It was 23 years ago today on Oct. 22, 1997 that an 11-year-old Forsyth County boy allegedly went missing. Levi Frady’s small body was found a day later, face up, in a rain-filled pit in the Dawson Forest Wildlife Management area. He had been shot 3 times—once to the upper body and twice in the head, according to authorities. 

Fast forward to July 7, 2020. GBI obtains a search warrant for the home of Marshall Tallant, 65, of Cumming, Ga—the same day that Tallant was found dead by a delivery driver. GBI also ordered an autopsy of Tallant’s body. 

Tallant was said to be in possession of the gun allegedly used to murder Frady. It was his long-time companion who accused him seven years earlier on Aug. 16, 2013. On that day, Tommy A. Samples (who goes by Albert), repeatedly stabbed Tallant at his Church Road home during a drug-related dispute. 

Tallant was hospitalized. Samples was arrested. 

“Long Gun. Same One They Used on Levi”

After Samples’ arrest, Forsyth County Investigator Mike Christian interrogated him, but ignored a clear statement about the gun. 

The videotaped interrogation, obtained and made public for the first time by LeviFrady.com, shows Samples removing his shirt. The interrogation room was stark. Brightly lit. A styrofoam cup, pen and pad on the table. A camera installed in the ceiling corner, running. As Christian snapped pics of Samples injuries, Samples points to his left arm. 

“See, after he shot me in the arm, I stabbed him,” said Samples in the video. “I ducked under his swing and grabbed my knife.” 

Christian: “You’re saying shot. What would he have shot you with?”

“… (A) long gun,” Samples said. “Same one they shot Levi Frady with.”

Christian finishes snapping pics. But, instead of asking about the gun, he pivots to a general question about the murder. 

“Course everybody wants to know about Levi Frady,” Christian says. “People said you said Marshall did it. Were you there at the time?” To listen to the complete interrogation, see LeviFrady.com, March 24, 2016 post: Jailed Man Says He Knows About Levi Frady Murder Weapon.

Shortly after Levi’s murder in 1997, a tan Dodge van belonging to Tallant was believed to have been taken by law enforcement, according to a source familiar with the event. 

Levi May Not Have Been Abducted 

Law enforcement and media in 1997 said Levi was abducted. However, with the passage of time and new information being revealed through research and interviews on LeviFrady.com, it is now believed Frady may not have been abducted.  

“No one actually saw the boy being abducted,” said Georgia House Rep. Kevin Tanner during a one-on-one interview with LeviFrady.com. Tanner assisted in the boy’s murder investigation in 1997 as a young deputy with the Dawson County Sheriff’s office. 

Consider these 7 other facts: 

• A high ranking law enforcement official disclosed to LeviFrady.com that an $88,000 drug debt had not been paid by people who may have been around Levi Frady.
• Under the leadership of Vernon Keenan, GBI took seven years to make public a timeline of events in Levi Frady’s murder. 
• GBI’s timeline shows Levi’s grandfather found the bicycle and took it back to Levi’s mother house.
• All fingerprints were wiped clean from the bicycle Levi was allegedly riding when he was allegedly abducted, according to Forsyth law enforcement.
• The evening Levi went missing, his mother, Marilyn Burruss-Parkman-Frady told authorities she took a bath and fell asleep. 
• The morning after Levi went missing, his father, Milton Frady, called home to check on his chlildren. Laci Frady, Levi’s twin sister, answered the phone and told him Levi was in the shower. Note: the Frady’s divorced in February 1989, when Levi and Laci were 3-years-old, with Marilyn receiving full custody. 
• Former Forsyth Sheriff, Denny Hendrix, wrote in confidential documents obtained by LeviFrady.com, that he believes a crime was committed in his jurisdiction—an indication that Frady may have been dead before he was taken to Dawson Forest in Dawson County. 

A Preacher Weighs In

“I’ve known the Fradys for probably 70 years,” the preacher said. “I’ve been to church with them. Gene Frady used to do my electrical work.

“One of the greatest things I remember from back then was walking from my farm through Mrs. Frady’s. I’d come down from the ridge, cross the creek, and was on their property. That was Frady Town. She’d be out churning her milk on the back porch, and that day I never heard such a prayer prayed in all my life. It kind of startled me in the beginning. I was used to hearing her singing. But, I decided to stop and listen. She was praying for her boys, and her grand boys. 

“Now, let me read you something from the Bible.

St. Luke Chapter 16, starting at verse 19.

19 There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen. And fared sumptuously every day. 

20 And there was a certain begger named Lazarus which was laid at his (the rich man’s) gate full of sores.

21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell over the rich man’s table: moreover, the dogs came and lick his sores. 

22 And it came to pass that the beggar died. And was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: The rich man also died and was buried. 

23 And in hell, he (the rich man) lift up his eyes being in torment, and saw Abraham afar off with Lazarus in his bosom. 

24 And he cried and said, “Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 

“Now, let me tell you something,” the preacher continued. “It was too late for the rich man. And it’s already too late for 5 people involved in the Frady murder to seek redemption. Others have been silent too long. There will be a grand reunion in hell for those who haven’t come forth in this case. There will be people in hell who will say “God please, let Levi wet his finger and cool my tongue.” 

There are other things developing in the Levi Frady case.

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