Harvey Updyke’s $788,588 Toomer’s Oaks bill dies with him

Harvey Updyke

Harvey Updyke walks into court as jury selection continues in his trial Wednesday, June 20, 2012, at the Lee County Justice Center in Opelika, Ala. Updyke, an Alabama fan, is accused of poisoning the two famous oak trees at Auburn’s Toomers Corner. Defense attorneys for Updyke have asked the judge to move the trial to a different location. Judge Jacob Walker said Thursday that he would set a hearing date to consider the request. (AP Photo/Opelika-Auburn News, Vasha Hunt, Pool)AP

Harvey Updyke, the Alabama fan who infamously poisoned the Toomer’s Oaks in 2010, died Thursday at the age of 71 while still owing more than $800,000 in restitution payments and court fees.

That substantial amount owed by Updyke will now be discontinued following hisdeath, Lee County district attorney Brandon Hughes told AL.com on Friday.

“He’s the only person responsible for it,” Hughes said. “I’d imagine there’s some recourse we could potentially pursue against his estate, but the man had nothing, so basically the case is closed. It essentially died on the vine, so to speak.”

Updyke paid just $8,143 of the nearly $800,000 he owed in restitution stemming from the poisoning of the Toomer’s Oaks. His largest payment came last November, when he paid $1,266 at about the same time Lee County Circuit Judge Jacob Walker weighed whether to have Updyke placed in jail for failure to pay the restitution fees.

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Between Oct. 31 and Dec. 9 last year, Updyke paid $3,330 — which was nearly two-thirds of the amount he had previously paid over the previous six-plus years following his guilty plea for poisoning the famous trees. However, following back-to-back payments of $399 on Dec. 6 and 9, Updyke failed to make any further payments before his death Thursday, according to court records.

At the time of his death Thursday in Louisiana of natural causes, Updyke still owed $788,588.98 in restitution and another $19,525 in court fees, according to court records.

Updyke, a former Texas state trooper, became a household name within Alabama in 2011 when he called into the Paul Finebaum radio show on Jan. 27 that year and claimed to be responsible for poisoning the oaks at Toomer’s Corner, where Auburn fans historically celebrate big wins by rolling the trees with toilet paper. Updyke claimed he poisoned the trees following Auburn’s win in the 2010 Iron Bowl, when the Tigers — led by eventual Heisman-winning quarterback Cam Newton — erased a 24-point lead in what became known as the “Camback.”

The oaks, which were slowly dying due to the herbicide, were moved by the university on April 23, 2013. The university planted two new oaks at the site on Feb. 14, 2014, but those were vandalized by arson in 2016 and subsequently replaced Feb. 18, 2017.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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