Inset: Timothy Houston Harville (Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The area in Alabama where Harville killed his nephew’s wife (Google Maps)
An Alabama man may spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his nephew’s wife with a shotgun blast to the face after she dared him to “blow my brains out” during an argument over a missing cow.
A Lawrence County jury found Timothy Houston Harville guilty Wednesday on one count of murder in the 2023 slaying of 46-year-old Angela Berryman Hill Harville. Jurors also convicted Timothy Harville of one count each of second-degree unlawful imprisonment, menacing and first-degree burglary.
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According to a press release from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office, deputies at 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2023, responded to a report of an unresponsive woman at a home in the 2300 block of County Road 161 in the Hatton community.
Authorities determined the victim had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and her body was transported to the Forensics Lab in Huntsville for an autopsy. Investigators identified Timothy Harville as the suspected shooter and took him into custody.
More details emerged at a preliminary hearing that December, when a Lawrence County sheriff’s investigator testified about the events leading up to the shooting, the Moulton Advertiser reported.
According to the report, Timothy Harville went to the victim’s home that evening looking for a lost cow. Angela Harville, her teenage son and a family friend were there when he arrived.
Timothy Harville said the friend was sitting on the porch with a gun when he arrived, and the two began arguing.
The victim’s son said he tried to leave when the confrontation began, but Timothy Harville threatened to shoot the tires of the boy’s car with the shotgun stowed in his vehicle. The teen reportedly remained outside as Timothy Harville and the friend continued arguing inside the home.
As the argument continued, Angela Harville tried to calm things down by separating the men into different rooms. She also called her husband and asked him to come home and help get Timothy Harville off the property.
While on the phone, the victim’s husband reportedly heard his wife and Timothy Harville arguing. His wife then said: “Go ahead and blow my brains out.”
That was followed by a single gunshot and Timothy Harville saying: “There you go.”
The husband got home about 10 minutes later and found his wife dead.
Timothy Harville reportedly maintained that Angela Harville invited him into the house and was alive when he left. However, authorities recovered a 12-gauge shotgun from his home that fired the same size ammunition as a shell casing found at the scene.
After Wednesday’s verdict, Angela Harville’s family provided a statement to Huntsville NBC affiliate WAFF.
“On behalf of the family, we are thrilled for closure,” the statement said. “Nothing can bring back their loved one, but at least her death won’t go without justice. We want to thank the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office for their work on the case. Also, as always, these matters are placed in the purview of 12 [jurors], and we appreciate their attentiveness on this matter.”
Timothy Harville is scheduled to appear for his sentencing hearing in January, local Fox affiliate WZDX reported.
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