Forrest and Alice: Promising Couple Executed at Home

Forrest and Alice, a promising young couple, moved to southern Georgia to begin their lives together. A senseless murder would put an end to their big plans. Why would someone kill them?

The town of Thunderbolt is located in southeast Georgia about five miles east from the much more populated Savannah. Thunderbolt runs along the western shore of the Wilmington River. According to the 2010 census, Thunderbolt had a population of about 2,600 people.

On a tree-lined residential street the evening of Sunday, November 3, 2013, at around 11:40 pm, a 911 call came in to dispatchers. The caller was a man named Chris, and he said he had just heard someone screaming and 5-6 gunshots outside his home. He told the dispatcher that he was going to go see what happened. He called back a few minutes later and said that his next-door neighbors had been shot. Forrest Ison, 27, and Alice Stevens, 24, were both found in the carport area of their small red brick home. Ison died at the scene, and Stevens died on the way to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah. The two were returning home after a night out.

Forrest and Alice

Forrest and Alice met while working together in North Carolina. After graduating from culinary school at Guilford Technical Community College, Forrest got a job offer to run his own kitchen at the now-closed Brasserie 529 Restaurant in Savannah. His passion was cooking. Forrest’s father said he was very intelligent and enjoyed outdoor activities, including golf and kayaking. He was originally from High Point, North Carolina. He had two brothers.

 Alice had been attending High Point University in North Carolina. She decided to move with Forrest to Savannah and attend the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design. She was also hired at Brasserie 529 as a hostess. Alice’s family described her as athletic, creative, and tender-hearted. She was a big animal lover. “Her most admirable qualities were her sensitivity and compassion for people of all ages. She was non-judgmental about anyone’s social or economic status and was deeply concerned for the underprivileged and those degraded by prejudice.” ¹Alice’s Obituary in The Courier Express” (DuBois, PA) on January 29, 2014

The Investigation

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab determined that both Forrest and Alice were shot with both a .22-caliber and a .45-caliber weapon. This was no accident; the killer targeted both victims. The couple had been shot at multiple times; there were bullet holes in the house and shell casings in the yard. There was no evidence of robbery. Alice’s purse was still at the home, as well as their car and keys. There was no evidence the perpetrators had tried to break into the house.

After reviewing the victim’s financial records, police determined that the couple made a purchase at a nearby gas station at 11:26 pm. Surveillance footage showed the couple was alone and didn’t have anyone following them. Thunderbolt police Chief Robert “Bob” Merriman theorized that the killers had been lying in wait in an empty lot across from the couple’s home.

The First Suspect

After interviewing Chris, the neighbor who called 911, Merriman discovered that he had been stepping out his front door with his dog and heard gunshots, a scream, and squealing tires. He also claimed to see two Black males running from the scene right before he called the 911 operator back. He ran after the men a little ways but stopped after one of them looked back, saw him, and made a threatening gesture towards Chris. 

Chris himself came under suspicion after neighbors told police he had run-ins with both victims in the past. He even had a .45 caliber weapon registered to him. He rose to the top of the suspect list. However, police were able to determine that Chris had pawned his gun and was no longer in possession of it. Police moved on.

Reward is Offered

In June of 2014, the victim’s families offered a $15,000 reward for information leading to the identification of the killers. Unfortunately, this didn’t help to move the case forward.

After speaking again with the couple’s friends and co-workers, Chief Merriman learned that Forrest had fired an employee at the restaurant a few months before the murders. According to the restaurant’s owners, John and Amber Roelle, the employee had been fired for “screwing up” the restaurant’s signature dish. The owner went on to say that it wasn’t personal, and Forrest even helped the employee get a new job at another restaurant. The employee’s name was Nate Wilkins.

A Familiar Name

Early on in the investigation, police received an anonymous tip where the tipster stated they overheard two men named Nate and Mike brag about a double murder. This tip was looked into, but the location the tipster gave was non-existent.

After looking more into Wilkins, police discovered he had a criminal record, including a charge for assault. During a search of his home, police found a .22 caliber handgun that had been reported stolen. Wilkins was arrested and charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and theft by receiving. Tests run on the handgun showed that it was not the murder weapon. Police were back at square one. Or so they thought.

A Break in the Case

Around that time, while Wilkins was still in jail on the weapons charges, police received a call from a woman they probably never expected to hear from. Nate’s sister, Gloria Wilkins, called to say that Nate had killed Forrest and Alice. She also reported that her sister Tracey Burgess was the getaway driver. Gloria agreed to wear a wire and speak to Tracey and see if she could get her to confess on tape. She did indeed confess on tape and was arrested shortly after. At first she denied all allegations, but after her arrest, while being transported to the jail, Tracey admitted to her role in the murders. 

