New book about 2004 Springford murders reveals new details

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - The author of a new book about one of Montgomery’s most high-profile murders will speak about the case and what his own investigation turned up Thursday.

Mark Pinsky’s new book, “Drifting Into Darkness: Murder, Madness, Suicide, and a Death ‘Under Suspicious Circumstances’”, is centered around the murders of Brent and Charlotte Springford in 2004.

This new book tells a story of the Springford case we haven’t heard before, and some of the details may come as a surprise to those who followed the investigation and trial. The author did some of his own investigative work, as he’s done for many books he has written about high-profile cases before, and details what he found along with the police work that pieced the case together.

The couple’s son, Brent Springford, Jr, confessed to beating his parents to death in 2004 at their home in the Garden District of Montgomery. The investigation revealed he broke into the home while his parents were away, hid with a weapon, and then attacked them when they got back. That was on Thanksgiving Day 2004.

Springford’s parents had tried to help him overcome his mental illness issues, and provided money and support for some time. When they learned he had been lying to them, they cut ties with their son, according to court records.

Pinsky tracked down and became a witness in Wyoming in 2016 against the con artist who claimed to be a Native American shaman. According to Pinsky’s story, the woman convinced the younger Springford to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from his parents. After they stopped sending money, the “shaman” got him to go back to their home, thinking she could get her hands on the inheritance.

Pinsky’s book also documents the determined police work that broke the case, the interplay of dedicated prosecutors and the criminal defense team, as well as the judicial proceedings in three states.

Springford, JR was sentenced to life in prison in 2008, and in 2013 he died in prison after overdosing on Tylenol.

Learn more about the book and the author at markpinsky.com/books/drifting-into-darkness.

Pinsky is set to talk at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Read Herring bookstore on Court Street downtown Montgomery.

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