Alabama man charged with murder after bachelor party drug overdose

Published 9:43 pm Wednesday, November 30, 2022

A bachelor party turned deadly and has resulted in the arrest of an Alabama man on murder charges.

On May 14, 2022, Walton County Sheriff’s Office responded to a medical assist call on Sand Dunes Road in Santa Rosa Beach.

Once deputies got on scene, they found a man lying on the ground unconscious. Deputies immediately began CPR and administered an AED. While doing so, three more men collapsed and became unresponsive.

South Walton Fire District arrived on scene and quickly began rendering aid along with a WCSO Deputy/EMT. All the men were transported to Sacred Heart.

Days later, Thomas Gleason, 26, of Ridgefield, Connecticut was pronounced deceased. His name is being released as a part of this report with permission from his father who has waived Marsy’s Law to allow us to tell his son’s story.

An investigation revealed all the men had traveled to Walton County for a bachelor party from Georgia, Alabama, and Connecticut to celebrate their friend.

The investigation also found the underlying cause of Gleason’s death was a lethal dose of fentanyl which was found in narcotics directly provided by John Nabors, 26, of Mountain Brook, Alabama.

On Tuesday, November 15th the findings of this case were presented to a grand jury and Nabors was indicted on felony charges of distributing a controlled substance causing death.

“Our Criminal Investigations Bureau was able to tie the deadly dose Gleason took to Nabors,” said Sheriff Adkinson. “This case is tragic and certainly one we want to bring to a successful prosecution for Thomas’ family.”

Nabors turned himself into the Walton County Jail this morning, Wednesday, November 30th.