Dale Cardwell has been a consumer advocate for decades both as a former journalist at WSB-TV and as head of his own company TrustDALE.
But in 2016, Cardwell ended up in the middle of a bizarre murder case that drew massive media coverage: the death of his close friend and wealthy business executive Diane McIver, shot and killed by her husband and attorney Claud Lee “Tex” McIver III in their vehicle while a friend was driving through Midtown Atlanta. Tex’s claim that it was an accident drew skepticism from Cardwell and many of Diane’s confidants.
Tex McIver was convicted of felony murder by a jury in 2018 and landed in prison for life. But his case was overturned in 2022 by the Georgia Supreme Court and before a retrial early last year, he pleaded guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and gun possession. After more than seven years in prison, McIver was released earlier this week and is now on parole.
When Cardwell last year heard that McIver might not only get out on parole but may also gain access to at least some of his wife’s fortune, he thought the case might make a good podcast. There have been other podcasts about the case such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s fifth season of “Breakdown” in 2018 and 2019′s season 2 of “Intent.” But this would be the first one where the host was intimately involved with the case.
Cardwell connected with veteran Atlanta podcast executive Jason Hoch, who has previously produced podcasts such as “Atlanta Monster” about the Atlanta missing and murdered children cases, “Monster: The Zodiac Killer” and last year’s “Noble” for his new podcast company Wavland Road about a North Georgia crematorium in 2002 that left 334 bodies to rot.
Hoch and Cardwell quickly signed a deal with Sony Music Entertainment’s The Binge true crime podcast network and released “Deadly Fortune” in early January. It is now in the top 10 most popular podcast series, according to Apple.
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@ajc.com
Cardwell interviewed many of the key players in the case including the trial judge and some of Cardwell’s friends, like the charismatic Atlanta entrepreneur Billy Corey, who employed Diane McIver as a high ranking executive of his real estate and advertising company.
Doing the podcast, Cardwell said in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution from his Atlanta offices, “was cathartic, but it also gave me PTSD.”
Cardwell 15 years ago got to know the McIvers through Corey, Cardwell’s business mentor who came up with the name TrustDALE. Diane handled Cardwell’s billboard accounts, finding him the best deals to advertise his business. Over time, they all became friends, hanging out twice a week, sometimes at Tex McIver’s ranch in Eatonton.
“Billy has a private jet,” Cardwell said. “He’d take all of us up and have cocktail parties in the sky. We’d circle Aspen or take trips to Montreal.”
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Credit: RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com
Cardwell was not around on Sept. 26, 2016 when their mutual friend Dani Jo Carter was driving the McIver couple back in their Ford Expedition to their Buckhead condo from Eatonton. They hit traffic on I-85 and decided to turn off on an exit right before Freedom Parkway. According to testimony from 2018, McIver asked for his .38-caliber revolver from the center console because he thought they had driven upon a Black Lives Matter protest.
After they stopped at a traffic light on Piedmont Avenue, according to the testimony, Tex McIver, who said he had fallen asleep, fired a shot through the front seat into his wife’s back. He never denied pulling the trigger but later said it was an accident. She died at Emory University Hospital the next day.
Soon after, Cardwell and Corey Companies employee Jay Grover heard Tex McIver had gotten his SUV back from the police and figured he would clean up any evidence. So they tipped the authorities that the car needed to be tested to ascertain the angle of the bullet.
“We all wanted to believe it was an accident but he kept doing stupid stuff,” Cardwell said. McIver refused to give any details about the incident to Corey, one of his closest friends. He began setting up an auction of Diane’s jewelry and clothing within weeks of her death.
Soon after the Atlanta police charged McIver with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct, they learned McIver owed his wife $350,000 for a barn with guest quarters on their Eatonton farm. Cardwell said he thinks Diane was willing to dump Tex if he didn’t pay up.
During the trial, Cardwell testified about the McIver marriage. He compared Diane to Bea Arthur’s character on the CBS show “Maude” from the 1970s. “She was loud and boisterous and wore the pants,” Cardwell said. “Tex was sheepish and quieter. I on many occasions saw her belittle him and he laughed it off.”
J. Tom Morgan, a professor and attorney who knew Diane McIver when he was assistant district attorney in DeKalb County, said on the podcast that “I think Diane would take business over a marriage any day.”
Morgan attended much of the 2018 trial as a curious bystander and was not surprised by the guilty verdict for felony murder. “This is,” he said in the podcast, “the craziest case I’ve ever seen in Georgia history.”
Cardwell also gives airtime to supporters of Tex McIver, including political consultant and commentator Bill Crane, a long-time friend. “I know he shot Diane, but I don’t believe that it was an intentional act,” said Crane, who has not yet heard the podcast, in a text to the AJC. “Even now, that life episode seems more than a bit surreal.”
The final two episodes delve into the odder elements of Tex McIver’s 2024 plea agreement, including who will end up with Diane McIver’s sundry assets, a dispute which is now in civil court.
The podcast came out Jan. 1 just days before McIver was released from prison. McIver declined requests for an interview with the podcast although his attorney cooperated.
“We’d be open to doing a bonus episode and sit with Tex and have him tell us what happened,” Hoch said. “That is an open offer.”
IF YOU LISTEN
“Deadly Fortune,” all eight episodes available with The Binge subscription, with the first two episodes currently available on all major podcast platforms
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