CULLMAN, Ala. – A Cullman County jury found Randall Dewayne Hogan, 71, not guilty of murder Tuesday, Nov. 3, concluding a trial that began more than six years after Jeffery Glenn Wilhite disappeared from the West Point community.
The signed verdict form and Circuit Judge Gregory J. Reid’s order confirm the acquittal. Reid’s order states the trial began Oct. 27 and the jury returned its decision Nov. 3.
The verdict concerned count one, murder, of Hogan’s April 2026 indictment. It followed an earlier murder prosecution that the State dismissed before a scheduled November 2025 trial.
Wilhite, a 59-year-old Vinemont resident, disappeared in April 2020. The Cullman County Sheriff’s Office investigated his disappearance for more than three years before Hogan’s original arrest. Authorities previously reported that Wilhite’s remains had not been recovered.
Hogan was arrested Oct. 30, 2023, following a grand jury indictment for murder. Sheriff Matt Gentry and Cullman County District Attorney Champ Crocker announced the charge at a Nov. 1 press conference, according to The Tribune’s coverage at the time.
During that announcement, Gentry and Crocker declined to answer questions, citing the ongoing investigation.
The original prosecution remained pending into 2025. Hogan, who had been released on bond, returned to custody after Circuit Judge Emily N. Johnston revoked his bond May 19, 2025.
Crocker told The Tribune prosecutors sought the revocation after Hogan was arrested on a new allegation while awaiting trial. The ruling followed a contested hearing.
Shortly before the original murder case was scheduled for trial in November 2025, the State dismissed it without prejudice, citing newly discovered evidence, The Tribune previously reported. That dismissal allowed prosecutors to bring the case again.
A grand jury returned a new indictment April 13, 2026, alleging murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in connection with Wilhite’s disappearance.
Following an April 21 hearing, the circuit court ordered Hogan held without bond under Aniah’s Law.
“After a hearing on Tuesday, April 21, the Circuit Court ordered no bond for Hogan,” Crocker said in an April 22 statement.
The case was subsequently assigned to Reid, the presiding circuit judge in Blount County, after the judges of Cullman County’s 32nd Judicial Circuit recused themselves.
In a May 29 order, Alabama Chief Justice Sarah H. Stewart assigned Reid to preside over all matters in the case through its final disposition. The assignment order does not explain the reasons for the local judges’ recusals.
Reid presided over the trial that began Oct. 27. His Nov. 3 order records that Hogan had pleaded not guilty to murder and that the case was heard by a jury of 12.
The separate verdict form, signed by the jury foreperson and filed with the Cullman County circuit clerk Nov. 3, marks the finding of not guilty on the murder charge. Reid’s order recording that verdict was electronically filed at 11:26 a.m. that day.
The acquittal resolves the murder charge in Hogan’s favor.
BACKGROUND: www.cullmantribune.com/tag/randall-hogan
