Hattie DeBardelaben

Hattie DeBardelaben, a 46-year-old farmer and mother of eight, was killed on March 23, 1945 in Autaugaville, Alabama, after Autauga County Deputy Clyde White and three federal officers — John Barrenbrugge and J.C. Moseley of the Alcohol Tax Unit, and L.O. Smith of the Alabama Alcohol Beverage Control Board — conducted a warrantless search of her home for illegal whiskey. Witnesses, including her children, said officers beat her; she died in the back of the officers' car on the way to the county jail in Prattville. A doctor attributed her death to a heart attack, though an undertaker reportedly noted signs consistent with a broken neck. A state grand jury later declined to indict, and the case was closed within months. Records released in 2024 under the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act confirmed the officers' identities and the case's handling.

Autaugaville, AL · Autauga County

• 1945: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Victim identity, age, and the March 23, 1945 date and location, per federal records released in 2024.
• The identities of Deputy Clyde White and the three federal officers present, per the same released records.

• No one was ever indicted for her death.
• The full extent of what investigators privately concluded at the time, versus what was made public, remains debated by historians.

• Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board — official case summary
• Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project (Northeastern Law) — case archive
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs