Death Row Inmate Convicted Of Brutal Tuscaloosa County Murder Loses Latest Appeal

TUSCALOOSA, AL — The Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected death row inmate Michael David Belcher's legal challenge to his capital murder conviction and death sentence in the 2015 kidnapping and killing of Samantha Payne.

Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.

In a 147-page opinion released Friday, the appellate court overruled Belcher's application for rehearing, withdrew an earlier opinion issued in August 2025, substituted a new opinion and affirmed a Tuscaloosa County circuit judge's decision to summarily dismiss Belcher's Rule 32 petition without an evidentiary hearing.

Belcher was convicted in 2019 of the capital murder of Samantha Payne, whose nude, decapitated and decomposed body was found tied to a tree in the Talladega National Forest in November 2015.

Prosecutors at the time said Payne was abducted from a Tuscaloosa motorcycle repair shop, beaten by Belcher and several accomplices, bound and transported to an abandoned trailer before being taken into the national forest, where she was killed.

A hunter found her headless body tied to a tree a little more than a week later.

Two co-defendants testified against Belcher after reaching plea agreements with prosecutors and forensic evidence further linked him to the crime.

A Tuscaloosa County jury then unanimously convicted Belcher of capital murder during a kidnapping and recommended that he be sentenced to death.

Belcher's conviction and sentence were previously upheld on direct appeal before he sought post-conviction relief.

The appeals court most recently rejected Belcher's arguments that a juror committed misconduct by failing to disclose information about his son's criminal history, finding the claims were based on speculation rather than specific facts.

The court said Belcher failed to establish that the juror actually knew about his son's arrests or alleged interactions with Belcher while the two were incarcerated.

The court also rejected Belcher's attempt to amend his post-conviction petition after the filing deadline established under Alabama's Fair Justice Act.

What's more, the Court of Criminal Appeals found Belcher was not entitled to relief on his claims that his trial attorneys were ineffective, that he should have been granted additional discovery or that the Fair Justice Act violated his constitutional rights.

The opinion concluded by affirming the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court's dismissal of Belcher's post-conviction petition, leaving his conviction and death sentence intact.

Belcher is one of four death row inmates from Alabama serving out their sentences at the William C. Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, along with James Scott Largin, Roy Edward Perkins and Albert Mack III.

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com