MURDERED: Alberta O. Jones
Alberta O. Jones was breaking barriers in Louisville, Kentucky. She was the first Black woman prosecutor in the city’s history, she helped register some 6,000 Black citizens to vote, and she was a leader in the city’s civil rights movement. But on Aug. 5, 1965 – before she could make even more changes in the highly segregated city – Alberta was found dead floating in the Ohio River. The night before, she reluctantly went out late to visit a close friend, setting off a 60-year mystery that has led to more questions than answers.
Was Alberta killed in a random robbery? Was she set up by her best friend? Or was she targeted for her dangerous civil rights work?
Alberta O. Jones
Courtesy: Flora Shanklin
Alberta O. Jones
Courtesy: Flora Shanklin
Alberta O. Jones
Courtesy: Flora Shanklin
Alberta at her graduation
Courtesy: Flora Shanklin
Alberta during a student campaign to register African American voters
Courtesy: USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Alberta and Muhammad Ali at his contract signing
Courtesy: Flora Shanklin
A wig that is the same style as Alberta’s missing wig, obtained from Gladys Wyckoff
Courtesy: Louisville Metro Police Department
Arthur Porter III
Source: Porter Family via A.D Porter & Sons Funeral Home
Alberta’s rental car, a white Ford Fairlane
Courtesy: Louisville Metro Police Department
Alberta’s upper dentures on the back seat floorboard of her rental car
Courtesy: Louisville Metro Police Department
Where Alberta’s shoes were found
Courtesy: Louisville Metro Police Department
The hole in the steel beam where Alberta’s purse was found tucked inside
Courtesy: Louisville Metro Police Department
The Sherman Minton Bridge
Courtesy: Louisville Metro Police Department
Timeline:
11:00 p.m.
Gladys Wyckoff calls Alberta Jones and urges her to come over to pick up a new wig and discuss legal issues.
11:30 p.m.
Alberta arrives at Gladys’ home and salon.
12:15 a.m.
Alberta and Gladys leave for KingFish restaurant.
Between 1:30 and 2 a.m.
Alberta leaves Gladys’ home in a rented white Ford Fairlane.
Around 2 a.m.
Alberta stops at a neighborhood convenience store and is reportedly seen speaking with three teenagers.
Around 2 to 2:15 a.m.
A couple reports hearing screams and seeing a woman forced into a light-colored Ford by multiple men.
Between 2:30 and 4:30 a.m.
Investigators later determine Alberta was beaten, placed into the Ohio River alive and died by drowning.
10:30 a.m.
Alberta’s body is discovered floating in the Ohio River south of the Sherman Minton Bridge.
Police locate Alberta’s abandoned rental car roughly two miles from where her body was found. Blood, dentures, fingerprints, hair and other evidence are recovered from the vehicle.
A group of boys finds Alberta’s missing purse and lower dental plate hidden on the lower level of the Sherman Minton Bridge.
The FBI matches one surviving fingerprint from the case to Arthur Porter III.
Louisville detectives interview Porter in California; he denies involvement and later fails a polygraph examination.
Alberta Jones’ House
Alberta lived here with her mother, Sadie, and sister, Flora. She was reluctant to leave home the night of Aug. 4, 1965, because she had recently become concerned for her safety.
Gladys Wyckoff’s House and Salon
Gladys called Alberta late that night and persuaded her to come over to pick up a new wig and discuss legal issues.
KingFish Restaurant
Alberta and Gladys ate here shortly after midnight before returning to Gladys’ home.
Convenience Store
Alberta reportedly stopped here around 2 a.m. for a soda and was seen talking with three unidentified teenagers.
Witness Disturbance Location
A nearby couple reported hearing screams and seeing a woman forced into a light-colored Ford by multiple men around 2 to 2:15 a.m.
Sherman Minton Bridge
The bridge became a focal point of the investigation after witnesses reported seeing a white car and a marked Louisville police vehicle stopped there around 4:35 a.m.
Location Where Alberta’s Shoes Were Found
Alberta’s shoes were discovered near the golf course beneath the bridge, close to the exit ramp entering Kentucky from Indiana.
Body Recovery Site
Alberta’s body was recovered from the Ohio River south of the Sherman Minton Bridge on the Kentucky side.
Location Where Alberta’s Rental Car Was Found
Investigators located Alberta’s abandoned rental car here. The vehicle contained blood evidence, fingerprints, hair and her upper dentures.
Elliott Park
Arthur Porter III later told investigators he frequently spent time here with friends during the summer of 1965. The park sits near several key locations connected to the case.
Please contact the authorities if you have any information about the case:
Louisville Metro Police Department
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If you’re a law enforcement agency or family member of one of the people we mentioned in this episode, or if you’re looking for more coverage on a case, please reach out. You can email us at:
Episode Source Material
- Original reporting by Char Adams and Jessica McDiarmid
- Louisville Metro Police Department. 2018. Investigative Report: File No. 23232. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
- City of Louisville Division of Police. 1989. Homicide File. No. 23737. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
- Jefferson County, Kentucky, Office of the Coroner. 1965. Autopsy Report. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
- Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. Notice to Close File. File No. 144-31-1363. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
- Letter from Kentucky Commonwealth Attorney. April 23, 2010. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
- Rose, Derrick and Duncan, Lena. “Inside Investigations: Who Killed Alberta Jones?” WHAS11, 7 May 2018. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.whas11.com/article/news/investigations/inside-investigations-who-killed-alberta-jones/417-549730769
- Kuzydum, Stephanie. “Louisville’s Newest Park Named After a Civil Rights Trail Blazer.” Louisville Courtier Journal, 11 Nov. 2022. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2022/11/10/louisvilles-newest-park-could-be-named-after-a-civil-rights-icon/69632157007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z1109xxe1109xxv000032&gca-ft=181&gca-ds=sophi - The Louisville Defender Staff. “Alberta Jones’ funeral rites held; unsolved murders alarm west enders.” The Louisville Defender. 12 Aug. 1965. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1136362599/ - The Courier-Journal Staff. “300 interviewed in Jones Murder.” The Courier-Journal. 28 Sept. 1965. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.newspapers.com/image/109148680/
- The Courier-Journal Staff. “Revenge Studied as Slaying Motive.” The Courier-Journal. 10 Aug. 1965. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.newspapers.com/image/109141340/
- The Courier-Journal Staff. “Police Believe Victim Was Hurled Off Bridge.” The Courier-Journal. 8 Aug. 1965 Accessed 12 Feb. 2026
- Associated Press. “New Clue Found in Slaying of Woman Attorney Three Years Ago.” The Lexington Herald. 18 July, 1968. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.newspapers.com/image/682103649/
- Driscoll, James. “Miss Jones’ Death Still Baffles Police.” The Courier-Journal. 8 June, 1966. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.newspapers.com/image/107798722/
- Dozier, Tabnie. “Unresolved Murder Mystery Now 50 Years Old.” WHAS11. 6 Aug. 2015. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/unsolved-murder-mystery-now-50-years-old/417-172221744
- Gabriel, Trip. “A ‘Quest for Justice’ for a Murdered Civil Rights Pioneer, 52 Years Later.” The New York Times. 19 Sept. 2017. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/19/us/alberta-jones-murder-louisville.html
- Wolfson, Andrew. “An Appeal to Reopen Probe.” The Courier Journal. 4 Aug. 2016. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.newspapers.com/image/214276882/
- Brown, DeNeen. “Who Killed Alberta Jones, Louisville’s First Black Female Prosecutor?” The Washington Post. 9 Oct. 2017. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/10/09/who-killed-alberta-jones-louisvilles-first-black-woman-prosecutor/
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