch Lewis acknowledged the jury was split on the decision of Whitehurst's innocence or guilt and instructed them to give deliberation one more chance. It worked, allowing Whitehurst’s freedom with a not guilty verdict after five days in a courtroom facing a jury of his peers.
Whitehurst and Mulder divorced in 2013. But Mulder continued to live in Whitehurst’s home.
“I was told I was crazy for letting her stay,” Whitehurst told investigators in a video interview. “I couldn’t do it in my heart, putting her out.”
Family had described Mulder as full of life and looking forward to a future, especially after she found out she was to be a grandmother.
The case started when Whitehurst reported Mulder missing at the urging of Mulder’s daughter who lived out of state. Whitehurst told authorities the last time he saw her was June 11, 2016. Elmore County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Bill Wilson said he spoke with Whitehurst about his then missing ex-wife Mulder. Wilson said the last time Mulder was on the phone or Facebook was two days earlier. In the interview with Wilson, Whitehurst said that was unlike his ex-wife.
“She lived on the phone, according to Mr. Whitehurst,” Wilson testified. “When she wasn’t on the phone she was on Facebook.”
Whitehurst would speak with Wilson and other investigators three times before saying he wanted an attorney. Wilson wanted to believe Whitehurst to start with but as investigators tried to prove Whitehurst’s story, they couldn’t.
Whitehurst had said on the morning of June, 11, 2016 he went to Wetumpka to get Mulder breakfast and to pick up prescription medication. Wilson said the medication was never picked up and they couldn’t find Whitehurst’s vehicle on a video camera leaving the neighborhood.
Whitehurst also used one of Mulder’s preloaded credit cards after the missing person’s report was filed.
The strongest evidence investigators had was that Mulder’s phone turned on once nine days after she went missing near Whitehurst’s place of employment in Montgomery. Other strong evidence include blood that was proven to be Mulder’s in the back of Whitehurst’s vehicle.
Whitehurst also told investigators he had months earlier given Mulder a July 1, 2016 deadline to move out after she didn’t keep a job and continued to drink. Whitehurst said the deadline came about after he accompanied Mulder to an oncologist where Mulder was told there was nothing wrong with her.
Wilson said he used his personal bloodhound to track Mulder near the Redland home but to no avail. Wilson again asked Whitehurst where Mulder might be.
“I don’t know where she went,” Whitehurst said in an interview with investigators. “She is not in Elmore County.
Fast forward to March 2020 and the Conecuh National Forest. Foresters found human remains that were sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS). A year later, March 21, 2021, Wilson gets a call from investigators at the Conecuh Sheriff’s Department they had identified the remains as Mulder’s. Whitehurst was arrested the following day.
The location was significant according to Wilson in that Mulder had no connection to the area but Whitehurst did. Whitehurst graduated from nearby Andalusia High School and still had family in Conecuh County. Authorities said Mulder’s remains had been scattered somewhat over the years by animals and flooding but no weapon was recovered. But a gunshot wound between the eyes was noticed in the skull. A mushroomed round fell from the skull as it was recovered. The round was identified as .25 caliber.
An ex-wife of Whitehurst testified that she had seen a .25 caliber handgun belonging to Whitehurst but couldn’t describe it.
DFS’s Dr. Edward Reedy said the gunshot killed Mulder but couldn’t say whether it was homicide or self-inflicted. Her body had been in the Conecuh National Forest for years and even burned during a prescribed burn of the area. It was located about three miles, several turns and then pulled about 100 yards from a trail for all-terrain vehicles according to Wilson.
Wilson speculated Mulder was likely shot during her sleep for the placement of the round.
In 2016 authorities searched Whitehurst’s home. In particular they searched Mulder’s bedroom. They found no evidence of blood. In the garage they found a small spot on the floor and also in Whitehurst’s vehicle.
With the not-guilty verdict, the criminal case against Whitehurst is now closed.
