Tears and Laugher: Who was Roland Cooper?

In April of 1977, I had not quite yet started kindergarten at Thomasville Elementary School. Elvis was still alive, and Roland Cooper State Park was known as Bridgeport State Park. But on Saturday, April 30, 1977, a man named Charles Lee Bufford murdered another man, former state senator and Wilcox County probate judge, William Roland Cooper, Jr.  

Senator Cooper was known as “Wily Fox of Wilcox,” and had served in the legislature for almost 20 years. He was one of Alabama’s most famous and effective senators. He resigned after being appointed as Wilcox County probate judge by Governor George Wallace. A Tuscaloosa News editorial commented at the time, “Wilcox’s gain will be the legislature’s loss. His seat will be filled, but his influence will not be replaced.” 

Bufford had been serving a short sentence in the Wilcox County jail for auto theft. Cooper had “hired” 23-year-old Bufford to help him in his garden through an unofficial program that allowed private citizens to check out inmates for the day. 

That evening, Bufford was arrested in Selma for driving under the influence in Cooper’s car. He said he had drunk six beers. Cooper’s body was found in his garden. He was 63-years-old. 

In a statement to police, Bufford admitted he had lost his temper and hit Cooper in the head with a garden tool. He said Cooper had cussed him for planting corn wrong, and that he was alive when he had left him. 

Bufford was sentenced to death on May, 19, 1978 for the robbery and murder of Cooper. 

After the Alabama death penalty statute was ruled unconstitutional in 1980, it was reformed and Bufford’s case was reversed. He was granted a new trial. Little evidence could be produced by investigators at the second trial, and this fact was highlighted by Bufford’s attorney. His handwritten confession had been unexplainably destroyed, and important details were left out of the typewritten version presented to the court, including Bufford’s description of Cooper’s demeanor and actions. 

On November 12, 1981 Bufford was released a free man. After a two-hour deliberation, a Wilcox County jury acquitted him of all charges. He served just less than four years for the intentional killing of Cooper. 

One of the jurors was asked by reporter Alvin Benn – who covered the retrial for the Montgomery Advertiser – how they could acquit someone who had admitted his guilt. She answered, “We thought four years was enough for what he did.” 

Bridgeport State Park was renamed Roland Cooper State Park in the late 1970’s to honor Roland Cooper, Jr. He now permanently rests in peace on an end lot in the Camden Cemetery just off Broad Street beside the Baptist Church. Even on his headstone it reads, “One worthy of remembrance. A life of service to God and to mankind.” 

Roland Cooper State Park was one of five parks that closed in October of 2015 after state budget cuts. The reopening celebration will be Sunday, September 11, from 3 p.m. until 7 p.m. It is our hope as a county that the park will never be threatened with closure again. It has a name that should never be allowed to disappear into history.

Amanda Walker is a columnist with The West Alabama Watchman, Al.com, The Thomasville Times, and The Wilcox Progressive Era. For more information, visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AmandaWalker.Columnist.