The Allman Murder
On December 26, 1949, a single gunshot in a dirt field shattered a young family’s future and set in motion a story that still echoes through Southern rock to this day. The man killed was Willis T. “Bill” Allman, father of two toddlers named Duane and Gregg. The man who pulled the trigger, Michael Robert “Buddy” Green, would spend the next two decades fighting for his life — first in the courtroom, then on death row, and finally in the slow, complicated business of forgiveness.
This series traces that story: the murder, the trial, the commutation, the neighbors who later cared for Buddy, the music of the Allman Brothers Band that rose from all that grief, and the trauma that still lingers — seventy-six years later — through the Allman bloodline. Along the way, we’ll meet grieving mothers, Norfolk families, WWII veterans, governors, guitarists, abandoned children, and those left behind who continue the hard work of breaking the cycle.
This story matters because the Allman Brothers Band didn’t just spring from Southern soil — they grew from blood spilled in that dirt field and from a stubborn love of music. Their resilience changed their family’s history — and the trajectory of American music.
The Pardon Nobody Heard
In 1973, while the Allman Brothers Band was redefining American music, a quiet line in a governor’s report erased a crime — and set a killer free. Buddy Green, the man who murdered Bill Allman, walked out of prison with a conditional pardon and a clean slate. But the brothers he orphaned? Their wound never closed. In this post, you’ll discover the hidden pardon that reshaped the Allman family’s story — and how it stayed buried for decades.
Mercy for One, Silence for Seven
Buddy Green waited on death row as the chair hummed behind iron doors — until Governor John S. Battle spared him. Just one year earlier, that same governor refused clemency for the Martinsville Seven, seven Black men condemned to die after rushed trials. This chapter explores the mercy extended to Buddy, the silence extended to the Seven, and what that contrast says about justice in Virginia.
The Manhunt
Before dawn, every badge in Princess Anne County turned out — deputies, constables, game wardens, even volunteers — fanning through swamp, farmland, and back roads while bloodhounds bayed into the night. This post follows the county-wide manhunt that ended in Buddy Green’s capture and set the stage for his final fight for life on death row.
Buddy Green Escapes
Just a month before his scheduled execution, Buddy Green swung a lead pipe, knocked a jail dispatcher unconscious, and vanished into the night — leaving Princess Anne County bracing for a manhunt at dawn. This post follows Buddy’s desperate bid for freedom — the blow that felled poor Moscoe, the panic inside the jailhouse, and the dark road Buddy took into the night with the electric chair already waiting.
The Trial of Buddy Green
Michael “Buddy” Green stood trial in Norfolk for the murder of Second Lieutenant Bill Allman. Inside the old Princess Anne County courthouse, Jerry Allman faced her husband’s killer while Judge Floyd E. Kellam, Sheriff C. Roger Malbon, and a gallery of Norfolk’s most established families looked on. This posts shows it was more than a murder trial — it was a test of order, legacy, and what justice would look like in a changing South.
The Morning After
Before dawn broke over Princess Anne County, Buddy Green drove only three miles from the murder scene — far enough to think, not far enough to escape — and lay down in his childhood bed with a rifle by his side. When Chief Ivan Mapp came to the door, Buddy’s parents let him in without protest. This post traces Buddy’s path from boyhood on the Spit to that fateful morning when all the roads led him home — and into the hands of the law.
A Ride into Darkness
On December 26, 1949, Willis T. “Bill” Allman offered a stranger a ride. Minutes later, he and fellow officer Robert “Bucky” Buchanan were held at gunpoint on a dirt road outside Norfolk. This post recounts the robbery, the shooting that left Bill dead, and the night that changed Duane and Gregg Allman’s lives forever.
The Bomb Buddy Brought Home
When Buddy Green carried that bomb home from Italy, it was more than a souvenir — it was a sign that the war had followed him back. He was young, newly married, and carrying more weight than anyone could see. This post looks back at the moment when Buddy’s story — and the Allman family’s — took a turn that could never be undone.
The Murder that Haunts Macon’s Music: A Preface
On a cold December night in 1949, a single gunshot killed Willis “Bill” Allman and forever altered his family’s fate. This preface introduces the story behind the murder that shaped Macon’s music and led to the birth of the Allman Brothers Band.