The Auburn tree poisoning was carried out by Harvey Updyke, a retired Texas state trooper and fanatical Alabama football fan who dosed the two iconic live oaks at Toomer’s Corner with a commercial herbicide in late 2010 after Auburn’s Iron Bowl comeback win. He confessed on a radio show, pleaded guilty in 2013 to a felony count of criminal damage of an agricultural facility, served roughly 70 days in jail, and was ordered to pay nearly $800,000 in restitution. He paid about $6,900 of it before his death in 2020. The trees were cut down in 2013, and the oaks that stand at the corner today were planted in 2017.
What Happened at Toomer’s Corner
The oaks sat at the intersection of College Street and Magnolia Avenue, between downtown Auburn and the university campus. Planted between 1937 and 1939, they anchored a tradition in which fans draped the branches with toilet paper after big Auburn wins, a custom traced to the 1972 “Punt, Bama, Punt” game.1Auburn Tigers. Rolling Toomer’s Corner
Sometime in late November 2010, shortly after Auburn’s 28-27 comeback over Alabama in that year’s Iron Bowl, Updyke applied Spike 80DF to the soil around both trees.2AL.com. Alabama Fan Harvey Updyke, Poisoner of Auburn Trees, Dead at 71 The herbicide’s active ingredient, tebuthiuron, is absorbed through roots and moves into foliage. Updyke bought a four-pound bag. Laboratory testing later confirmed fatally high concentrations in soil, bark, and leaf samples from both oaks.3Montgomery Advertiser. Harvey Updyke, Auburn Oak Trees, and Toomer’s Corner
How Updyke Was Caught
In January 2011, Updyke called into The Paul Finebaum Show in Birmingham using the alias “Al from Dadeville.” On the air he announced, “I put Spike 80DF in ’em. They’re not dead yet, but they definitely will die.”4Montgomery Advertiser. Toomer’s Corner Oak Trees History Finebaum later said he didn’t initially believe the caller.5Yahoo Sports. Paul Finebaum on Harvey Updyke Jr.
Auburn police detective Jay Sewell and chief Tommy Dawson worked the case. Dawson cold-called phone numbers connected to possible “Al” candidates and goaded Updyke into confirming his identity by making a false accusation about adultery, which caused him to lose his temper. Separately, an administrative assistant at the Auburn Police Department, Drucilla Cooper, received a call from a man offering information about the poisoner. She kept him talking and asked his name. He answered, “Updyke. Harvey Updyke.”3Montgomery Advertiser. Harvey Updyke, Auburn Oak Trees, and Toomer’s Corner
Detectives persuaded Updyke to come to the station, where he admitted to the radio call. A search warrant executed at a Lake Martin house where he was staying failed to turn up a computer police believed held his herbicide search history, but swabs from his car’s steering wheel and dashboard tested positive for Spike 80DF. He was arrested in his front yard on February 17, 2011, at 1:26 a.m. and initially charged with one count of first-degree criminal mischief.6ESPN. Arrest in Toomer’s Corner Tree Poisoning Bond was set at $50,000.7CBS News. Harvey Updyke Mug Shot, Arrest Made in Toomer’s Corner Tree Poisoning
Why He Did It
Harvey Almorn Updyke Jr. was born in 1948 in Edinburg, Texas, and worked as a Texas state trooper before retiring.8L.N. Hughes Funeral Home. Harvey Updyke Jr. Obituary His Alabama loyalty ran deep enough that he named one child “Bear” after Paul “Bear” Bryant and another “Crimson” after the school’s color.
By his own account, his rage boiled over after Auburn erased a 24-point deficit to beat Alabama in the 2010 Iron Bowl. He pointed to Auburn quarterback Cam Newton’s dominant season and to the sight of an Auburn jersey draped on the Bear Bryant statue in Tuscaloosa.3Montgomery Advertiser. Harvey Updyke, Auburn Oak Trees, and Toomer’s Corner He told CBS News in 2019 that he wanted “Auburn people to hate me as much as I hate them.” On the Finebaum show, he said the poisoning was “for Nick Saban” and argued Newton should have been ineligible for the Iron Bowl.5Yahoo Sports. Paul Finebaum on Harvey Updyke Jr.
