On Thursday, Alabama fan Harvey Updyke, who was known as the Toomer’s tree poisoner, died at the age of 71.
Updyke became famous for the incident after he called into the The Paul Finebaum Show in 2011 to admit that he himself had poisoned two oak trees at Toomer’s Corner in Auburn, Alabama.
Mike Rodak of AL.com, spoke with Updyke’s son, Bear Updyke, who reported the death of his father.
“His son Bear Updyke told AL.com that his father died Thursday afternoon of natural causes in Louisiana, where he had been living. He was 71.
Harvey Updyke became a household name among Alabama sports fans in 2011 when he called into the Paul Finebaum radio show claiming to have poisoned Auburn’s iconic trees after the Tigers’ win in the Iron Bowl the previous November.
“Let me tell you what I did,” Updyke told Finebaum on live radio. “The weekend after the Iron Bowl, I went to Auburn because I lived 30 miles away, and I poisoned the two Toomer’s trees. I put Spike 80DF in ‘em. They’re not dead yet, but they definitely will die.”
Updyke, a former Texas state trooper, was ordered to pay $800,000 in court-ordered penalties and restitution, but had only paid about $6,900 by last October.”
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