The Truth Comes Out

According to her confession, Nate and her boyfriend Mike Jones said they were only going to rob the couple. Nate had been to their home before. Just as the chief had theorized, they did lie in wait for the couple in the lot across the street from their home. Tracey said that Nate approached Alice first as she was walking up to the entryway of the home. She screamed and was shot in quick succession. Tracey said she was so scared after she heard the gunshots that she drove away, leaving the two men behind. 

After shooting Forrest, the two men chased after her, and she picked them up, just like the neighbor Chris has described. Nate threatened Tracey, saying he would kill her if she “ran her mouth.” Jones was quickly arrested at a nearby hotel and charged with murder. Nate’s charges were soon upgraded to murder. After the two men were charged, Forrest’s dad, Jim Ison, told Fox 8, “It doesn’t give you closure, it gives you justification. Now I’ve got somebody who is in jail awaiting a trial. He’s not on the streets because if he will shoot somebody for firing him, what will he do to somebody else out there?”

Shockingly Senseless Motive

Nate Wilkins and Mike Jones. Credit: The Cinemaholic

Tracey agreed to testify against Nate and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

In 2016, Mike Jones was convicted on two counts of malice murder for the deaths of Forrest and Alice. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

In April of 2018, Wilkins was convicted of malice murder. He was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. During his trial, a restaurant employee testified that Nate was fired after  “he burned 24 creme brulee (desserts) at one time. It was not the first time.” ²https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/crime/2016/06/15/witness-defendant-jones-openly-discussed-his-involvement-2013-slayings/13923416007/

Wilkins had been repeatedly warned that his work performance had to improve or he would be terminated. Several other witnesses testified that Forrest’s decision did not cause any immediate overreaction by Wilkins and that Forrest even helped him obtain new employment.

According to prosecutors, the motive was revenge. Nate was angry at being fired and blamed Forrest, even though Forrest had gone above and beyond by helping him. Alice was killed simply because she was there. Police speculated that Nate asked Mike to help him because he knew that Mike would be up for the task.

Wilkins appealed his sentence in late 2019. His appeal was rejected in February 2020, with Assistant District Attorney Jerry Rothschild saying  “This was an execution of two innocent people,” “This is not a who-done-it. We know who did it. … It’s not complicated. He did it.”³https://www.savannahnow.com/story/special/2020/02/28/court-upholds-murder-convictions-in-2013-thunderbolt-slayings/1605859007/

The Aftermath

Losing two employees at the hands of a former employee had an enormous impact on the staff and owners of Brassiere 529.

The restaurant closed down less than a year after the murders. Amber and John Roelle, the owners, did an interview with Jesse Blanco of Eat It and Like It.

John recalls the day the tragedy unfolded:
“Forrest hadn’t shown up. We thought he was running late. It was a Tuesday morning.” That was when Thunderbolt Chief Merriman arrived at their restaurant. “He told us he wanted to talk to us. That’s when he told us that Forrest had been shot and killed at his house.”

John pauses, reflecting on the moment.
“It took the wind out of our sails. It kind of threw everything for a loop.”

The shooting of Forrest Ison, Executive Chef of Brasserie 529, grabbed headlines for a time but eventually faded from the public eye. For Amber and John, however, the loss of Forrest was both deeply personal and professionally devastating.

For Amber and John, Forrest was more than just a friend—he was their right-hand man in the kitchen of their Liberty Street restaurant in Downtown Savannah. “His death just took the wind out of our sails,” John says. “He and I were doing the menus together. I had my ideas; he had his. He really stepped up and took charge.”

Though they tried to push forward, the effort was short-lived. The restaurant shut down in June.

“Nothing was the same. Everyone’s demeanor changed. It slowed us down a lot,” John reflects.

The Roelles opened another restaurant in 2015, called Liberty Street Grill. It has also permanently closed.

Alice is Still Dead—A Documentary

In October of 2021, Alice’s brother Edwin P. Stevens co-wrote and directed a documentary called Alice is Still Dead. The film tells the story of Alice’s murder, the search for the killers, the subsequent trial, and all the grief and heartbreak a victim’s family goes through.

“When they physically killed my sister, they took away a lot more than just her body, her essence. My kids, they’ll never know her. My father died just after Alice was murdered. I think he just didn’t see the point in going on in a world that’s so cold and dark that someone could just jump out in the night and kill someone like Alice……who really had no enemies.” – Edwin P. Stevens

Forrest and Alice’s Legacy

The murders of Forrest and Alice were senseless and heartbreaking. They both had so much life ahead of them. Alice is buried at the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York. Forrest’s burial place wasn’t publicly released. Chief Bob Merriman passed away in May 2024.

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