Alben William Barkley Truitt I ¹⁵⁰⁸

  General Notes:

OBITUARY

ALBEN WILLIAM BARKLEY TRUITT

FLOYD, VA - Alben William Barkley "Bill" Truitt, passed away Wednesday, April 2, 2003 at Montgomery Regional Hospital.

He is survived by his loving wife, Linda, and their children, Krista, Michael, Erin, Gabriel and Ada Leanda, and children, Kevin, Barkley and Kim, and his brothers, Thomas H. Truitt, Max O. Truitt and Steven Truitt.

Memorial service was held on Friday, April 4, 2003 at the Rocky Knob Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd.

The Truitt family entrusted the care of their loved one to Mullins Funeral Home & Crematory in Radford.

From: The Floyd (Virginia) Press Apr 2003
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Sentences Truitt for Air Piracy

Key West,, Fla. (AP) -- Alben William Truitt, grandson of the late Vice President Alben Barkley, was found guilty Wednesday on two counts of air piracy and kidnapping and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Truitt stood expressionless when sentenced by Federal Judge William Mehrtens after the jury of 10 women and 2 men returned the guilty verdict.

Truitt, 35, was convicted of hijacking a light plane to Cuba last October 23rd by threatening the pilot with an explosive device.

The conviction came despite defense claims that Truitt was temporarily insane at the time of the hijacking.

Marital Problems

Truitt's wife, Alison, 42, testified that the couple was having marital problems and that his condition had deteriorated after "we had great financial troubles."

A psychiatrist, who treated Truitt and his wife during group therapy sessions in Virginia, told the court that the husband was a " paranoid schizophrenic."

Early in the three-day trial, pilot Charles Olveros testified that he flew from Key West to Havana under threat of violence while Truitt held a pen-shaped explosive device to his head.

For several recent weeks prior to the hijacking, Truitt and his family had lived in two tents at a nearby campground.
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From: Brian Thomas Truitt of Redondo Beach, CA May 2002
The following information is from a newspaper article about Alben William Truitt. I don't have the exact date or name of the paper, but it's probably The Des Moines (Register?) from 1972. It was among the papers of my G-Grandfather E.E. Truitt. ¹⁵⁰⁸

Alben married Alison S. Wood.