Breakdown

The prosecution in Tex McIver's murder trial completes its third week -- a sometimes grueling slog in which the state seemed to be throwing just about everything it can find at McIver. Some if it may not be provable, but none of it looks good. And that seems to be the point. If prosecutors can't prove McIver is a cold-blooded killer, can they sway the jury by suggesting that McIver is a man you can neither trust nor like? And, of course, Tex is helping the state build its case by doing the things he did after Diane McIver died. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The state calls Dani Jo Carter -- the only witness to the shooting of Diane McIver. She is on the stand for more than two full days. She tells the prosecution that Tex McIver asked her to lie about being in the SUV that night. But she tells the defense that she stands by her earlier statements to police that Tex was asleep before the gun went off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The state opens the Claud "Tex" McIver murder trial by detonating some new bombshells. McIver, the prosecution says, provided six different versions of what happened to his wife on the night she was shot. Or did he? Among the first prosecution witnesses was Emory University Hospital ER physician Suzanne Hardy, who treated Diane McIver the night she died. Yes, Hardy testified, Diane told her the shooting was an accident. And no, Hardy testified, Diane did not want to see her husband before she was intubated and rendered unable to speak. Diane McIver died shortly afterward. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One prospective juror after another is dismissed for cause because he or she believes Tex McIver intended to kill his wife. At the end of a long week of jury selection, the parties are finally able to qualify a pool of sufficient size that they can select 12 jurors and four alternates from it. But the defense must be troubled by the sheer number of people who had already made up their minds. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Both the prosecution and the defense have enormous challenges facing them as the trial begins. For the prosecutors, it's a question of motive. For the defense, it's the defendant himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A hard-charging prosecutor goes up against a famed duo of defense attorneys as Claud "Tex" McIver's murder trial begins in one week. Chief Assistant DA Clint Rucker can dominate the courtroom by sheer force of his personality. Bruce Harvey and Don Samuel have a long history of (successfully) defending high-profile clients, from NFL stars to rappers to strippers.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a long winter’s delay, the murder trial of The State v. Claud “Tex” McIver is to begin on March 5. Tex says his wife Diane’s death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says he intentionally shot her in the back. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Bill Rankin returns to bring you Season 5 of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The jury in the double-murder case of Nicholas Benton could not hang the verdict on any single piece of evidence or testimony. That is, nothing that came up in court was so compelling that it enabled the jury to declare "guilty" or "not guilty." But what about something that came up outside of court? AJC Editor Kevin Riley wraps up his insider's account of being foreman on the jury in a murder trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The jury elects a foreman and begins its deliberations. The cellphone evidence is strong, but jurors are concerned about the lack of physical evidence: no murder weapon, no getaway car, no fingerprints, no DNA. And the state's star witness may or may not be believable. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nicholas Benton's murder trial gets underway. The state puts on a formidable case -- albeit with some big holes in it -- and then rests. Here comes the defense, and the jury can't wait to hear what Nick Benton will say when he gets to the stand. Meanwhile, if you'd like to talk with us about this case, join the AJC Breakdown Facebook group. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

First contact: An Atlanta homicide investigator goes to the home of the man who has emerged as his suspect. The man lives with his mother, and the detective winds up interviewing both. A year later, AJC Editor-in-Chief Kevin Riley gets his first indication that he will become deeply engaged in the outcome of this double homicide investigation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, goes deep inside a double-murder in Atlanta. With extraordinary access to key players in the case, Riley and longtime Breakdown host Bill Rankin explore the sudden and vicious killings of Reggie Coicou and Quincy "Fat" Wytche. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reginald "Reggie" Coicou was 24. Quincy "Fat" Wytche was 22. Both were killed in a sudden outburst of gunfire in the parking lot of an Atlanta Burger King in the spring of 2016. Kevin Riley, editor-in-chief of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, gives you an extraordinary inside view of this horrific double homicide, the investigation by the Atlanta police and the prosecution of the man accused of pulling the trigger. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Neither the prosecution nor the defense is ready. The prosecution asks for a continuance, saying it would be unfair to proceed because the defense is unprepared. The defense calls the move "transparently disingenuous," saying it's really the prosecution that wants more time. Meanwhile, prosecutors get slammed for continuing to search for a motive long after they indicted Tex McIver for murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tex McIver couldn't get the new resident of the luxury condo complex out of his mind. She ignored all his entreaties to meet him, and he finally contrived to "bump into" her at the complex's gym early one morning. Diane was a powerful and successful businesswoman who eventually would marry Tex. But on a sultry September night a year ago, he killed her.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Insisting it was an accident, Claud "Tex" McIVer will soon stand trial for the murder of his wife, Diane. Although Diane told ER surgeons it was an accident just before she died, the state has indicted Tex with malice murder. The year since Diane died has seen some extraordinary and often bizarre turns. This first episode of the new season of Breakdown will set the stage for the upcoming trial. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Coming soon: Season 5 of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Breakdown podcast. This season, the AJC's Bill Rankin and Craig Schneider take you deep inside the case against Atlanta lawyer Tex McIver. He says his wife's death was a tragic accident; the district attorney says it was murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before she was killed that night at the Taco Bell in Adel, Donna Brown was a hardworking restaurant manager. a beloved sister and a completely devoted mother. And if we are to seek justice for Devonia Inman, we must also seek it for Donna Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the hearing on Devonia Inman's "extraordinary motion" for a new trial, another giant piece of the case against Inman seems to crumble and fall away. Did Inman commit the murder of which he was convicted? Was he even there when it happened?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If Hercules Brown committed the murder of Taco Bell's night manager in 1998, then the authorities have put the wrong man, Devonia Inman, behind bars. But it gets worse than that. Much worse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices