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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.
Duration
1h 3m
Broadcast on
15 Jun 2026
Audio Format
other

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? 

  • If you have any information about the death of Alberta O. Jones, you can contact the Louisville Metro Police Department’s Cold Case Squad at 502-574-7055, or you can email us directly at [email protected].

 

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Hi, crime junkies, I'm your host Ashley Flowers. And I'm Britt. You guys, there's a story out of Louisville, Kentucky that I bet you've never heard of, about a woman that you've probably never heard of. But I don't know why, because it's one of the most mysterious cases I've ever come across. A call, in the middle of the night, lures a woman out of her home, and hours later, her body is found floating in a nearby river. The list of suspects is a mile long, and evidence keeps showing up all over town, sometimes in suspiciously planted ways. Yet, for 60 years, this case has remained unsolved. Our investigation set out to ask the question, why? And the possibilities will surprise you. Maybe it's because evidence in the case mysteriously disappeared. It could be, because some investigators on this case had ulterior motives. Or it could be, because the very foundation that this story was built on, might be a lie. This is the story of a woman you should know about, a passionate attorney who made strides at the height of the civil rights movement, a woman who was brutally murdered before she could break even more barriers. This is the story of Alberta O'Jones. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Alberta Jones didn't want to go out that Wednesday night on August 4th, 1965. The truth is, things had gotten dangerous for her recently. She'd taken a new job, and she'd been doing civil rights work that put a target on her back. So she was being more cautious than she had ever been before. That's why when her friend Gladys Wyckoff first called at around 11 p.m. and asked her to come over, Alberta said no. But Gladys pushed. She was a hair stylist too, and she practically begged Alberta to come over that night because the new wig that Alberta wanted was ready for her. - Okay, so get it any other time. - Well, and maybe the real reason it had to be right then was that she wanted to chat about some legal trouble

Transcription truncated.

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.