Grand Jury to hear murder case against Jacksonville man

Richard Thaad Pilkington

A Calhoun County grand jury will hear evidence in a murder case against a Jacksonville man.

37 year old Richard Thad Pilkington, , remains in the Calhoun County Jail on $500,000 bond after District Judge Chris McIntyre declined a defense attorneys request for a reduced bond.

Pilkington waived his right to a preliminary hearing, so McIntyre bound the case over to a grand jury that meets in October.

During Tuesday's bond hearing, prosecutors alleged Pilkington apparently  killed his common law wife, Tracy Strange, with his bare hands in August. They added that people who knew him said he appeared agitated and "wanting to fight everybody."

They also said Pilkington moved around a lot--his last known address before Jacksonville was in Birmingham--and that he had multiple previous charges and convictions for domestic violence. He allegedly failed to show up for court in one of those cases in Decatur.

Pilkington's attorney, however, said there are no witnesses to Tracy Strange's death, and all of the evidence is circumstantial.

Pilkington was arrested after Strange's death in August, following an incident which occurred in a mobile home the couple shared with other people on Pennsylvania Avenue.