Woman recants claims about cop involvement in 1999 slayings

OZARK, Ala. (AP) — A woman who fueled a social media frenzy with claims about police being involved in the killings of two Alabama teens found dead in a car trunk in 1999 now says she was lying the whole time. WTYV-TV reports that 53-year-old Rena Crumb recanted her allegations on Thursday. Her testimony came during a pretrial hearing for Coley McCraney, who is charged with capital murder in the slayings of J.B. Beasley and Tracie Hawlett more than two decades ago. The defense hoped Crumb’s testimony about police wrongdoing could help clear their client. But after repeatedly saying she couldn’t recall certain things, Crumb blurted out: “I lied.”