Bone Valley: Earwitness | Chapter 2 – "Don't Know Diddly"

Podcast: Bone Valley – Earwitness
Host/Reporter: Beth Shelburne
Date: February 4, 2026

Overview of Episode

In this episode, investigative journalist Beth Shelburne continues unraveling the 1995 murder case of Deputy Sheriff William Hardy in Birmingham, Alabama, and the conviction of Toforest Johnson, who claims innocence. This chapter, "Don't Know Diddly," dives deep into the chaotic days immediately following Hardy’s murder, focusing on police interrogation tactics, shifting witness statements—especially from teenager Yolanda Chambers—and the pressure investigators felt to solve a cop’s murder. Shelburne scrutinizes how the narrative was built on inconsistent and often contradictory testimony from a key teenager, raising troubling questions about the investigation’s integrity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Immediate Aftermath of the Murder and Police Pressure

• Atmosphere of urgency and grief in Birmingham after Deputy Hardy’s murder. Officers wore black mourning bands, and the funeral drew hundreds in sweltering heat (04:03–04:41).
• Detective Tony Richardson leads the investigation, feeling personal and community pressure to “get this done.”
  • Quote: “You want somebody in custody. The lieutenant is telling me we need to get this done. The captain is telling the lieutenant... the sheriff is telling the captain...” (07:04)
• Investigation stalls with only two shell casings and vague vehicle descriptions; community tips flood in after a $20K reward is announced (07:23–08:17).

2. The Rosa and Yolanda Chambers Tip

• Richardson receives what he calls his biggest lead: Rosa Hardy, a friend of the victim, says her daughter Yolanda knows the killer (08:17–13:53).
  • Key quote from Rosa relayed by Richardson:
    “She told me, she says, my daughter knows who killed Bill.” (13:35)
• Yolanda, 15, is initially hard to locate—a “semi runaway”—but is found and brought in for questioning (13:57–14:24).

3. First Interrogations—The Shifting Testimony of Yolanda (15:05–25:46)

• Yolanda tells police she, friend Latonya, and two older men (Ardragas “Dre” Ford and Toforest Johnson—whom she misnames “Carlos”) met up late at night. She claims Dre told her they "smoked a cop," which shocks her and Latonya.
• The age dynamic is troubling: 21 and 22-year-old men picking up 15 and 16-year-old girls they met at a club (16:08).
• Their plan to party is interrupted at a motel when police, searching cars near the crime scene, stop them. Toforest is arrested for a misdemeanor and held briefly (18:39–20:14).
• Breaks in the tape: Each time the recorder is stopped, Yolanda’s story shifts to fit police theories—first about what day events happened, then motives, then who was involved (20:24–25:46).
  • Beth notes: “With every restart of the tape, Richardson gets a story that lines up more and more with the first facts surrounding Hardy’s murder.” (23:50)
  • First it was revenge for arrest, then a botched robbery.

4. Investigator Reflections on Interrogation

• Richardson admits applying different pressures:
  • Quote: “Sometimes we’d have to be stern... sometimes we’d have to be soft. Whatever will work to get this information out of her.” (25:24)
• He can’t explain the reason for stopping the recorder, but insists nothing “sinister” happened.
  • Quote: “Best practice is not to go off the record…” (26:04); “It didn’t stop so something sinister could happen, I can tell you that.” (26:10–26:34)

5. Suspects’ Interrogations: Contradictions Exposed

• Antonio Green, Toforest’s cousin, describes police searching his house as intimidating and aggressive:
  • "They've already came in both doors...I'm thinking, this must be something serious..." (29:20–30:01)
• Toforest and Ardregas’ stories (and Latonya’s) about the night align with each other and with Yolanda’s first version—that they tried to get a motel room and were stopped by police. None except Yolanda mention the murder (35:27; 35:45).

6. Yolanda’s Second Statement—A Radical Shift

• Second police interview: Yolanda says she was actually present at the scene of Hardy’s murder, further implicating everyone in the car (38:43–46:31).
  • After a 40-minute break off-tape, police ask if her previous story was true:
    • “No, it’s not the truth.” (39:55–40:01)
    • “I was there when it went down.” (40:23)
  • Now she claims they all drove to the Crown Sterling Suites, met with two new suspects, and saw the murder happen. Details change to match police knowledge—time, parking location, sequence.
  • She describes seeing gunshots, blood on Toforest’s hands, and suspects heading back from the crime scene (45:30–46:31).
  • The tape is stopped and restarted multiple times, with Yolanda’s story shifting each time to align with what police surmise.

7. Police Response to Inconsistencies

• Even Detective Richardson is skeptical:
  • “Did I believe everything Yolanda told me? No. Hell, no...But Yolanda told a lot of truth while she was trying to hide it by telling lies.” (46:51)
  • He justifies trusting some of Yolanda’s ever-changing story by explaining cops use their experience to sort through lies (47:13).

8. Disputing Yolanda’s Account

• Other suspects (Latonya, Toforest, Ardregas) flatly deny Yolanda’s version when confronted:
  • Latonya: “That’s a lie. That’s a shame. Okay, so Yolanda’s lying…Well then I didn’t go and I’m telling the truth.” (48:39–49:03)
  • Toforest, under pressure: “I told you all that I can tell you. That’s all I know…I didn’t do it. I was not there.” (50:00–50:56)
• Despite these denials, police double down on their emerging theory, built mainly on Yolanda’s accounts.

9. Reflection and Foreshadowing

• Beth remarks that Yolanda would be interviewed at least 25 times, and “every time they talk to her, her story will change.” (50:56)
• Raises central question: Why did police lean on Yolanda’s shifting story to build their case?
• Teased for next episode: “Who is Yolanda Chambers?”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“Anybody that was not there when I was there…Don’t know diddly about this case.”
— Tony Richardson (10:11)

“With every restart of the tape, Richardson gets a story that lines up more and more with the first facts surrounding Hardy’s murder.”
— Beth Shelburne (23:50)

“Did I believe everything Yolanda told me? No. Hell, no. Hell, no. But Yolanda told a lot of truth, while she was trying to hide it by telling lies.”
— Tony Richardson (46:51)

“You gonna make me say I did it. I did not do it. I was not there.”
— Toforest Johnson (50:36)

Important Segment Timestamps

• Police pressure and investigation urgency: (03:32–07:23)
• The Rosa and Yolanda tip emerges: (08:17–13:39)
• Initial Yolanda interrogation: (14:24–25:46)
• Richardson on tape interruptions: (26:04–26:34)
• Suspect interviews—contradictions: (35:55–37:04)
• Second Yolanda confession—she claims to have been present: (38:43–46:31)
• Confronting suspects with Yolanda’s new story: (48:37–50:56)

Tone & Language

Beth Shelburne’s reporting is measured yet urgent, blending skepticism with compassion as she parses police files, witness tapes, and direct interviews. The cops’ tone is a mix of procedural, defensive, and frustrated. The episode is tense, intimate, and often somber.

Conclusion

This episode exposes the volatility at the heart of the official murder case against Toforest Johnson: a narrative pushed forward by desperate investigators, shaped around a 15-year-old whose story shifted to fit expectations. Shelburne invites listeners to consider not only the inconsistencies but also the human cost of building a murder case on such unstable ground.

Next Episode Preview:
Why did police keep relying on Yolanda Chambers, a shifting, unreliable witness? Who is she? The investigation into her background and what prompted her changing stories continues next time.