The Guilty Plea and Sentence
Updyke was indicted on multiple charges, including criminal mischief, desecration of a venerated object, and unlawful damage to a crop facility. Jury selection began at the Lee County Justice Center in Opelika in June 2012, but the case did not go to trial. In March 2013, he pleaded guilty in Lee County Circuit Court to a single felony count of criminal damage of an agricultural facility before Judge Jacob A. Walker II.9AL.com. Harvey Updyke Pleads Guilty
The plea carried a three-year split sentence: six months of incarceration followed by five years of supervised probation. Updyke received credit for 104 days already served, leaving 76 days to go at sentencing, and he ultimately served more than 70 days in the medical pod of the Lee County Detention Center.9AL.com. Harvey Updyke Pleads Guilty
His probation conditions were unusually strict. A 7 p.m. curfew. A ban on attending any collegiate sporting event. A prohibition from setting foot on Auburn University property. A media contact ban. And a specific prohibition on visiting the Lowe’s store in Hammond, Louisiana, tied to a separate September 2012 incident in which Updyke was charged with “terrorizing” after a dispute over a lawnmower refund.9AL.com. Harvey Updyke Pleads Guilty10WSFA. Harvey Updyke Arrested, Charged With Terrorizing
The Restitution He Never Paid
In December 2013, Judge Walker ordered Updyke to pay $796,731.98 in restitution to Auburn University at $500 per month.11ABC7 New York. Harvey Updyke Has Paid Just $99 With additional fees and fines, the total balance reached $816,679.98.12Tuscaloosa News. Judge Orders Harvey Updyke to Pay $700 in Restitution or Face Arrest By September 2014, he had paid a total of $99, from a single payment made that July. The judge denied his request to reduce the monthly amount to $50.
In December 2014, Judge Walker found Updyke “willfully in contempt.” The court ordered $100 per month withheld from his Texas state trooper retirement, directed him to cancel non-critical home services including cable, smartphone, and internet, and required eight hours of community service per week. The judge also amended his probation to forbid social media accounts after questions arose about Twitter and Facebook activity Updyke claimed was impersonation.12Tuscaloosa News. Judge Orders Harvey Updyke to Pay $700 in Restitution or Face Arrest
Payment did not improve. In January 2017, Judge Walker issued another contempt citation after Updyke failed to appear at a hearing on his payment schedule; he had paid only a few thousand dollars by that point.13ABC 33/40. Judge Issues Contempt Citation for Updyke In August 2019, Lee County District Attorney Brandon Hughes reported Updyke had paid less than $5,000 total, with just two payments totaling $200 in the previous year. Hughes summoned him to court that October and said he would be “a bur in his side under his saddle and make sure he pays what he owes.”14AL.com. Harvey Updyke Summoned to Court for Failing to Pay for Toomer’s Poisoning Updyke skipped the court date.15KTRE. Former Lufkin Man Skips Court Date in Auburn Tree Poisoning
Updyke died on July 30, 2020, at age 71 at West Jefferson Medical Center in Marrero, Louisiana.8L.N. Hughes Funeral Home. Harvey Updyke Jr. Obituary His death was attributed to natural causes; court filings documented coronary disease, congestive heart failure, diabetes, strokes, and depression.16ABC News. Harvey Updyke Poisoned Auburn’s Iconic Toomer’s Corner Trees He had paid about $6,900 of the roughly $800,000 he owed.17ESPN. Updyke, Poisoner of Toomer’s Corner Trees, Dies
What Happened to the Trees
Auburn spent three years trying to save the originals, digging trenches and applying activated charcoal to pull herbicide from the soil.18Landscape Performance Series. Samford Park at Toomer’s Corner Pre-remediation testing showed tebuthiuron levels as high as 51 parts per million. The trees were deemed unrecoverable and removed in April 2013.4Montgomery Advertiser. Toomer’s Corner Oak Trees History Workers then excavated 1,778 tons of contaminated soil and installed impermeable liners and an underdrain system to flush remaining traces into a monitoring well. By 2014, the university said the soil was clear.
Two 35-foot live oaks from a nursery in Ehrhardt, South Carolina, were planted on Valentine’s Day 2015 as part of a $900,000 Samford Park redevelopment.19ESPN. Auburn Tigers Restore Toomer’s Corner Oak Trees Each tree cost $5,000 to $7,000, chosen for the ability to withstand heavy foot traffic.18Landscape Performance Series. Samford Park at Toomer’s Corner
Those 2015 replacements did not last. On September 24, 2016, following Auburn’s 18-13 win over LSU, a 29-year-old German national named Jochen Wiest set fire to the toilet paper draped on one of the trees.20ABC 33/40. One Detained Following Toomer’s Oak Fire21WTVM. Suspect in Toomer’s Corner Tree Fire Charged With Criminal Mischief22Fox 5 Atlanta. Attorney Says German Man Reaches Plea Deal in Auburn Tree Fire The fire severely damaged the Magnolia Avenue tree, and the College Street tree had failed to establish properly. Auburn removed both and planted two new oaks in February 2017. Those are the trees that stand at Toomer’s Corner today.23Auburn University. The Auburn Oaks at Toomer’s Corner
Fans were asked to hold off on rolling the new trees while they rooted. The moratorium lasted into 2023. That August, Auburn President Christopher B. Roberts announced the oaks were “stable” and that rolling would officially resume for the season opener against UMass.24Alabama Reflector. Auburn University President Says Toomer’s Oaks Are Stable, Rolling Will Resume Justin Sutton, Auburn’s director of landscape services, said the earlier request had been a “short-term request” to protect the trees’ “long-term establishment, overall health and projected long life.”25WVTM 13. Auburn Announces Fans Can Roll Two Auburn Oaks at Toomer’s Corner The trees remain under weekly health assessments.4Montgomery Advertiser. Toomer’s Corner Oak Trees History