An enthusiastic University of Alabama football fan who poisoned iconic oak trees at archrival Auburn University has died
OPELIKA, Ala. – Harvey Updyke, the enthusiastic football fan from the University of Alabama who poisoned the iconic oak trees of archrival Auburn University and went to jail after bragging about it on a radio show, died.
Updyke’s son Bear Updyke, named after ‘Bama coach legend Paul “Bear” Bryant, said the former Texas state trooper died Thursday, al.com reported. He was 71 years old.
No cause of death was disclosed, but court filings showed that Updyke, who lived in Louisiana, had numerous ailments, including congestive heart failure and coronary heart disease.
Updyke pleaded guilty in 2013 to poisoning trees at Auburn’s Toomer’s Corner, where Tiger fans traditionally gather after huge victories to dump toilet paper rolls on oaks.
Authorities learned what had happened only after Updyke, using a pseudonym, announced what he had done on a sports talk show. Updyke said he was upset after Auburn beat Alabama in 2010 and then won the national championship.
He spent six months in jail for damaging an agricultural crop and was ordered to hand over $ 800,000, but paid only a fraction of the amount. Updyke told a judge he couldn’t pay more, and prosecutors’ attempts to raise more money stalled last year due to questions about Updyke’s health.
In a public Facebook post, daughter-in-law Marsha Updyke recalled Updyke as a passionate and joyous family man carrying a gun, wearing boots, and loving attention.
“Sometimes he was misinterpreted, but anyone close to him understood him, knew his heart, forgave his defects and loved him. It made us all laugh. He really cared, “she wrote.
Neither Updyke nor her husband immediately responded to the messages, and Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes, who attempted to obtain additional restitution payments from Updyke, said he did not have independent confirmation of his death.
Margaret Brown, a lawyer who represented Updyke, declined to comment.
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