(NBC News) — Tonight on “Dateline,” in the small town of Morris, Alabama, faith is a way of life. But when resident Michael Reese is murdered in his home, rumors involving a local pastor begin to swirl as the truth ends up turning the community upside down.
Here’s a preview of Andrea Canning’s report:
Out here in rural, sweet home Alabama, where churches outnumber streetlights, faith is a way of life.
DELAINE MULLINS: I grew up in the church. Everyone, that I knew, went to church.
Sunday sermons. Wednesday services. Church picnics.
DELAINE MULLINS: Faith is a huge part and, and always has been, a huge part of southern life.
It’s how the people of morris, a small town outside of Birmingham, come together to celebrate life and the word.
DELAINE MULLINS: The values are integrated into every bit of southern society.
So, when salacious rumors involving a church started swirling, the god-fearing folks who live here hoped the whispers weren’t true. But they had to wonder.
JERRY VINCENT: Even the Devil went to church.
And on a cold February night in 2015, the truth began to emerge.
911 call P 2: Police Department…
C: Hey, um, I just got home and walked in the front door and I don’t know if the house has been broke into or what. The, the tables been knocked over and, I can’t, I can’t find my husband.
P 2: Ok, let’s back up just a little bit, just a, OK who are you?
C: Cindy, uh, Henderson Reese.
P 2: Cindy Reese?
C: Uh-huh
You can watch tonight’s “Dateline”, on NBC4 at 10 p.m.